Andy Murray’s poor finish to the season continued with a fourth defeat in five matches despite a marathon effort against Tomas Martin Etcheverry in Basel. The British number three had snapped a three-match losing streak with a hard-fought victory over Yannick Hanfmann on Monday, but could not build on that momentum.
Murray claimed the first set of this last-16 tie at the Swiss Indoors, but Etcheverry, ranked 32nd, fought back impressively to win 6-7 (5) 6-3 6-2 after a three-hour-and-eight-minute battle. The 84-minute first set appeared to take its toll on Murray, who struggled physically in the latter stages.
Elsewhere, Cameron Norrie had no answer to world number 10 Alexander Zverev in the second round of the Erste Bank Open in Vienna. Zverev won 6-2 6-4, making it four defeats in five for the British number one. Norrie forced two break opportunities when Zverev was serving for the match, but the German responded by winning four consecutive points to close out a solid win.
