(Tennis news) Former World Number 1 Andy Murray was defeated in the final of the Stuttgart Open to Italian tennis player Matteo Berrettini 4-6 7-5 3-6. It was Murray’s second loss in a grass court final and the 2016 Wimbledon winner had an injury scare during the match, requiring treatment from his trainer twice in the third set. As for Berrettini, the Italian was playing his first tournament since March after recovering from a hand injury that forced him to be sidelined during the clay court season. 

Murray’s journey to the finals has been impressive to say the least. The Scotsman defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter-fials and Nick Kyrgios to reach his 70th career final and 10th on grass. Despite losing to Berrettini, Murray has now entered the top 50 in World Rankings for the first time since 2018. Speaking after the match, Murray said “I got some pain in my ab when I was serving. Not something I've had before. I'll need to get it checked when I get home. Obviously I've played a lot of matches. This is the most matches I've played in two weeks since probably 2016. That's a really long time. It's probably normal that I would feel some stuff in my body but I don't really know the severity of it. Hopefully it's all right. 

Obviously some good wins, it was a good week, but not the way I wanted to finish the week. I felt like I was playing well enough to win and I got myself in a really good position going into the third set, so a frustrating end to what was a good week. I really enjoyed it. I'd like to congratulate Matteo and his team on a fantastic week. He's just come back from a surgery and it's never easy. He played extremely well today and deserved the win. Finally, thank you to my team here and my team back home."

Murray failed to capitalise on four break points in the first set while trailing 2-1, resulting in Berrettini winning the set 6-4. Despite rescuing three break points, the Scot was unable to make the deficit. Both the players matched each other well in the second set but were also responsible for making sloppy errors. Murray saved three break points while at 4-4 to hold for the lead but Berrettini managed to strike back with a comfortable service game. Eventually, Murray was forced to take a medical timeout with the physiotherapist looking at his left leg and despite being able to continue, he was trailing by two as Berrettini took control and secured the victory in the finals.

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