Andy Murray, playing second match since November, pushes world No 44 to championship tie-break in top-quality match at National Tennis Centre
Thursday 25 June 2020 10:40, UK
Andy Murray pushed Kyle Edmund all the way to a championship tie-break before falling to defeat at Schroders Battle of the Brits on Wednesday.
Murray looked good early on and took the first set on a tie-break, but Edmund came flying back in a nip and tuck clash to win it 6-7 (2-7) 7-6 (7-5) 10-5.
There were no breaks of serve in the first 12 games, but Murray was the better player in the breaker and took it 7-2.
Edmund completed an impressive comeback to take the win, though, winning a superb second set on a tie-break.
The British No 2 then won the championship tie-break as a weary Murray faded to claim an impressive victory.
Murray barely has 24 hours to recover as he plays James Ward in his final group game, needing to win to make it through to the semi-finals.
During his virtual press conference Murray said he was "not bothered" about the results knowing the more time he spends playing competitive tennis the better chances he will have of getting up to speed.
He also intimated he will play the Citi Open in Washington from August 13-21 in the lead up to the US Open, which starts on August 31.
"I think I did pretty well, much better than yesterday, how I hit the ball from the back of the court. It would have been nice to come through it. Kyle's a tough guy to play," Murray said.
"To be honest, right now I'm not bothered so much about the results. I know if my hip's good my tennis will get better over the next months. If I sharpen up, I'll be playing high level tennis. More chance of playing Washington than Cincinnati because I don't want to play back-to-back tournaments. I want to have a few more cracks at the majors."
James Ward got his first win of the indoor exhibition event which is being played in Roehampton.
The British No 7 beat Liam Broady 6-4 6-1 which means Broady cannot advance out of the Tim Henman Group to the knockout stage.
World No 77 Cameron Norrie faced 24-year-old Essex player Ryan Peniston in the second game of the day in the Greg Rusedski Group.
Norrie survived a scare, eventually winning in a championship tie-break.
Peniston, playing because Jack Draper withdrew on Tuesday and ranked 394 in the world, took the first set but Norrie came back to win 3-6 6-2 10-4.
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