Tennis: Dominic Koepfer defeats Andy Murry 2-1 in Paris Masters 2021
New Delhi: German tennis player Dominik Koepfer replaced American player Jenson Brooksby because of his sickness, and defeated the British opponent Andy Murray 2-1 in the first round of the Men’s Singles Rolex Paris Masters 2021, played in Paris on Tuesday.
Andy Murray started slow but broke Koepfer to level the score in the opening set. Soon the 34-year-old made unforced serve errors that led to Koepfer’s domination by 2-5. Though Murray saved two breakpoints and recovered from one break, Koepfer closed the set by 4-6.
Koepfer served first and led in the next set. Murray struggled to gain momentum and made an unforced error before gaining a net point, as his opponent tried to force the match into a deuce.
Meanwhile, the 2016 Paris Masters champion smashed aggressively to dominate and ultimately win the set by 7-5.
The intense final set had Murray and Koepfer aggressively charging at one another. The former World No. 1 gained two break points at 5-4 before the match went into a tie-breaker. Murray committed double faults and had a faulty tie-breaker beginning. Koepfer led the tie-breaker into a shocking victory by 7-6(9).
Dominik Koepfer was the last replacement for Jenson Brooksby, who withdrew from the tournament citing severe abdominal pains.
The Rolex Paris Masters 2021 is an annual Men’s Tennis Tournament in Singles and Doubles categories. International male tennis players play within the indoor Accor Hotels Arena. This year they are running from October 30 to November 7.
(Avya Mathur)
