Noah Rubin: Tried my best to replace Nick Kyrgios properly versus Andy Murray

World No. 306 Noah Rubin shared a message to fans following his clash with Andy Murray, insisting he did his best to entertain the crowd. 

Just minutes before the start of his first round clash against Murray, former world No. 13 Nick Kyrgios pulled out of the Winston-Salem Open due to a knee injury. 

The organizers had to react quickly and find a replacement for Kyrgios. 

Rubin, who lost his qualifying final round match to Lucas Pouille about 25 minutes before the Kyrgios withdrawal, was offered a lucky loser spot. 

Rubin accepted and 25 minutes after losing to Pouille, he returned to the court and clashed three-time Grand Slam champion Murray. 

Unfortunately for Rubin, he ran out of gas as Murray claimed a dominant 6-2 6-0 win. 

"To everyone who came out to support Murray/Kyrgios match, was fun playing in front of you. Tried to put on a show, but didn’t have much left. Was a brutal day, but this is tennis, and what a weird way to come back. Always at home here at Wake. See ya soon black and gold," Rubin said in a Twitter post. 

Rubin stood no chance against Murray 

Rubin had a chance to start the match with a break but Murray saved two consecutive break points in the opening game. 

The two players were all tied at two games apiece after the opening four games but Murray then earned five consecutibe breaks to win 10 games in a row and finish the match in style. 

After being notified that Kyrgios had pulled out, the disappointed crowd started booing.

The crowd wanted to see Kyrgios in action, who was recently praised by Eugenie Bouchard. 

"I don’t think Reilly Opelka touched the net. Nick Kyrgios was just finding and picking things to get angry on. But it’s still entertaining. I’m still a fan. I think tennis needs a bad guy like Nick," Bouchard said on Tennis Channel.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/38c6Wni