Sebastian Korda crushes Murray dreams with dominant return display at Gijon Open
ATP
Sebastian Korda survived a mid-match scare as he ended Andy Murray's title hopes in Spain.
The American broke the Murray serve on four occasions to end the Scots hopes of a first ATP Tour title since 2019, winning 6-4, 1-6, 6-1 at the Gijon Open in two hours and 27 minutes.
Korda, who American coach Rick Macci predicted could win ten Grand Slams, now moves on to a semi-final meeting with Arthur Rinderknech who shocked Pablo Carreno Busta earlier in the day.
22-year-old Korda looked to be easing to a quick first set, breaking Murray twice to take a 5-2 lead.
But Dunblane-born Murray has forged a career out of being a warrior and began his bid for a fightback when he broke the Korda serve for the first time to 15.
Murray needed a deuce game to further reduce the deficit, forcing his younger opponent to earn the first set by serving it out.
And at 15-30 on the Korda serve, Murray had hope, chasing down an American drop-shot before slamming home a volley.
But Korda's serve has been hot this week and he duly took the first set, securing it with an ad court ace.
The spark that Murray had clearly been lacking at the start of the match was lit early in the second, producing a pair of trademark backhands down the line to break the Korda serve.
The three-time Grand Slam champion and former World No.1 was now in the ascendancy, dominating Korda and increasing his passing winners count to break serve again and race to a 5-0 lead.
Korda managed to avoid the dreaded bagel but couldn't avoid the ineviditeblity of a third set, Murray serving it out to 15.
It was World No.47 Korda - just one place above Murray in the rankings - who struck early in the decider, bullying Murray around the court to break serve for a third time and go 3-0 up.
A frustrated Murray received a warning from the chair umpire for something he said during the changeover, as the 35-year feared the match was slipping away from him.
And those fears were realised when Korda produced some stunning return tennis to go 4-0 up and extinguish Murray hopes.
Murray tried to raise his game to the levels of the second set, sniffing out a sole break point in the next game that was quickly snuffed out.
And a near carbon copy of the second set was brought to a close as Korda served it out with an incredible forehand winner down the line to take it 6-1 and reach his second semi-final of the year.
