VIENNA (AFP) — Andy Murray earned his first win against a top-10 opponent in 14 months by defeating Hubert Hurkacz 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-3 in the opening round of the Erste Bank Open.
Murray missed a match point on Hurkacz’s serve in the second-set tiebreaker but the former No. 1 rallied from a break down in the final set to wrap up the win after more than 2 hours, 40 minutes.
It was the Brit’s first top-10 win since beating Alexander Zverev at the Cincinnati Masters in August 2020, and his first win of the season against a player ranked in the top 20.
Murray won the tournament on both his previous appearances – in 2014 and 2016.
The result was a blow to the 10th-ranked Hurkacz’s chances of qualifying for the season-ending ATP Finals.
Hurkacz currently holds the eighth and last slot, but has only a slim lead over Jannik Sinner and Cameron Norrie, who also both play in Austria this week.
Third-seeded Matteo Berrettini advanced with a 7-6 (2), 6-3 win over Australian qualifier Alexei Popyrin.
Berrettini didn’t face a break point in the match and broke Popyrin at 3-2 in the second set before closing out the win on his first match point.
In other first-round play, Alex de Minaur downed 2018 champion Kevin Anderson 6-3, 7-6 (3); Carlos Alcaraz beat Daniel Evans 6-4, 6-3; and Nikoloz Basilashvili outlasted Pablo Carreno Busta 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.
Stefanos Tsitsipas and Zverev are seeded first and second, respectively, at the indoor event.