Madrid Open 2017: Andy Murray Bounced by Borna Coric, Novak Djokovic Advances
Andy Murray made a shock exit from the 2017 Madrid Open on Thursday after Borna Coric beat the world No. 1 in straight sets 6-3, 6-3, while Novak Djokovic advanced to the quarter-finals after he defeated Feliciano Lopez 6-4, 7-5.
The Scot failed to find his stride under heavy pressure from Coric, who trailed Murray for just two games in total and broke his opponent's serve on four occasions.
Djokovic will face Kei Nishikori in the next stage of the competition after his upcoming opponent blasted past David Ferrer, with a convincing 6-4, 6-3 win.
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Rafael Nadal also qualified for the quarters following a smooth 6-3, 6-1 defeat of Nick Kyrgios, while Dominic Thiem got the better of Grigor Dimitrov to advance with a 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(9) edging of his Bulgarian opponent.
Meanwhile, fifth seed Milos Raonic made a surprisingly early exit from the tournament after No. 9 seed David Goffin defeated the Canadian in straight sets 6-4, 6-2, and Alexander Zverev beat 11th seed Tomas Berdych 6-4, 6-4.
In the women's singles, top remaining seed Simona Halep progressed to the semi-finals after getting the better of Coco Vandeweghe with a 6-1, 6-1 demolition. Kristina Mladenovic and Svetlana Kuznetsova also advanced to the semi-finals with wins over Sorana Cirstea and Eugenie Bouchard, respectively.
Read on for a roundup of Thursday's tennis results from the 2017 Madrid Open.
| Men's Singles | |
| [2] Novak Djokovic bt. Feliciano Lopez | 6-4, 7-5 |
| [6] Kei Nishikori bt. David Ferrer | 6-4, 6-3 |
| [9] David Goffin bt. [5] Milos Raonic | 6-4, 6-2 |
| Alexander Zverev bt. [11] Tomas Berdych | 6-4, 6-4 |
| Borna Coric bt. [1] Andy Murray | 6-3, 6-3 |
| [8] Dominic Thiem bt. [12] Grigor Dimitrov | 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(9) |
| Pablo Cuevas bt. Benoit Paire | 7-5, 0-6, 6-1 |
| [4] Rafael Nadal bt. [16] Nick Kyrgios | 6-3, 6-1 |
| Women's Singles | |
| [3] Simona Halep bt. Coco Vandeweghe | 6-1, 6-1 |
| Anastasija Sevastova bt. Kiki Bertens | 6-3, 6-3 |
| [14] Kristina Mladenovic bt. Sorana Cirstea | 6-4, 6-4 |
| [8] Svetlana Kuznetsova bt. Eugenie Bouchard | 6-4, 6-0 |
Visit the official Madrid Open website for a look at the upcoming draw in full.
Recap
Taking on the world No. 1 at 21 years of age might seem a daunting task for some, but Coric handled the task with aplomb in his meeting with Murray to move into the last eight of the 2017 Madrid Open.
All looked to be going to plan for Murray at 2-1 up in the first set, but three consecutive breaks of serve saw the two-time Madrid champion fall in fair fashion, and Tennis TV provided a look at the kind of forehand flair that won him the fixture:
While a comeback might have been expected by some in the second set, Murray was simply beaten by the better player, illustrated by the fact Coric never fell behind again and won at his second chance at match point.
Murray's second serve let him down as he won just 35 per cent of those points played, per the official ATP World Tour website, and tennis writer David Law suggested the underdog's victory was some time coming:
In his first tournament appearance since splitting with his long-term coaching staff, Djokovic followed up a somewhat rusty win over Spain's Nicolas Almagro with a more comfortable beating of the latter's compatriot Lopez.
Despite losing nine games over the course of two sets, Djokovic looked solid throughout the tie and was particularly strong in his service game, boasting an impressive first-serve percentage of 68, per the official ATP website.
Lopez failed to lead at any time in the match and was ultimately a vital step off the pace throughout when compared to his opponent, but Djokovic was nevertheless relieved to get past a tough fixture, per Sport360's Reem Abulleil:
Although his serve slipped somewhat as the match progressed, Djokovic looked imperious from the baseline for the most part and conceded just five points in five service games during the opening set.
His reward for Thursday's victory is an early quarter-final meeting against Nishikori on Friday, and Metro's George Bellshaw provided quotes from the world No. 2, who is expecting a tough test against the tournament's sixth seed:
Nishikori was permitted a somewhat more rudimentary path into the last eight and scythed his way past Ferrer in just under 90 minutes, where it was his overbearing return that sealed Ferrer's fate.
The Spaniard could only break serve on one occasion while his opponent managed to do so four times, with Nishikori converting four of the five break-point opportunities that came his way.
Despite the talent set to grace the Madrid Open in Friday's highly anticipated quarter-final clash, however, it's the sponsors that grabbed Djokovic's attention most ahead of his next test:
Some might have expected Kyrgios to put up a stronger fight in his meeting with Nadal, but the Aussie star won a measly four games across both sets of their clash as the former appeared to throw in the towel as the match progressed.
Nadal's 6-3, 6-1 triumph continues an already impressive year to date for the Spanish icon, who not sits in extremely good standing on the ATP Tour for 2017:
Twenty-year-old Zverev advanced his campaign as one of the most promising prospects on display in Madrid and followed his comeback win over seventh seed Marin Cilic with victory over another seeded star, Berdych.
The German lived up to his billing as one of the sport's in-form youngsters and even led 4-1 in the second set before surviving Berdych's revival to see out a 6-4, 6-4 win.
Per the ATP, his latest result indicates the Next Gen ATP is working to good effect:
Goffin's meeting with Roanic was one of three third-round clashes in the men's singles that pitted two seeded stars against one another, and it was ultimately the underdog who pulled clear on this occasion with a 6-4, 6-2 win.
The Belgian bookended the first set with breaks of Raonic and added another two to his tally, which coupled with a resilient serving performance was enough to see him topple the odds and advance to the last eight.
In the women's competition, Halep was unforgiving in her 6-1, 6-1 hammering of American Vandeweghe, who lasted only an hour before making her way out of the running at the quarter-final stage.
Halep will take on Anastasija Sevastova in the penultimate phase of the tournament on Friday after the Latvian underdog bested Kiki Bertens 6-3, 6-3 to continue a fine maiden run at the Madrid Open.
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