Andy Murray squanders 7 match points in Paris, beaten by lucky loser Koepfer in three

Andy Murray had a very bad start to the match but rallied to come back and almost win but the German ultimately prevailed 6-4 5-7 7-6(9).

The German is a very tricky lefty who on his day can be extremely hard to beat. He possesses a very strong first serve and a devastating forehand that, when unleashed can be impossible to counter. Murray was well aware of the qualities of his opponent electing to defer aggression to him hoping to see him combust with errors.

Koepfer can be prone to error sprees quite often but today was not one of them. From the start it was evident Murray was not having his best day and rather quickly his tennis became very nonchalant. Koepfer on the other hand was quite aggressive with his forehand working. The German took an early double break lead which Murray diminished to a one break lead.

It still did not prove enough as Koepfer was able to win the first set with 6-4. Murray went down 0-2 at the start of the 2nd set but he continued applying pressure as the match went on. Koepfer saved some early break points but completely fell apart when he needed to close it out. He served for the match at 5-4 but lost his serve to make it 5-5. He then continued making errors and Murray was able to win the 2nd 7-5.

The crucial moment in the 3rd set came midway through the set when Murray was able to hold from 0-40 and stay in the match. He had two match points at 5-4 but Koepfer held firm to stay in the match as well. We ended up in a tiebreak and in it, it was Murray who was on top for the better part of it. It did not matter ultimately as the German won 11-9 after some stellar play in crucial rallies.

The match lasted over three hours and it saw Murray squander 7 match points with 5 coming in the tiebreak.