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Alex de Minaur of Australia beat Andy Murray of Great Britain 6-3 5-7 7-6(6) in the first round of the China Open in Beijing on Thursday, September 28. The 24-year-old Australian had to save three match points in the nearly three-hour battle.
The 36-year-old Brit, meanwhile, fought to the best of his ability but paid the price for not converting his opportunities. De Minaur will play his second-round match on Saturday.
On that note, here's a look at two things that stood out in the match:
#1 De Minaur dominated with his forehand in the first set
De Minaur put a lot of pressure on Murray with his forehand in the first set. The veteran Brit struggled to cover the court to retrieve the ball, as his much younger opponent made him move from side to side by playing the angles well. He also made Murray play more often off his forehand and the Brit had to rely heavily on his crosscourt forehand.
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The young Australian got an early break of serve, which was enough to win the first set. From here on out, it was always going to be difficult for Murray to make a comeback, but he made a valiant effort.
#2 De Minaur’s ultra-aggressive approach did not work, but Murray then missed his chances
De Minaur attempted to capitalize on his advantage by trying to put pressure on Murray by venturing forward to the net often. However, Murray’s excellent passing shots made things difficult for the Australian.
Murray broke De Minaur twice in the second set to draw level. In the third set, the Brit got an early break and was serving for the match at 5-3. However, he failed to serve the match out, as De Minaur saved two match points before breaking the Brit.
The final set eventually went into a tie-break which saw the Australian race into a 5-2 lead. However, Murray managed to bounce back yet again but missed his third match point before De Minuar wrapped up the match.
Murray was guilty of playing his forehands long on a number of occasions. The Brit was also able to win only 45% of the points on his second serve, while De Minaur managed a considerably better 62%. This proved to be the difference in the end.
