Seeing Andy Murray play consecutive tournaments since Wimbledon has been one of the highlights of this ATP season. The Brit played few tournaments before SW19 and raised concerns amongst his fans regarding his fitness.
But Murray has been a consistent fighter since then, as he is trying to bring back some of his best tennis and compete at the highest level once again. The former World No.1 had a couple of matches that showed glimpses of his previous best.
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One such match came up against Stefanos Tsitsipas in the first-round of the US Open. Even though it was the Greek who ended up winning the encounter, Murray was able to put up a tough fight in all the five sets and made it an enthralling contest to watch.
Murray takes on Alcaraz in a promising encounter at the BNP Paribas Open
At the on-going BNP Paribas Open, the Brit received a wild-card and defeated Adrian Mannarino in the first-round. The next mammoth task was facing the in-form youngster from Spain, Carlos Alcaraz.
Alcaraz has had a break-through year as he managed to reach the quarter-finals of the US Open and also won his first ATP title in Croatia. The Spaniard never faced Murray before on the ATP tour as their first encounter might just become memorable in Indian Wells.
The momentum kept shifting between the two players. While Murray had the first laugh after breaking Alcaraz’s serve and racing to a quick lead of 4-1, the Spaniard managed to hold his nerve, realizing that he was just down by a break.
Initially, Alcaraz struggled to keep with Murray in terms of serve games as his first serve went wayward. But, after a terrible loss of serve from the Brit, the Spaniard found the much-needed momentum and won three games to level the score, 4-4.
There was no drop in level from Andy, but Alcaraz just stepped up his game since then, used different shots to keep Murray on his toes, and was finally rewarded with yet another break of serve at 5-5.
Serving for the set, the youngster once again showed absolute skill to outclass Murray and won the first set, 7-5.
Andy Murray hits an underarm ace against Carlos Alcaraz in Indian Wells
Even in the second set, Alcaraz was given chances on Murray’s serve initially. But the latter’s experience in handling difficult moments brought him out of trouble.
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With the score tied 1-1, Murray was under pressure as he made a couple of unforced errors and faced break points. After saving a couple of them and taking the game to deuce, the Brit did an unexpected tactic that stunned the crowd.
The former world no.1 hit an underarm ace out of nowhere and took the lead in the scoreboard, 2-1. A tactic that has been popularized by the charismatic Australian, Nick Kyrgios.
UNDERARM ACE 😳@andy_murray #BNPPO21 pic.twitter.com/PjJCfrlHHd
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) October 10, 2021
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This has become an enthralling contest for fans to enjoy on a Sunday afternoon in Indian Wells.