Murray cruises past Kyrgios to set blockbuster final with Berrettini in Stuttgart

Stuttgart: Draw | Schedule

Andy Murray eased past Australia’s Nick Kyrgios 7-6 [5], 6-2 to move into the final of the Stuttgart Open at Tennis Club Weissenhof on Saturday.

Murray, ranked No 68, will face Italian Matteo Berrettini, the second seed, next.

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“It’s been a few years a lot of ups and downs the last few years but I kept going, kept working,” Murray said. “I finally managed to get to another one. So I’m happy and proud of the effort I put in to get back.”

The former world No 1 and two-time Wimbledon champion reaches his 10th career final on grass, and will bid for his first ATP title since autumn 2019 (Antwerp). Murray, who notched his first top-5 win since 2016 in the quarter-finals when he defeated top-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas, owns a 114-23 career record on grass.

Kyrgios melted down, Murray melted up

After dropping a crisply played opener, Kyrgios let his temper get the best of him. He was hit with several code violations and ended up getting docked a full game, after Murray had broken the Aussie’s serve to open the second set.

Murray then broke again at love to take the double-break 4-1 lead.

He would close the match moments later, to book his 70th career ATP final. Murray improves to 6-1 lifetime over Kyrgios with the win, and 16-8 on the season.

“I was a bit more solid than the tiebreak,” Murray said on court. “I made a lot of returns asked the question of him in the tiebreak. These courts when it’s playing quick like this, sets often come down to one or two points. I was a  little bit more solid and secure in the end of the process.”

Murray said that Kyrgios’ on-court troubles made things a lot easier for him to close out the win.

“Obviously Nick was very frustrated at the end of the second set. I didn’t have to work as hard obviously in the second, but the first set was was high quality.

“You’re always kind of battling yourself as well as the opponent, it is one of the difficult things about individual sports and Nick has the potential to be one of the best players in the world – there’s absolutely no question about that. But yeah, he obviously got very frustrated in the second set and made it obviously a lot easier for me, but I’m happy to be in the final. I’ve played well this week and I’ve got a great opportunity against Matteo tomorrow.”