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Tennis: Madrid is experiencing a “classic”

Tennis

On Monday Andy Murray celebrated his first victory on clay in five years against Dominic Thiem, on Tuesday he followed up at the Masters 1000 tournament in Madrid. After the former number three, the Scot defeated the current number 16 in the world with Denis Shapovalov and gave the Canadian a 6:1 3:6 6:2 defeat. As a reward, a special match awaits in the round of sixteen.

Murray meets Serbian world number one Novak Djokovic in a “classic” on Thursday, this duel has already happened 36 times on the tour, but not for more than five years. Most recently, the “Djoker” prevailed in three sets in the 2017 Doha final.

19 comparisons and thus more than half took place in finals. Djokovic leads 25:11 head-to-head, on clay it is 5: 1. Since the last meeting, Murray has endured a spell of hip problems and surgery. Djokovic, on the other hand, has played little this year as he has not been vaccinated against the corona virus.

Victory against “favorite opponent” Monfils

In the second round of Madrid, however, he set a record. The 34-year-old beat Gael Monfils 6:3 6:2 and thus also won the 18th duel with the Frenchman. There is no other such clear head-to-head in the Open Era (since 1968).

Günter Bresnik’s protégé Monfils once again entertained people in his well-known extroverted manner, but he also made too many unforced mistakes. “That was probably my best performance this year,” said Djokovic. With the victory, he stayed on the way to a possible fourth Madrid title, and the number one position in the world rankings is also secured for the time being.

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