Andy Murray's Wimbledon 2021 came to an end, even as other seeded competitors carried on through to the next round of the tournament.
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The toll of two tough matches in Wimbledon’s first two rounds was too much for 34-year-old Andy Murray. Thus, when he faced No. 10-seeded Denis Shapovalov, there was always a sense that it would come falling down. Murray lost 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 and thus his Wimbledon 2021 campaign came to an end. The Scotsman, mounting his latest comeback after two hip operations, delighted Centre Court fans with two grueling wins this week. But they had little to cheer about in Murray’s match against Shapovalov, who had a 45-16 edge in winners and erased eight of the nine break points he faced.
Shapovalov is into the round of 16 at a Grand Slam for the third time – but first at the All England Club.
Afterwards, Murray says there were “some great moments” for him during this appearance at Wimbledon. However, he also said the way he played was “extremely frustrating”.
The two-time Wimbledon champion saw the fact that he managed to play three Grand Slam matches without getting injured as a positive. It’s worth noting he had not played in the singles draw at the All England Club for four years due to his two hip operations.
“If I’m going to put that much effort in, I want to be performing better than what I did here,” he added bluntly aftewards.
Russia’s Karen Khachanov beat Frances Tiafoe in straight sets to secure safe passage into the fourth round. Afterwards, Tiafoe said he was so focused on a desire to get revenge for a third-round loss to Khachanov at Wimbledon in 2018 that it ended up being deja vu all over again.
“I played a little tight. I knew it was a good opportunity, I just wanted to win too bad. Not my best day by any means.”
Three years ago, Tiafoe grabbed the opening two sets against Khachanov. But he allowed the Russian a way back and he won in five sets. This time, the 23-year-old from Maryland didn’t even let things get that far. He lost 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
“I was playing tentatively, I wasn’t playing so aggressive,” Tiafoe said. “I was letting him dictate play.”
He came into Friday having won all 29 service games during two victories this week. He even upset No. 3 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, who made Novak Djokovic go the distance in the French Open final.
But Tiafoe got broken three times by the 25th-seeded Khachanov and it set the tone for his exit.
Karen Khachanov (25), Russia, def. Frances Tiafoe, United States, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
Andrey Rublev (5), Russia, def. Fabio Fognini (26), Italy, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.
Cristian Garin (17), Chile, def. Pedro Martinez, Spain, 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
Roberto Bautista Agut (8), Spain, def. Dominik Koepfer, Germany, 7-5, 6-1, 7-6 (4).
Marton Fucsovics, Hungary, def. Diego Schwartzman (9), Argentina, 6-3, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-4.
Novak Djokovic (1), Serbia, def. Denis Kudla, United States, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (7).
Sebastian Korda, United States, def. Daniel Evans (22), Britain, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Denis Shapovalov (10), Canada, def. Andy Murray, Britain, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.
