Andy Murray was extremely pleased with his quarter-final Stuttgart Open win against top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas as the Brit continues to impress during the 2022 grass court season.
Last week, the former world number one began his grass-court practice at Surbiton, where he advanced to the semifinals before losing to Denis Kudla. However, Murray responded well at the Stuttgart Open with opening-round victories over Christopher O'Connell and Alexander Bublik.
The three-time Grand Slam champion looked in good shape during those wins and continued his momentum with a strong display to beat world number five Tsitsipas. It was a tight contest in the first set as Murray took a 1-0 lead following a tie-break but the Scottish player controlled the second set to win 6-3 and advance to the final four.
Before the contest, Tsitsipas was fully aware of Murray's capabilities on grass and the Greek player couldn't cope with the 35-year-old on occasion. When reflecting on the victory on court following the match, Murray was feeling positive, despite a tough encounter.
“It was an amazing atmosphere. Almost full crowd. Beautiful weather today, really nice conditions to play tennis… I thought I did well. He served unbelievably in the first set."
2022 has been a fairly challenging season for Murray so far as the two-time Wimbledon champion has contended with ongoing fitness concerns and dips in form. He started the campaign well with a final run at the Sydney Open before struggling to make a real impact during the hard court and clay court seasons.
However, it appears as though Murray was always targeting a stronger grass court season in 2022 after he withdrew from the Roland Garros to focus on being fit and ready for Wimbledon this year. The 35-year-old returned to the UK-based Grand Slam last year after a three-year hiatus due to injuries and the event being postponed in 2020.
Murray's recent decisions to focus on grass performances appear to be paying off with impressive displays in Surbiton and now at Stuttgart. When expanding on his analysis of the win over Tsitsipas, Murray explained that he felt in control of the match.
"I felt like I had very few chances, but when he was creating chances on my serve, I stayed strong. I played a really solid tie-break and in the second set, once I was in the rallies, I felt like I was dictating a lot of the points. It was a good performance.”
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