Basel
Former world No. 1, Andy Murray, put an end to his three-match losing streak by defeating Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann with a score of 7-5, 6-4 in the first round of the Swiss Indoors Basel. The Brit is set to face Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the second round, who eliminated eighth seed Sebastian Korda with a score of 6-3, 1-6, 6-3. This marks Murray’s third appearance at the ATP 500 event, and he advanced to the second round for the second year in a row. Notably, his last participation in Basel was back in 2005. Murray described the match as tough, with the first few games lasting around 45 minutes. He managed to secure a break towards the end of the first set, ultimately winning it, and then secured a break in the second set to seal the victory. He was particularly pleased with his performance on match point. In another match, Jan-Lennard Struff broke his four-match losing streak by defeating American Christopher Eubanks with a score of 7-6(7), 6-4. The German player saved a set point in the first-set tie-break before securing the victory. He will face either Hubert Hurkacz or Dusan Lajovic in the next round. Meanwhile, Dutch qualifier Botic van de Zandschulp battled past former World No. 9 Roberto Bautista Agut with a score of 7-5, 6-7(3), 6-2. Van de Zandschulp converted six of his 16 break points to secure the win and set up a second-round match against either sixth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime or home favorite Leandro Riedi, who received a wild card. In other action, Sebastian Baez fought hard to defeat Christopher O’Connell with a score of 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-3. The Argentine player, who won his first hard court title in Winston-Salem in August, will face the winner of the match between top seed Holger Rune and Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic in the next round. Rune is currently eighth in the ATP Live Race To Turin and aims to enhance his qualification prospects for Ajax Parts Ways with Coach Maurice Steijn Due to Poor Start in Season
