Dominik Koepfer held on for a grueling win over Andy Murray to reach the second round of the Rolex Paris Masters on Monday.
Koepfer needed three hours and one minute to outlast Murray 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (9). The Germany native withstood a fierce comeback effort from Murray, who rallied in the second set.
“It was unbelievable,” Koepfer said. “I thought I had it in my hands in the second set serving for it at 5-4. He just made a lot of balls, I didn’t make a lot of balls. That was the difference, and it was just a great fight in the third set. I just tried to stay in the moment and tried to play every point.
“Obviously it’s tough to play against him. He makes so many balls and is an unbelievable competitor. I knew that going in, I was ready for it and (am) just happy I got through.”
Koepfer, 27, is ranked No. 58 in the world. He has yet to win an ATP Tour title.
Murray, 34, is ranked No. 144 but has 46 career titles.
“I was struggling the past few matches, actually lost five times within the past week,” Koepfer said. “I got in as a double lucky loser last week, lost four times: two times in doubles, two times in singles. That was not great, you lose some confidence. Coming through with such a great fight, good attitude — I competed hard and played pretty good tennis — I think it was pretty big for me.”
In other action, 10th-seeded Cameron Norrie of England cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 win over Federico Delbonis of Argentina. Norrie is aiming for his third title of 2021.
Twelfth-seeded Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain also advanced with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Benoit Paire of France. Busta, who has six career titles, also is chasing his third title of the year.
American Sebastian Korda earned a 6-2, 6-7 (9), 7-6 (5) win over 13th-seeded Aslan Karatsev of Russia. The 21-year-old Korda won his first career title earlier this year.
Other first-round winners were Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic, Belarus’ Ilya Ivashka, Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics, Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik, Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti and France’s Adrian Mannarino and Hugo Gaston.
–Field Level Media
