After lifting the Mutua Madrid Open title on hard courts in 2008 and clay in 2015, Andy Murray completed a successful transition to PlayStation with a 7-6(5) victory against David Goffin to capture the Mutua Madrid Open Virtual Pro title on Thursday.
Both men entered the contest with unbeaten records, but former World No. 1 Murray fired a cross-court forehand winner to end an epic contest after 33 minutes. The 46-time tour-level titlist rose to his feet and held his hands to his head in celebration as Goffin covered his eyes.
“We raised a lot of money for some good causes,” said Murray. “It was nice, personally, to spend a little bit of time chatting to some of the players. [It is] something that I have missed during this period and something that I have been used to for the past 12, 14 years of my life… It was something I have never done before. Thanks to everyone who put the event on.”
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Murray receives €150,000 in prize money for his title run and can now decide how much of that total will be allocated towards tennis players currently suffering economically. A further €50,000 will go towards reducing the social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“He had a few more options, but my serve was probably the biggest difference,” said Murray. “I came up with some big serves.”
Goffin was attempting to win his second tie-break of the day, after booking his place in the championship match with a 7-6(6) semi-final triumph against Stefanos Tsitsipas. Later in the day, Tsitsipas overcame Real Betis striker Borja Iglesias 6-3 to win the Charity Mutua Madrid Open Virtual Pro.
“It was fun. At the end, it was a great final,” said Goffin. “Andy was playing so good, so he deserved [to win] the final.”
Murray also revealed that Mutua Madrid Open Tournament Director Feliciano Lopez was putting pressure on him during the week, sending text messages referring to him as the tournament favourite.
“I just want to thank you for playing and proving my prediction that you were going to be the winner,” said Lopez.
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During the post-match trophy ceremony, Murray made a commitment to Lopez for the 2021 edition of the tournament, where he plans to collect his trophy and deliver a speech in Spanish.
”I am going to practise [my Spanish]. There is no excuse for me during this period where I have got a lot of time at home and not much else happening in my life to not try and learn a little bit more Spanish, so that I am confident enough to speak publicly in the language,” said Murray.
“Next year, when I come to the tournament and I get presented with the trophy, I will do my speech in Spanish. That’s the commitment I am going to make.”
from Tennis - ATP World Tour https://ift.tt/2Wgxopd
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