Murray hasn't passed the third round of a Grand Slam since 2017
“Andy Murray’s evident frustration was on display following his 3-6, 7-5, 6-7 defeat to Australian player Alex De Minaur at the China Open in Beijing.”
Murray smashed his racket in frustration at one point and had a terse exchange with a camera operator as he attempted to leave the court.
The former world No 1 was seen barking at the camera operator although the offending crew member was blocking the path of a player after a defeat and wasn’t the worst outburst in tennis history by any means.
Andy Murray had three match points but was unable to convert any which only added to his frustration.
De Minaur said that he felt like he just needed to be patient and stay in the match.
“I think to be honest we both didn’t bring out best level today,” De Minaur said.
“It was a scrap fest and was not pretty but I am happy I was able to get my first win in a long time when I have saved some mach points.
“I kept my head screwed on and I told myself to keep trying and to keep backing myself and eventually I was going to find my level. I am very happy to turn that match around.”
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De Minaur has now defeated Murray three times this year in Monte-Carlo and Queen’s Club to take a 5-0 lead in their head-to-head matchup. The only other players to defeat Murray five times in a row are Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer.
“Last couple of matches with him have obviously, yeah, been pretty one-sided,” Murray said in anticipation of the match.
“If I do come up against him in a couple of weeks, I will obviously need to look at that and see what I can do differently.”
Former Beijing champion Murray was able to push De Minaur to the limit but wasn’t able to get over the line in the end.
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain defeated Chinese wildcard Yi Zhou 6-2, 6-2 to claim his 50th career hard-court tour-level victory. The 24-year-old advanced after 70 minutes with a 2023 first-round record of 18-5 after hitting 20 winners.
At the ATP 500 hard-court tournament in Beijing, Davidovich Fokina will next take on either eighth seed Alexander Zverev or Argentine Diego Schwartzman.
Matteo Arnaldi, a qualifier, upset American JJ Wolf 6-2, 6-2, continuing his astonishing run. The Italian, who participated in the 2022 Next Gen ATP Finals, is now ranked No 42 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings after moving up six spots with his opening round win. At the US Open earlier this month, Arnaldi experienced a run to the fourth round at a major for the first time.
