Andy Murray reflects on Nick Kyrgios' last-minute Winston-Salem withdrawal

Former world No. 1 Andy Murray admitted even he wasn't sure what would happen after six-time ATP champion Nick Kyrgios pulled out of their Winston-Salem first round clash. 

Murray had been drawn to face Kyrgios in his Winston-Salem opener but the Australian pulled out of the event just minutes before the start of their match. 

After the Kyrgios withdrawal, Murray wasn't sure what would happen next. 

In the end, Murray ended up taking on lucky loser Noah Rubin. 

“Originally I was playing Nick and he had an injury to his knee so wasn’t going to play. I didn’t know if I was going to play tonight. They said if I was playing against a qualifier then I wouldn’t play and then I drew a lucky loser… so then I was playing Noah… It was tricky,” Murray said in his on-court interview, per the ATP website. 

“It was obviously difficult for 45 minutes and then the first couple of games because you’ve gone over a strategy with your coach about the match you’re going to play and then obviously that changes.

"... Twenty minutes before you go on court you’re playing someone you haven’t played against.”

Murray dominated Rubin 

Around 25 minutes before the Kyrgios withdrawal, Rubin lost to Lucas Pouille in the Winston-Salem qualifying final round. 

Rubin ran out of gas and he stood no chance against three-time Grand Slam champion Murray. 

Murray, now ranked at No. 114 in the world, demolished Rubin 6-2 6-0. 

“It’s a bit tricky but obviously after the first few games I started to get a bit more comfortable and then towards then end he was struggling a bit,” Murray said of the 58-minute win. “Unfortunately I know he’s from here and that’s great. It was a nice atmosphere to play in and everything but my job is to try to win the match.”

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3gO8XuL