Former world No 1 Andy Murray failed to convert seven match points but said he did not “deserve to win the match as I did not play well eno...
Former world No 1 Andy Murray failed to convert seven match points but said he did not “deserve to win the match as I did not play well enough” after losing a three hour thriller to lucky loser Dominik Koepfer of Germany in the Paris Masters first round on Monday.
Murray, ranked 144, had been given a wild card but while the 34-year-old lacked killer instinct, he did show steely determination to battle back from a set and a break down to take the match to a third set before Koepfer won 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (11/9).
Koepfer – a late replacement when American qualifier Jenson Brooksby withdrew with abdominal pains hours before the match – had served for the match in the second set. However, Murray, roared on by the crowd, roused himself and broke his 55th-ranked opponent before going on to take the set.
The third set was a cracking duel with Murray saving three break points at 0-40 at 3-3.
Murray, though, could not quite complete a remarkable comeback as he let so many match points slip – two when Koepfer served to stay in the match at 4-5 and then five more in the epic tie-breaker.
It was Koepfer, though, who showed how to take chances when...
