Andy Murray was ousted at the ABD AMRO World Tennis Tournament in the Netherlands on Friday, falling to eighth-seeded Gilles Simon for the first time since 2007.
Simon knocked off Murray rather easily, rolling 6-4, 6-2 over the Scot. He hung tough on his service game, saving four of six break points and took advantage of some sloppy play from Murray to cruise in straight sets.
“It was a great match for me,” said Simon. “I lost 12 times against him, so it was almost an unexpected win. I had a better feeling against him the last two matches I had to play. I was twice one set and a break up, I really felt I was close to win, and I think it helped me to be more confident today.”
Murray didn’t go away quietly in that second set and saved a couple of match points before Simon was able to close him out.
“I struggled with most of the shots, to be honest,” said Murray. “At the beginning of the match my backhand, at the end of the match my forehand. It was tough. I felt I was hitting the ball too early; I felt my timing was a bit off.”
Simon now moves on and will take on defending champion Tomas Berdych.
The third-seeded Czech has looked outstanding thus far in 2015 and continued his excellent play with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over France’s Gael Monfils.
“It was a very good game,” said Berdych. “I was able to add something extra from the last match I played yesterday, which was a goal. I was able to keep up with the game plan, which was rightly chosen. I was able to execute it all the way to the last point. As we know, it’s Gael, who’s not an easy opponent. I’m really happy the way I handled it in those two sets.”
Berdych made quick work of Monfils, beating him in just 72 minutes. He had a bit of a scare as he fell while crashing to the net, but was able to shake it off to notch his fourth win in five attempts against the Frenchman.
