Europe's news in English

COPY LINK

TENNIS

Andy Murray smashes through to Munich semis

Top-seeded Andy Murray hit back from a set down to defeat Lukas Rosol 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in a bad-tempered quarter-final at the rain-hit Munich Open on Saturday.

Published: 2 May 2015 14:05 CEST

Andy Murray smashes through to Munich semis

Andy Murray in action. Photo: AFP

Playing in his first tournament since his marriage to long-time girlfriend Kim Sears, Murray led 4-1 in the first set before the Czech Republic's Rosol turned in a furious rally to take the next five games.

The two players then bumped into each other at the changeover which brought complaints from the Scot and an intervention by the ATP supervisor Gerry Armstrong.

Murray later told Rosol: "No-one likes you on the tour, everyone hates you."

The world number three, however, quickly shrugged off the altercation to claim 12 of the next 15 games for the win in exactly two hours.

In the last four the Scot will take on tough Spanish third seed Roberto Bautista Agut, who also had to bounce back after a first set loss to beat Víctor Estrella Burgos of the Dominican Republic 4-6, 6-0, 6-0.

The two other quarter-finals in the second half of the draw see Dominic Thiem take on Gerald Melzer and Philipp Kohlschreiber go up against David

Goffin.

Torrential rain washed out all four quarter-finals on Friday, leaving both the quarter-finals and semis to be played on Saturday.

Murray will seek his second head-to-head victory over Bautista Agut in the semis, having previously triumphed in straight sets in the Wimbledon third round last year.

The Spaniard is in search of his second clay-court title, having won his maiden tour-level title on German soil in Stuttgart in 2014.

Is this the end of the road for Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer?

Is it the end of the line for Roger? Photo: Martin BUREAU / AFP

The 20-time Grand Slam winner announced on Wednesday that he would be sidelined until 2021 after his second operation in a matter of months.

Federer remains upbeat, tweeting: “I plan to take the necessary time to be 100 percent ready to play at my highest level.”

In some ways 2020 is a good season to miss after the coronavirus ravaged the tennis schedule. Writing Federer off in the past has proved dangerous.

He returned from a six-month injury lay-off to claim the Australian Open in 2017, winning his eighth Wimbledon crown later that year.

But he will be 40 in 2021 and is now heading into uncharted territory.

Despite his groaning trophy cabinet, there are two factors that will motivate Federer to keep going — the risk of losing his grip on the men's Grand Slam title record and a missing Olympics singles gold medal.

Rafael Nadal has 19 majors, just one shy of Federer's mark and Djokovic has 17.

Spain's Nadal will be fancied to draw level with Federer at the French Open, rescheduled for September, while few would bet against Djokovic winning in New York weeks earlier.

In April, Federer said he was “devastated” when Wimbledon was cancelled for the first time since World War II. Last year he fell agonisingly short at the All England Club, failing to convert two championship points on his own serve against Djokovic.

The Wimbledon grass probably remains his best chance of adding to his Grand Slam collection — he has not won the US Open since 2008 and his only title at Roland Garros came in 2009.

Even though Federer has slipped from the very pinnacle of the game, he is still a major threat to Nadal and Djokovic.

'Golden' ambitions

Last year, the world number four had a 53-10 win-loss record and he reached the semi-finals at the Australian Open in January in his only tournament this year.

Federer, who is still six ATP titles short of Jimmy Connors' all-time record of 109, has one glaring omission from his CV — the Olympic title.

The Swiss won doubles gold in Beijing in 2008 with compatriot Stan Wawrinka but lost in the singles final to Andy Murray in London four years later.

The postponed Tokyo Games will almost certainly be Federer's last opportunity to complete a career “golden” Grand Slam — he will turn 40 on the day of the closing ceremony next year.

Tennis will feel the loss of the elegant Federer keenly when he walks off the court for the last time.

Djokovic and Nadal have been the dominant forces in recent years but the Swiss remains the biggest draw and last month topped Forbes' list of the world's highest-earning athletes.

His last appearance on court was in front of nearly 52,000 fans — touted by organisers as a world record for tennis — at a charity match against Nadal in Cape Town in February.

Federer is nearly always the crowd favourite wherever he plays and has proved a perfect ambassador for the sport since he won his first Grand Slam title in 2003.

He certainly expects to be back and competitive next year.

“I will be missing my fans and the tour dearly but I will look forward to seeing everyone back on tour at the start of the 2021 season,” he tweeted.

The avalanche of support from his adoring fans showed they would miss him too, but they will have to get used to a time when he is gone for good.

Url copied to clipboard!