Matteo Berrettini ousted Roberto Carballes Baena in straight sets to claim his first title in almost two years at the Marrakech Open. The Italian, who won Queen’s in June 2022 a year after reaching the Wimbledon final, is coming back from injury and made a statement by winning the title with a 7-5 6-2 win in the final against the Spaniard.
The three-time Grand Slam winner is known for being an outspoken presence on court and is often seen chastising himself and shouting after points.
But in his win over Berrettini, which earned the world No. 62 a second-round tie against Tomas Martin Etcheverry, he was regularly forcing a laugh between points.
“You were saying I need to be happier on the court in the interview beforehand – so if I’m laughing, that’s not OK, if I’m shouting, that’s not OK, if I’m flat like I was in Australia, that’s not OK,” Murray said on Sky Sports. “It’s very hard for me to get the balance right.
“I’m very different on the tennis court. I’m not a robot. I’m a bit odd, a bit strange. But I play better when I’m like that.”
Murray’s victory was his fourth of a difficult 2024 season so far in which he has been frequently asked questions about when he plans to retire from the sport.
But a fine performance from the 36-year-old showed flashes of him at his best, with a selection of strong aces, punishing winners and impressive all-court movement.
Asked if it was his biggest win of the season so far, Murray said: “I played well at the first tournament of the year in Brisbane, I felt good.
“The first match last week [a win over David Goffin] was better as well.
“But in terms of the way I played in the important moments in that match, I did a good job. I was down 0-40 at the end, I think it was a 3-2 game, and I also created quite a lot of chances to go up a double break.
“I stayed tough there and played some good points, moved well, and dictated a lot of the match, which isn’t easy against him.”
Andy Murray rallied from a set down to defeat Matteo Berrettini 4-6 6-3 6-4 with a vintage performance in the opening round of the Miami Open.
After a shaky start, Murray looked sharp as he scurried around the court, while he served well and hit 28 winners in a two hour, 47 minute win, after which he wrote ‘life in the old dog yet’ on the courtside camera.
Berrettini, whose ranking has plummeted during an injury-plagued two years, was making his first ATP Tour appearance since last year’s US Open.
He required medical attention towards the end of the second set after stumbling and looking faint while serving, but saw out the match as his wait for a first win in Miami goes on.
The decisive moment of the opening set against Berrettini arrived in the first game, when a slow start from Murray proved costly as he coughed up a break point with a tame backhand, allowing Berrettini to pounce with a fizzed forehand winner down the line.
The pair traded aces as things settled on serve thereafter, until an eventful game six where Murray forced two break opportunities but failed to take either.
Berrettini saw a chance for a double break come and go when he put a simple forehand in the net, but he made no mistake when it came to serving out the set, hitting an ace before finishing the job with a big winner into the corner.
Murray needed to find a response quickly and laid the foundations with his serve, losing just one point in his first three service games to make an impressive start.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2024/02/28/3919780-79628373-2560-1440.jpg)
‘He’s such a warrior’ – Medvedev says he will be sad when ‘inspiration’ Murray retires from tennis
The former world No. 1 again applied pressure in game six, this time seizing his third break opportunity with a ferocious return to seize the momentum before consolidating on serve for a 5-2 lead.
There were worrying scenes when Berrettini began to serve and stumbled, losing his footing as he looked faint before taking to his chair to receive medical attention.
The Italian returned to the court looking groggy, but shook off the issue to produce a love hold to stay in the set, only for Murray to successfully serve out to level things up and force a decider.
Murray cut a determined figure at the start of the third and immediately earned three break points, but Berrettini saw them all off in composed fashion, the Brit throwing his racquet on the ground in frustration as he let a golden opportunity slip.
But Murray stuck with the task and eventually earned a fourth break point in a lengthy game, this time seizing the chance after a big return put him on top in the rally before Berrettini netted.
A love hold consolidated the breakthrough before Murray coughed up two chances for a double break, but the Brit showed mental steel by saving three break points to hold for a 4-2 lead.
From then on Murray refused to budge on serve, closing out one of his biggest victories of the season so far.
Fellow Brit Jack Draper got his Miami Open campaign off to a strong start with a 6-3 6-2 win over Taro Daniel to reach the second round.
The 22-year-old hit 10 aces, 22 winners and didn’t face a single break point in a confident straight-sets victory that took 69 minutes.
Draper will face No. 22 seed Nicolas Jarry of Chile in the next round.
Draper has had an up-and-down season so far, enjoying impressive runs to the final in Adelaide and semi-finals in Acapulco, but suffering early exits at the Australian Open and Indian Wells.
He headed to Miami for the second leg of the ‘Sunshine Swing’ looking to right some wrongs after a first-round exit to Christopher O’Connell in Indian Wells, and the 6’4” lefty came out swinging.
Draper’s big serve got him off to a good start as he lost just two points in his opening three service games, landing two aces in the process.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2024/03/19/3933267-79898113-2560-1440.jpg)
‘To claim Sunshine Double would be incredible’ – Alcaraz up for Miami challenge
But Daniel kept pace and avoided coughing up any break points until game six, where Draper put down the hammer with a winner to earn a couple, taking the first for a 4-2 lead.
The Brit landed another two aces as he consolidated with an emphatic love hold, and a hold apiece from there closed out the opening set in 36 minutes.
Things looked to be unravelling further for Daniel when he double-faulted to hand Draper break point in the opening game of the second set, but the Japanese player recovered for a hard-earned hold.
His resistance didn’t last long, as Draper followed up another strong hold with an early break before a thumping consolidation game that started with back-to-back aces put him 3-1 up.
Daniel mustered a love hold, but saw few chinks in the Draper armour as the world No. 42 hit three more aces in the following game before landing the crucial blow by breaking for a third time, winning all four points for a 5-2 lead.
From there, the youngster made no mistake as he produced his 10th ace of the match to serve out in style.
Draper, competing in Miami for the third time, has matched his best run at the event by reaching the second round, where he lost to compatriot Cameron Norrie last year.
Elsewhere, Denis Shapovalov, a Miami semi-finalist in 2019, overcame Luciano Darderi 6-3 6-7(3) 6-4 to earn a meeting with 10th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.
There were also wins for Luca van Assche and Botic van de Zandschulp over Pavel Kotov and Rinky Hijikata respectively.
Van Assche will face seventh seed Casper Ruud in the second round, while Van de Zandschulp is up against No. 14 seed Ugo Humbert.
Marton Fucsovics progressed with a 6-2 6-1 win over Max Purcell to set up a tie against third seed Daniil Medvedev, while Christopher O’Connell downed qualifier Vit Kopriva 6-2 6-4.
Flavio Cobolli rallied to beat Yoshihito Nishioka 1-6 6-1 6-4 and will face British No. 1 Cameron Norrie next and Thiago Seyboth Wild beat Nuno Borges 6-4 7-5.
Tomas Machac downed wild card Darwin Blanch 6-4 6-2 to earn a second-round crack at fifth seed Andrey Rublev, while Andrea Vavassori beat Pedro Cachin 6-2 6-2 and will now face fellow Italian, Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner.
Andy Murray has been drawn against Matteo Berrettini in the first round of the Miami Open.
The former world No. 1 takes on the experienced Italian in the round of 128, with the 32 seeds not introduced until the next round.
The winner of the tie will go on to play Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry.
Murray was last in action at Indian Wells, where he beat David Goffin in straight sets in the first round before losing out to fifth seed Andrey Rublev.
Murray won gold at both the 2012 and 2016 Games, and is a three-time Grand Slam champion.
He has struggled for form and fitness since major hip surgery in 2018, and he went back under the knife in 2019.
For many athletes the severity of the surgery would have precluded a return to the sport, but last year was a high point in his post-surgery career, claiming the Aix-en-Provence, Surbiton and Nottingham trophies.
Berrettini has also battled injury issues over the last year but comes into Indian Wells on the back of a run to a second-tier Challenger final in Phoenix.
Murray won their last meeting in five sets at the 2023 Australian Open.
Alcaraz will meet Aleksandar Vukic or Roberto Carballes Baena in the second round.
World No. 3 Jannik Sinner, the second seed and in the opposite side of the draw to Alcaraz, will face either Pedro Cachin or a qualifier in his opener.
The first round matches in Miami begin on Wednesday, March 20.
