“Former US Open victor Andy Murray concluded his New York campaign in the second round with a straight-sets loss to the 19th-ranked Bulgarian, Grigor Dimitrov. Nevertheless, there was a British triumph in another match, with 21-year-old Jack Draper pulling off a surprising win over Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz, claiming victory with scores of 6-2, 6-4, 7-5. Draper’s victory sets up an encounter with Michael Mmoh, who triumphed over John Isner in a five-set battle.”
Andy Murray lost in straight sets, 6-3 6-4 6-1 to Grigor Dimitrov on Thursday in the second round of the US Open, while Jack Draper beat Hubert Hurkacz.
Murray had done well in the weeks ahead of Wimbledon as he won two titles, but was knocked out at SW19 in the second round, and his hard-court preparation at the Canadian Open ended in the third round.
The former British No. 1 was in determined form early on, as he fought for 17 minutes in the third game of the first set, but ultimately he was unable to keep up with his younger opponent.
In that third game, Murray displayed some of his trademark attitude when at deuce and two games down, he watched as a forehand from Dimitrov looped off the net, and looked set to defeat him, only for Murray to react brilliantly and nudged the ball across the court to win the point, ending his dash to the net on his opponent’s side of the court.
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The same game saw Dimitrov display his own talents, when the two players faced off at the net before he stooped with his back to the net, sending the ball behind Murray, out of reach.
The 36-year-old Murray, a winner at the US Open in 2012, looked flat against his experienced opponent who was knocked out in Cincinnati in the first round, and Dimitrov regularly broke Murray in order to take the first two sets, before Murray had little left to offer in the third.
Dimitrov deployed his backhand slice as a serious weapon and Murray was unable to combat it as he fell to defeat in two hours and 46 minutes.
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Fellow Briton Jack Draper upset world No. 17 Hubert Hurkacz in straight sets on Court 12 as he progressed to the third round in New York.
The 21-year-old beat Radu Albot in the first round in straight sets, while Poland’s Hurkacz needed five sets to get past Switzerland’s Marc-Andrea Huesler, and may have been suffering from the effort needed to get in the second round.
There were fitness concerns for Draper after he had retired last week in his second-round match at Winston-Salem as he prepared for the start of this tournament, and has been out for three months of this campaign with a shoulder problem.
A match that ran just over two hours saw Draper make only 22 unforced errors, while he was able to break his opponent five times on his way to the third round.
He will take on Michael Mmoh who brought the curtain down on John Isner’s career with a five-set win.
While Murray bowed out, there will be plenty of British representation in round three of the men’s singles after Cameron Norrie followed Draper through with a win over Yu Hsu.
Yu came out with determination to play on the front foot, but Norrie absorbed the pressure before going through the gears in a 7-5 6-4 6-4 success.
Norrie will face Matteo Arnaldi in round three following his win over Arthur Fils in five minutes short of four hours.
Jodie Burrage was unable to trouble world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka, as the Belarusian won 6-3 6-2.
The Australian Open champion needed just 74 minutes against the Briton as the two played out the first meeting of their careers.
Sabalenka dominated with her service game, sending down seven aces, and was two powerful for Burrage to cope with on her final serve of the first set.
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Speaking after her win, Sabalenka said she was focused on winning in New York rather than potentially overtaking Iga Swiatek as the No. 1 women’s player.
She said: “It’s just a chance. I’m not really focusing on that. But of course it’s going to mean a lot for me. It’s one of the goals and one of the dreams. I’ll do my best to reach my dream.”
Sabalenka will face Clara Burel in the next round, after the French player defeated Karolina Pliskova.
Katie Boulter defeated Yafan Wang 5-7 6-1 6-4 in a determined comeback in a match that lasted two hours 23 minutes.
“I’m obviously super happy,” Boulter said after the match.
“At the start of the match I was a little bit nervous and finishing it was a little bit nervous as well but I’m really proud of myself about the way I handled it and managed to get over the line.
“I’ve got a few things to work on but I’m sure I’ll bounce back. I loved it out there. It was packed and I think that’s what got me over the line today. I’m so happy.”
