Stuttgart, June 12 (BNA): Former world number one Andy Murray looked at his best on grass when he beat Nick Kyrgios 7-6 (5), 6-2 to advance to the Stuttgart Open final on Saturday after losing the Australian. He calmed down in the second set and said he was racially abused by a fan.
The final is the 70th of Murray’s career and his second of the year after finishing second in Sydney in January. The 35-year-old will face second seed Matteo Berrettini, who will play his first Tour Final of the season, Reuters reports.
After an entertaining opening set where there was no separation between players, Murray sealed the ball in the tiebreak after which Kyrgios broke his racket and was awarded a point penalty plus a penalty kick in the second set.
The Australian, who was constantly complaining to the referee, refused to continue playing and sat in his chair until the supervisor came out and convinced him to end the match.
A frustrated Kyrgios later said he retaliated after hearing racist slurs.
“When will this stop? Dealing with racist slurs from the crowd?” wrote on Instagram.
“I understand my behavior isn’t the best all the time – but ‘little black sheep’, ‘shut up and play’ – small comments like this are not acceptable.
“When I take revenge on the crowd, I am punished. This is chaos.”
After a great opening set, in which Kyrgios had the crowd sending underarms and ‘tweeners’ up front, he lost focus in the second and made several mistakes as Murray finished quickly and sealed his place in the final.
Murray, whose last Tour title came in 2019 in Antwerp, was sympathetic to his in-court interview, admitting he didn’t have to work hard in the second set after a “high-quality” opener.
“You always fight yourself as well as the opponent, it’s one of the hard things in individual sports,” said Murray, who has never lost a set in the tournament.
“Nick has the potential to be one of the best players in the world, there is absolutely no doubt about that. But yes, he obviously got very frustrated in the second set and made it a lot easier for me.
“But look, I’m happy to be in the final. I played really well this week and I have a great chance against Mathieu tomorrow.”