Andy Murray’s journey at the US Open came to an end on Friday as Matteo Berrettini defeated him in four sets in their third-round match on Arthur Ashe. On a scorching hot day at Arthur Ashe, Berrettini won 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (1), 6-3 in 3 hours and 47 minutes thanks to his accurate serving and superb drop shots.
Murray’s chances of reaching the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time since Wimbledon 2017 were dashed by the loss.
Murray entered this match having defeated Francisco Cerundolo and Emilio Nava in his initial matches, whereas Matteo Berrettini had defeated Nicolas Jarry in straight sets and needed four games to defeat Hugo Grenier.
However, in the first set’s lone break of serve under the midday sun in New York, Matteo Berrettini prevailed, with Murray giving out as a result of a double fault. Both players traded breaks at the beginning of the second set, but Berrettini’s break in the ninth game—again, with Andy Murray wasting break point with a double fault—allowed the 2021 Wimbledon champion to serve out. Murray threw his racket in the direction of his seat before slamming his bag with it in apparent frustration at the switchover.
The third set started off on serve but was broken in the fourth game due to Berrettini’s drop shots, which were giving Murray a lot of trouble.
At that time, Berrettini had a break point, but Murray took the game to a tiebreaker and held serve. Both players maintained their serves throughout the tiebreak, which Murray easily won 7-1.
In the fourth game, Murray broke Berrettini first up, but the Italian immediately broke back. The turning point, however, came in the eighth game when Berrettini forced two break points and Murray’s weak backhand hit the net, giving Berrettini the opportunity to serve for the title. He awarded himself two match chances, which he converted right away by pinning down a serve that Murray could only return with a racket.
The pair had previously faced off four times, with Murray triumphing in Beijing in 2019 and Berrettini claiming victory at Queen’s Club in 2021. Their most recent encounter took place in Stuttgart in June of this year, and Berrettini prevailed 6-4, 5-7, 6-3.
The loss puts an end to Murray’s Grand Slam schedule for this year, which saw him go to the second round of the Australian Open and skip Roland Garros to concentrate on the season on grass courts. However, his Wimbledon campaign came to an end in the second round when he lost to John Isner.
