Andy Murray let his frustrations get the better of him in a tense Davis Cup tie against Leandro Riedi on Friday as he kicked his racket bag in anger after losing a game in the second set. Great Britain got off to a strong start this week as the Davis Cup group stages got underway.
Jack Draper and Dan Evans helped their country defeat Australia 2-1 to put them on the verge of progressing to the knockout stages. They’re next match was against a Switzerland side in desperate need of a win themselves with a packed-out crowd at the Manchester Arena to see Murray in action against Riedi.
The 21-year-old is tipped for a bright future having grabbed his first ATP win earlier this year and beat Holger Rune in straight sets at the 2023 Hopman Cup. The experience of Murray looked to be too much for Riedi in the early stages of their singles match as the British superstar raced into a 5-2 lead and had two opportunities to wrap up the first set.
But Riedi rallied back to save both set points before breaking Murray in the very next game, bringing them back level on serve. Nothing separated the two as they went to a tiebreak with Murray once again missing two set-point opportunities.
Riedi needed just one to make his count as the young Swiss star took the opening set. Murray was feeling the heat in the second set as he looked for some form of inspiration from somewhere.
The Brit sensed an opportunity in the third game with Riedi on serve as Murray found a break-point opportunity, but the youngster was once again able to hold his nerve. And Murray immediately took his frustration out on his racket bag after losing the game, kicking it in anger before taking his set.
