Andy Murray completed a clean sweep of British victories on Nottingham’s Centre Court to make it through to the semi-finals of the Rothesay Open.
After Jodie Burrage, Katie Boulter and Heather Watson all reached the last four of the women’s event, Murray defeated Dominic Stricker 7-6 (2) 7-5 for his eighth-successive victory.
The 36-year-old is bidding to win a second-successive title on the second-tier Challenger Tour having triumphed in Surbiton last week and is yet to drop a set in Nottingham.
He said of the home success in his on-court interview: “Obviously this week’s been great. A couple of weeks ago we were hearing British tennis wasn’t doing well. Things change a lot on a week-to-week basis.
“You just want all of the players to reach their potential, make sure everyone’s working hard.
“Not everyone is going to win Wimbledon and grand slams but you just want to make sure everyone is making the most of this amazing opportunity to play tennis for a living.
“This week has obviously been brilliant, the women have done extremely well and hopefully that continues through the year. It should be a fun weekend for the British tennis fans.”
He did not have things all his own way against 20-year-old Swiss Stricker, with neither man able to create a break point in the opening set.
Murray played a fine tie-break to move in front, clenching his fist as he sat down in his chair, but it was Stricker who made the first move in the second set.
The eighth seed took his third chance to break for 3-1 only for Murray to respond straight away and Stricker then took a medical time-out for treatment to his back.
With the clock ticking past 8pm, Murray pushed for another break and finally got it, a Stricker backhand dropping wide to give his opponent the chance to serve for the match – and the Scot made no mistake.
Murray, who next faces Portugal’s Nuno Borges, feels he is heading firmly in the right direction, saying: “It was a really, really tight match today against one of the best young players in the world.
“He has a really good game, huge shots from the back of the court but also really nice touch up at the net.
“I’m really glad to get through that one because it was really close. That’s the best I’ve played across the last two weeks in terms of how I hit the ball and everything. It was really positive.”
Osaka pulls out of home Japan Open through injury
Naomi Osaka will not play at her home Japan Open next week due to a back injury, organisers confirmed on Monday.
The 26-year-old was forced to retire during the last 16 against eventual champion Coco Gauff at the China Open in Beijing last week because of the same injury.
Osaka was on a three-match winning streak before her meeting with Gauff, having also registered her first comeback victory in two years earlier in the tournament when she beat Yulia Putintseva in the second round.
However, the four-time grand slam winner has not recovered in time and will not be able to play on home soil when the tournament starts on October 14.
"Due to injury, Naomi Osaka has decided to withdraw from the tournament," the Japan Tennis Association said in a statement.
Osaka is still scheduled to play in the Pan Pacific Open Tennis Tournament 2024 in Tokyo, which begins on October 21.
Her last appearance in her home country was at that tournament in 2022, when she withdrew in the second-round match with abdominal pains.
Gauff took a relaxed approach in China Open final
Coco Gauff said her China Open triumph over Karolina Muchova came down to being relaxed.
Gauff won 6-1 6-3 in just 76 minutes in Beijing to become the youngest winner of the tournament in 14 years.
The victory marked the 20-year-old's second WTA 1000 title, which makes her the second-youngest player since the format was introduced to win her first two finals.
And Gauff explained she took a more relaxed approach in Sunday's showdown.
"I was just like, 'This match is not going to change my life.' I knew regardless of the result today, I was proud. I was able to overcome and still work on things that I've been practising on, too, and stick to it," she said.
"When you get that far, you're just happy to be in the final. I think it's just being relaxed. My first final, when I was 15, was the worst because you're like, 'I'm never going to get this opportunity again,' which is completely not true.
"The experience of winning in the past, I realise that, yes, winning is great. It feels great right now. But tomorrow I'm going to wake up and it's a different day, 70% of the world doesn't know anything about whether I won or lost, probably even more."
Gauff has now claimed three straight wins over Muchova, who is yet to beat the American.
"I lost to her three times in a row. I'll say very similar losses. It was always the latest rounds of the tournaments when I got many matches under the belt," said Muchova.
"It's very physical with her. I felt like second [best] always in the rallies."
Alcaraz passes stern Wu test to progress in Shanghai
Carlos Alcaraz held his nerve against a spirited Wu Yibing to progress to the fourth round of the Shanghai Masters.
Having already beaten another of the home favourites, Shang Juncheng, in his opener, the Spaniard had to dig deep but prevailed 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 in one hour and 41 minutes on Sunday.
There was nothing to split the two in the opening set, though Wu caused some real problems with his power, and successfully defended two break points in the ninth game.
The tie-break was also tight, but Alcaraz found his edge at the right time, winning the last three points.
Buoyed by the home crowd, Wu started the second set strongly too, but Alcaraz absorbed the pressure well and got the only break of the match in a three-game winning run.
With his winning streak extended, Alcaraz will now face either Gael Monfils or Ugo Humbert in the next round.
Data Debrief: Alcaraz marches on
Alcaraz has put his shock US Open exit firmly behind him, with this his 11th win on the bounce since then.
He coped well with the early pressure Wu threw at him, and put in another solid performance, hitting 11 aces and winning 71% of his points at the net (5/7).
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