Former world number one Andy Murray failed to convert seven match points but said he did not “deserve to win the match as I did not play well enough” after losing a three hour thriller to lucky loser Dominik Koepfer of Germany in the Paris Masters first round yesterday.
Murray, ranked 144, had been given a wild card but while the 34-year-old lacked killer instinct, he did show steely determination to battle back from a set and a break down to take the match to a third set before Koepfer won 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (11/9).
Koepfer - a late replacement when American qualifier Jenson Brooksby withdrew with abdominal pains hours before the match - had served for the match in the second set. However, Murray, roared on by the crowd, roused himself and broke his 55th-ranked opponent before going on to take the set. The third set was a cracking duel with Murray saving three break points at 0-40 at 3-3.
Murray, though, could not quite complete a remarkable comeback as he let so many match points slip - two when Koepfer served to stay in the match at 4-5 and then five more in the epic tie-breaker. It was Koepfer, though, who showed how to take chances when they come along as he converted his first match point. Murray gave a brutal assessment of his performance. “The thing I’m most disappointed with, was the way that I played tonight, to be honest,” said Murray, who will play the Stockholm event before bringing the curtain down on his season. I did really well to get myself in the position to win the match, but I don’t think I deserved to win. “Obviously I had a ton of opportunities at the end to do it, but the way that I was playing tonight was not good enough.”
Britain’s Andy Murray in action against Germany’s Dominik Koepfer during their Paris Masters match. (AFP)
