Tennis: Zverev loses to Murray in Qatar

Tennis Olympic champion Alexander Zverev suffered another setback when trying to return to his old top form.

Tennis: Zverev loses to Murray in Qatar

Tennis Olympic champion Alexander Zverev suffered another setback when trying to return to his old top form.

At the ATP tournament in Doha, the 25-year-old lost his hard-fought round of 16 match against former world number one Andy Murray from Great Britain 6: 7 (5: 7), 6: 2, 5: 7. For Zverev, who had a bye in the first round, it was already the fifth defeat in the eighth match in 2023.

As in previous encounters, Zverev, who suffered a lengthy foot injury in the French Open semifinals last June, was also changeable against Murray. In the first set he was able to take the serve from the three-time Grand Slam tournament winner twice - but immediately in the game he conceded a break himself. In the tie-break, 35-year-old Murray had stronger nerves.

In the second set, the Hamburger found his rhythm better, his balls had a better length and his serve was much more constant and successful than his opponent. In the decisive third set, Murray and Zverev fought a duel at eye level until the German number one gave up their serve to make it 5: 6. Murray converted his second match point after 3:02 hours and meets the French qualifier Alexandre Müller in the quarterfinals.

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