Andy Murray’s impressive run at the 2022 Hall of Fame Open came to a halt on Friday after Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik knocked him out of the competition’s quarter-finals. Bublik advanced following a hard-fought 7-5, 6-4 win in Newport, Rhode Island, and will face either Jason Kubler or James Duckworth in the next round.
World No. 52 Murray has prided much of his play so far this week around his serve, winning around 70 per cent of his first-serve points during recent victories over Sam Querrey and Max Purcell. That portion of his play would again prove pivotal in Friday’s quarter-final clash, though the same could be said for 6’5″ Bublik.
In fact, the pair didn’t produce a break until the 11th game when a thunderous Bublik backhand caused the Kazakh to cry: “Let’s go!” The 25-year-old served out to win the opening segment 7-5, surging ahead thanks to that singular break and a steadfast serve (he won 84 per cent of first-serve points in the opening set).
It proved to be the beginning of a pattern for both players, each of whom dropped their opening serves in the second set despite looking so sturdy in the first. Bublik briefly looked bamboozled after quarrelling with officials over a ‘foot ball’ infringement, but he survived a break point of his own before cracking Murray’s serve for a third time to lead 4-3.
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