They’re singing “Oh Canada” in Indian Wells tonight as one of their own took revenge on the Mother Country. But, we’re not sure if the Queen will knight him as she did Sir Andy Murray. Like Don Quixote, the Scottish Knight was tilting at windmills all night long. In this case, the windmills were in the form of Vasek Pospisil’s net smothering volleys and punishing second serve returns. Murray looked as dour as a rainy afternoon in Glasgow as he could find no way through the storm that was Pospisil. Pospisil delighted the crowd, though perhaps not the organizers of the BNP Paribas, as many expected Murray to make the run to the finals as his path was much easier than the “Group of Death” lining the bottom half of the draw.
Pospisil Upsets Murray – Wins in Straight Sets
After winning the first set 6-4, Pospisil found stiffer resistance coming from the Brit. Upping his first serve percentage and hitting down the line to keep Pospisil from taking over the net, Murray reminded fans why he’s currently sitting at World #1. Pospisil hung on in the second set, surprising many as he survived a dicey tiebreak. In the end, Pospisil came through and–like the Mounties of his homeland–he got his man. It’s the biggest upset of the tournament so far in these early rounds; World #1 Andy Murray is out to Vasek Pospisil. In just under two hours, Pospisil won the second round match-up 6-4, 7-6(5).
Pospisil, who was once ranked as high as #25 in the World, currently sits outside the Top 100 and actually had to go through qualifiers just to get into the Main Draw here at Indian Wells. He has talent, though, as evidenced by reaching the Top 30. He played to win and provided an excellent performance at the net, which turned out to be the difference in this match. Murray’s half of the draw is now wide open; let’s see what potential challenger can step up and make a run at this tournament. There are a lot of points and prestige at stake and a lot of players who can earn it.
For Murray, this loss is a bit concerning as it was very reminiscent of his loss to Mischa Zverev at the Australian Open. Again, it was another player capitalizing at net after attacking Murray’s weaker shots. Whether this is the start of a trend for how to beat the usually-nimble Brit or just a dip in Murray’s level of play remains to be seen.
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