TAKE A BOW! Andy Murray Overcomes Qualifier Oscar Otte in 5 Grueling Sets at Wimbledon Championships 2021 R2

After managing to get the opening-round victory against Nikoloz Basilashvili, Andy Murray was once again on the Center Court at Wimbledon, where he faced German contender Oscar Otte in the second round.

Barring that brief dip in form in the third set against Basilashvili, Murray did extremely well for a player who had a dual hip surgery and hasn’t played much tennis on the big stage this year.

Watch this story: When Prince Charles Was Left in Awe With Roger Federer’s Perfect Tennis at Wimbledon Championships

Andy Murray takes the opening set but fumbles in the second against Otte at Wimbledon

Playing against Otte for the first time, the two-time Wimbledon Champion displayed absolute dominance in the first set as he moved freely and dictated points from the baseline. On the other hand, the German tried too hard to confuse Murray as he committed a lot of unforced errors due to this.

Even though a couple of breaks were exchanged between the two players in the first set, it was Andy Murray who became successful in the end and won it, 6-3. With Otte looking lost in the match, it appeared as if it would be a straight-sets victory for the Brit.

Accordingly, the former world number one was a break up in the second set and looked comfortable enough to dominate the German further. But, momentum shifted when a bad service game from the Brit gave a slight window of opportunity for Otte to level the match.

After leveling the score at 3-3, it was the turn of Andy Murray to have a slight dip in form. In the next fifteen minutes, the two-time champ looked completely out of sorts with his game and made more than a dozen unforced errors in the second set alone.

Eventually, Oscar Otte grabbed the set after a successful service game at 5-4. The Brit was utterly disappointed with himself throughout the set as he kept yelling at his box over the selection of his shots.

By the end of second set, the serving woes of Oscar Otte were gone and he looked more dominant than ever on his service games.

Otte built on his confidence to close the third set, 6-4 against Murray

Coming to the third set, both the players held serves comfortably till the seventh game. Murray was on serve, and even though he wasn’t making frequent errors as he did in the second set, the Brit was still trying to find back the momentum he had in the first set.

A better return game from Oscar Otte landed the seventh game under his account. This single break point conversion was enough for the German to close out the third set, 6-4. Towards the tail end of the set, Murray looked a bit ruffled and appeared fatigued.

For the Brit to reach the third round at SW19, he will now have to win the next two sets. On the other hand, Oscar Otte gradually built his confidence in the second and third sets as he became the clear favorite in the match.

Murray clinched the fourth after Otte failed to serve out the set

After winning the initial service game in the fourth set, Murray slipped as he was about to change direction. It was a brief pain as the Brit was up and running after a few moments.

With the crowd rallying behind Andy Murray, he was able to slowly pick up the momentum after winning an incredible net exchange against the German. When the scores were tied at 2-2, there was a brief ten-minute break as the center court roof was about to be closed.

Once the play resumed, it was all Murray as he showed glimpses of his previous best and snapped a service game off the German. Just when it looked like the match was going for a deciding fifth set, there was yet another twist.

Serving to clinch the fourth set at 5-3, Murray made three unforced errors and lost the game. Clearly, the Brit seemed to be struggling to close sets or matches. The lack of enough competitive matches on tour this year brought down Andy Murray.

Even though it looked simple enough to serve out the set, with almost the entire crowd cheering your opponent, it can be a daunting task to clinch a set on your serve. The same happened with Oscar Otte as he succumbed to the pressure and lost the set, 4-6.

Otte couldn’t handle the pressure as he lost the fifth set and match to Andy Murray

Continuing his momentum from the fourth set, Murray was aggressive right from the start of the fifth as he kept pushing Otte from corner to the other and created open spaces to hit few winners. Aided by the Center Court crowd, Murray broke the German’s serve and went to a quick lead of 2-0.

An exciting service game from the Brit gave him a comfortable lead of 3-0 in the final set. The German did give his best as he played every shot with great conviction, but Murray was just too good for him.

Just two games away from victory, trouble knocked Murray once again as he made a couple of errors. The score was leveled at 30-30. Sensing an opportunity, Otte turned on his offensive game and went near the net only to be thrashed by the Brit with a brilliant forehand passing shot on the run.

The two-time Wimbledon champion held his serve was just a game away from registering yet another comeback victory. Serving under intense pressure at 2-5 down, Otte faced two match points.

Two astounding lobs from the Brit sealed the deal as he clinched a memorable victory against the German in five sets. Andy Murray will now face Denis Shapovalov in the third round at Wimbledon Championships.

Also read: “Metal Hip Just Defies Belief”: Tennis World Flabbergasted Following Andy Murray’s Heroic Win at Wimbledon Championships 2021 R2