Nick Kyrgios said he was racially abused by a spectator during his semi-final with Andy Murray at the Stuttgart Open on Saturday.

Murray won the match 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 to advance to the final, where he will play Matteo Berrettini on Sunday.

However, Kyrgios had greater concerns as he took to Instagram afterwards to say he was called a "little black sheep" by someone in attendance.

"When is this going to stop? Dealing with racial slurs from the crowd?" he wrote.

"I understand that my behaviour isn't the best all the time – but 'you little black sheep', 'shut up and play' – little comments like this are not acceptable. When I retaliate to the crowd, I get penalised. This is messed up."

Meanwhile, Murray's win saw him reach his first tour-level final on grass since 2016.

The three-time major winner upset Stefanos Tsitsipas in the previous round – his first win over a top-five opponent in six years – and followed that up against Kyrgios with another impressive performance.

"A lot of ups and downs, but I kept going and kept working and finally managed to get to another one. I am proud of the effort I have put in," Murray said after securing the win.

He moves up to 47th in the live ATP rankings – the first time he has been in the top 50 since May 2018 – and his clash with Berrettini will be his 70th career final.

"You're always battling yourself as well as the opponent, it's one of the difficult things about individual sports," he added in relation to Kyrgios' frustrations during the game.

"Nick has the potential to be one of the best players in the world, there's absolutely no question about that. But he obviously got very frustrated in the second set and made it a lot easier for me.

"I'm happy to be in the final. I've played well this week and I've got a great opportunity against Matteo tomorrow."

Andy Murray reached his first tour-level final on grass since 2016 with a straight-sets victory over Nick Kyrgios at the Stuttgart Open on Saturday.

The three-time major winner stunned Stefanos Tsitsipas in the previous round – his first win over a top-five opponent in six years – and followed that up with another fine victory.

Murray, who last contested a final on grass when winning Wimbledon for a second time, prevailed 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 against Kyrgios.

He moves up to 47th in the live ATP rankings – the first time he has been in the top 50 since May 2018 – and will face Matteo Berrettini in what will be his 70th career final.

Aiming to keep alive his hopes of a ninth career title on grass, Murray saved both break points faced in the first set and showed good resolve to edge Kyrgios in the tie-break.

The second set was not as tightly contested, with the 35-year-old showing few signs of fatigue as he twice broke Kyrgios' serve to reach Sunday's final in Germany.

Berrettini had earlier defeated Oscar Otte 7-6 (9-7) 7-6 (7-5) to reach his first tour-level final of an injury-hit season.

The world number 10 fired 18 aces en route to overcoming home favourite Otte in a time of one hour and 48 minutes.

"I am really happy," Berrettini said in his on-court interview. "Arriving at the tournament, that was the goal [to reach the final].

"From thinking about it and actually making it is a big difference. I am happy I am here and have another chance to play another final after months without playing.

"This means this is my level and I have proved once again I am comfortable at this level and on this surface. I really like it here at Stuttgart."

Andy Murray claimed his first win over a top-five opponent since 2016 as he stunned Stefanos Tsitsipas to reach the Stuttgart Open semi-finals.

Murray started his preparations for the grass-court swing with a run to the semi-finals of the challenger at Surbiton.

He knocked off seventh seed Alexander Bublik to reach the last eight in Stuttgart but a meeting with the top seed and world number five represented a much more imposing challenge.

It was one the two-time Wimbledon champion rose to emphatically, winning a first-set tie-break and then claiming the second set in comfortable fashion to cement a 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 win, gaining revenge for his contentious five-set defeat to the Greek at last year's US Open.

Murray's previous win over a top-five opponent came in the ATP Finals six years ago, when he defeated Novak Djokovic in a year that also saw him win Wimbledon.

"I thought I did well. He served unbelievably in the first set," Murray said in his on-court interview.

"I felt like I had very few chances, but when he was creating chances on my serve, I stayed strong.

"I played a really solid tie-break and in the second set, once I was in the rallies, I felt like I was dictating a lot of the points. It was a good performance."

Murray is up to 53rd in the live ATP rankings and is bidding to get back into the top 50 for the first time since 2018. 

Standing between him and a place in the final is Nick Kyrgios, who was 7-6 (7-3) 3-0 up when Marton Fucsovics retired from their quarter-final clash.

Matteo Berrettini beat Lorenzo Sonego in three sets, while Oscar Otte won by walkover against Benjamin Bonzi.

At the Rosmalen Grass Court Championships in 's-Hertogenbosch, Daniil Medvedev saw off Ilya Ivashka 7-6 (10-8) 6-4.

Medvedev, who will soon return to world number one when the ranking points from the French Open come into effect, sees the grass-court season as a chance to cement his grip on that spot.

"I don't have many points to defend on grass and I have some to win, so hopefully I can play well, starting here," said Medvedev. "Every round is points and the higher you get, the more you need to step up."

He will face defending champion Adrian Mannarino in the semi-finals, while second seed Felix Auger-Aliassime is into a last-four clash with home hope Tim van Rijthoven after beating Karen Khachanov. 

Daniil Medvedev started his grass-court season with victory over Gilles Simon in the Rosmalen Grass Court Championships, while Hubert Hurkacz and Denis Shapovalov suffered shock defeats in Stuttgart.

Medvedev will replace Novak Djokovic at the top of the rankings next Monday and the Russian could celebrate by claiming a first title of the year in ‘s-Hertogenbosch.

The top seed, who will not compete at Wimbledon due to a ban on Russian and Belarusian players, beat Frenchman Simon 7-5 6-4 on Thursday after saving three set points and storming back from 5-2 down in the opener, setting up a quarter-final against lya Ivashka.

Felix Auger-Aliassime, the second seed, defeated Tallon Griekspoor 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-5), but third seed Taylor Fritz was beaten by wildcard Tim van Rijthoven in straight sets.

Alex de Minaur and Jenson Brooksby also made early exits, losing to French duo Adrian Mannarino and Hugo Gaston respectively.

Marton Fucsovics claimed the scalp of third seed Hurkacz to reach the last 16 at the Stuttgart Open, winning 7-5 6-7 (7-) 6-3

Shapovalov also lost his opening of the grass-court season, Oscar Otte getting the better of the fourth seed 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-4)

There was no such trouble for top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, who beat Dominic Stricker 6-3 6-4, and Andy Murray accounted for seventh seed Alexander Bublik in straight sets.

Andy Murray made a winning start to his ATP grass-court season after a straight-sets victory over Christopher O'Connell at the Stuttgart Open.

The three-time Grand Slam champion, who reached the Surbiton Open semi-finals last week, recovered from a slow start before wrapping up a commanding 6-4 6-3 victory in Stuttgart.

Having missed the French Open to focus his efforts on Wimbledon, Murray lost the opening three games of his clash with the Australian qualifier.

However, the former world number one responded in style, breaking his opponent four times on the way to setting up a last-16 clash with Alexander Bublik.

Bublik, the seventh seed, hit 19 aces and won 36 out of 42 points on his first serve as he overcame Denis Kudla 7-6 (7-3) 7-5.

Nick Kyrgios recorded an impressive 18 aces in his 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 win over Jiri Lehecka, but eighth seed Ugo Humbert was ousted 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 by compatriot Arthur Rinderknech.

Meanwhile, Botic van de Zandschulp and Tommy Paul were among the seeds to fall at the Rosmalen Grass Court Championships.

Sixth seed Van de Zandschulp went down 4-6 6-2 6-1 against Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori, and seventh seed Paul was beaten 6-7 (7-4) 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-2) by American compatriot Brandon Nakashima.

But there were no such problems for Karen Khachanov. The world number 23 won 28 out of 30 points on his first serve as he downed Alejandro Tabilo 6-3 6-3.

Andy Murray missed out on a place in the Surbiton Trophy final when American Denis Kudla denied the three-time grand slam champion on Saturday.

Murray had won their one previous match emphatically on a hard court in San Diego last year, and he had early control of the semi-final this time at the Challenger Tour event.

However, Murray could not force a second-set breakthrough and lost the tie-break on the way to a 5-7 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 defeat.

The Scot, a title winner at Wimbledon in 2013 and 2016, served 15 aces to Kudla's 12. Murray won just 45 per cent of points on his second serve, though, an area where he will hope to improve as the grass season progresses.

He heads to Stuttgart next week before playing at Queen's Club in the run-up to Wimbledon.

World number 81 Kudla, who reached the third round at Wimbledon last year before losing to Novak Djokovic, said: "This is definitely, probably, the biggest win of my career.

"The conditions were super windy, but in the warm-up I felt I was hitting the ball clean."

Kudla will face Australian Jordan Thompson in Sunday's final and added: "There's something about England and grass, I just feel comfortable and at ease. I feel like a different tennis player after being terrible on clay for two months."

Andy Murray says he can draw inspiration from Rafael Nadal and Marin Cilic's impressive French Open form as he eyes a resurgence at Wimbledon.

Nadal and Cilic are in the semi-finals at Roland Garros, and could well book themselves an appearance in the final against each other on Friday.

Having beat Dutchman Gijs Brouwer 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-3) to book a quarter-final spot in the Surbiton Trophy this week, Murray admits he can look to the pair for proof of longevity.

"I can take some inspiration from those guys," the 35-year-old stated after reaching the last eight in London.

"I don't know whether it's Rafa's last run or not because he seems to be doing physically really well during the event, so I hope he's able to continue going for a while.

"Cilic as well, he's someone I grew up with in the juniors and played a lot with. He has just made the semis of the French for the first ever time at 33 and is playing really well."

Having sat out the clay courts at Roland Garros to prepare on grass for Wimbledon, Murray will hope a deep run in the Surbiton Trophy can prepare him well.

"I have done a lot of training, practised a lot, so now I need the matches and hopefully I'll get a bunch of matches to get me ready for Wimbledon," he added.

Andy Murray has revealed he almost teamed up with Emma Raducanu at Wimbledon last year and "would love to" play doubles with the US Open champion at the All England Club in the future.

Murray and Raducanu are the only two British grand slam champions of the past 45 years.

Former world number one Murray has three major titles, including two at Wimbledon, while teenager Raducanu claimed her breakthrough success at Flushing Meadows in 2021.

A Wimbledon mixed doubles team would therefore prove hugely popular, and Murray says it was actually a possibility last year before Raducanu enjoyed a breakout campaign in her home slam.

Just a month into her WTA Tour career, the Canadian-born star reached the fourth round at Wimbledon.

"Actually, last year we were maybe going to do it, but we both ended up doing well in singles," Murray explained, as quoted by The Telegraph.

"I would love to play alongside Emma at some stage. Whether that is something that works this year or not, I don't know.

"I am sure both of our focuses will be on having good runs in the singles, but I would love to do that."

Murray won a silver medal alongside Laura Robson in the mixed doubles at the London 2012 Olympics at the peak of his powers, while he teamed up with Serena Williams for a run to the Wimbledon third round while recovering from a career-threatening hip injury in 2019.

Andy Murray has hit out at the suggestion that Wimbledon will not feel as important without ranking points.

The All England Club's decision to ban Russian and Belarusian players from competing at the grand slam has resulted in the WTA and ATP stripping Wimbledon of any ranking points, which has led to the suggestion some players may skip the tournament.

Naomi Osaka, the former WTA world number one and a three-time grand slam champion, suggested after her first-round exit at Roland Garros that she was considering missing Wimbledon as she feels the tournament may feel "like an exhibition".

Other high-profile players, such as Denis Shapovalov, are also considering whether they take part, though Russian Andrey Rublev, who is one of the players who has been banned due to his nation's invasion of Ukraine, believes the likes of Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, who have no concern over ranking points but are instead going for history, will feature.

Former world number one Murray, who won Wimbledon in 2013 and 2016, has insisted that the grand slam will forever be a crucial part of the tennis calendar, however, comparing it to the FIFA World Cup and one of golf's majors – The Masters.

Murray tweeted: "I follow golf very closely and have no idea how many ranking points the winner of The Masters gets.

"Me and my friends love football and none of us know or care how many ranking points a team gets for winning the FIFA World Cup.

"But I could tell you exactly who won the World Cup and the Masters. I'd hazard a guess that most people watching on centre court at Wimbledon in a few weeks' time wouldn't know or care about how many ranking points a player gets for winning a third-round match.

"But I guarantee they will remember who wins. Wimbledon will never be an exhibition and will never feel like an exhibition. The end."

Andy Murray has withdrawn from the Madrid Open through illness, having been due to play old rival Novak Djokovic on Thursday.

Murray and Djokovic first faced off on the ATP Tour in Madrid 16 years ago and had been set to clash again in the last 16 after the Briton beat Dominic Thiem followed by Denis Shapovalov at the ATP 1000 event, where the world number one eased past Gael Monfils.

However, the Madrid Open confirmed on its Twitter page on Thursday that Murray would be unable to compete "due to illness", meaning Andrey Rublev and Dan Evans are to instead open the day's play on centre court.

The Serbian, who has a 25-11 record against Murray, will now face the winner of Hubert Hurkacz and Dusan Lajovic in the quarter-final after being given a walkover.

After his win against Shapovalov, Murray was excited about the prospect of locking horns with Djokovic again, saying: "In theory I should have no chance in the match. He's obviously number one in the world [and] I'm playing with a metal hip, so I shouldn't have a chance in the match.

"We've had so many great battles over the years in some of the biggest tournaments in the world. We played in the final I think of all four grand slams, we played here in the final, and I haven't had that opportunity to play against him for a long time."

Sadly for Murray, and tennis fans, that wait will have to go on for a bit longer.

Novak Djokovic set up a last-16 clash with Andy Murray at the Madrid Open, impressing in a straight-sets victory over Gael Monfils while Murray overcame Denis Shapovalov.

The 20-time grand slam champion eased to a 6-3 6-2 win in the Spanish capital, assuring him of a record-extending 369th week at the top of the ATP world rankings and teeing up a mouth-watering contest with one of his greatest rivals.

The Serb hailed his victory as representing his best performance of 2022, saying he was pleased with his progress after falling to a final defeat against Andrey Rublev on home soil in last month's Belgrade Open.

"[It was] probably the best match of the year so far for me," Djokovic told Tennis TV after the win. "I haven't played many matches and am still finding my groove.

"But [it's] a very good win against a very tricky opponent. I had a week, 10 days to get ready for this match, and for this tournament I have done everything I possibly can to build my fitness and also improve on all aspects of the game, on the court. 

"I'm really glad that it paid off, because I felt good on the court. It's the right process, and it's the right direction."

Djokovic will face Murray for the 37th time, and the first time since 2017's Qatar Open, after the three-time grand slam winner rolled back the years to overcome Shapovalov 6-1 3-6 6-2 in an absorbing two-hour contest later on Tuesday.

The duo are one of only two male pairs to have met in each of the four grand slam finals (along with Djokovic and Rafael Nadal), while Djokovic holds a 25-11 lead across their previous meetings and has won both of their two encounters at the Madrid Open, one of which was their first-ever meeting in 2006.

Elsewhere in the draw, it was a day of few shocks in Spain as seeds Rublev and Carlos Alcaraz ensured their own progress to the last 16.

Rublev recovered from a poor first-set showing to down Great Britain's Jack Draper 2-6 6-4 7-5, while home favourite Alcaraz remained on course for a potential meeting with compatriot Nadal after earning a 6-3 7-5 victory over Nikoloz Basilashvili.

Finally, 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic beat Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-3 3-6 6-4 in a competitive first-round affair to set up Wednesday's enticing last-32 clash with world number three Alexander Zverev.

Andy Murray swept aside Dominic Thiem in impressive fashion to secure his first clay-court win in five years as the Scot advanced to the second round at the Madrid Open on Monday.

The three-time grand slam champion was largely in control against his Austrian opponent, hitting nine aces and saving all three break points against his serve, while Thiem could only save one of the three he faced as Murray won 6-3 6-4.

He will now play 14th seed Denis Shapovalov after the Canadian beat Ugo Humbert 7-6 (7-1) 6-3.

The winner of that contest will have a last-16 meeting against the victor of Novak Djokovic and Gael Monfils after the latter eased into the round of 32 to set up a clash with the Serbian.

Monfils defeated wildcard Carlos Gimeno Valero 6-3 6-0 in less than an hour, while Alejandro Davidovich Fokina also advanced with a 7-5 6-3 win against Lloyd Harris.

Dusan Lajovic set up a second-round match against fifth seed Casper Ruud, who defeated Borna Coric 6-3 4-6 6-4, and ninth seed Cameron Norrie will go up against John Isner, the Briton having overcome Soonwoo Kwon 7-5 7-5.

An interesting tie awaits the much-talked about Carlos Alcaraz after Nikoloz Basilashvili beat Fabio Fognini 7-5 6-4, with the Georgian to face the number seven seeded teenager next.

Jannik Sinner, the 10th seed, scraped through a hard-fought encounter against American Tommy Paul 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-4) 6-3, and will play Alex de Minaur next after the Australian beat Pedro Martinez 7-6 (7-2) 1-6 6-3.

Diego Schwartzman will take on Grigor Dimitrov in the second round. The Argentine 13th seed beat Benoit Paire 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 6-1, while Dimitrov overcame Maxime Cressy 6-2 7-6 (7-4).

Andy Murray does not support the ban on Russian and Belarusian players competing at this year's Wimbledon or other Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) tournaments, while Novak Djokovic reiterated his stance.

The All England Lawn Tennis Club recently announced that players from the two nations are prohibited from competing in the British grand slam following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

It means the likes of men's world number two Daniil Medvedev and women's world number four Aryna Sabalenka would miss out on the British swing.

Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have both spoken out against the ban, while the ATP and WTA have also pressed for reconsideration.

Now Murray, a two-time Wimbledon champion who also won Olympic gold at SW19 in 2012, has refused to give the ban his backing.

"I'm not supportive of players getting banned," Murray said in a news conference ahead of the Madrid Open, with the former world number one in action against Dominic Thiem on Monday.

"My understanding of the guidance was that Russians and Belarusians can play if they sign a declaration that they're against the war and against the Russian regime.

"I'm not sure how comfortable I would feel if something happened to one of the players or their families."

Murray understands it is a delicate situation, however. 

"I don't think there's a right answer. I have spoken to some of the Russian players. I've spoken to some of the Ukrainian players," he continued.

"I feel really bad for the players who aren't allowed to play and I get that it will seem unfair to them. But I also know some of the people who work at Wimbledon, and I know how difficult a position they were in.

"I feel for everyone, feel for the players that can't play, and I don't support one side or the other."

There has been speculation that the ATP and WTA may sanction Wimbledon, with one possibility being reducing the amount of tour points on offer from the grand slam.

World number one Djokovic, who will be allowed to compete at Wimbledon, where no requirement for a COVID-19 vaccination will be in place for players, is unsure what the next step will be.

He told reporters: "I've spoken to some of the Russian players in Belgrade [at the Serbia Open].

"Obviously, it's not an easy situation to be in. Being stripped of the right to participate in one of the biggest tournaments, if not the biggest tournament in the world, it's hard, I understand that. There is frustration.

"[The] ATP is going to analyse the whole situation and understand what can be done. I have not spoken to people from ATP so I'm not sure about it. I've gone through something similar, it's not the same thing, but something similar earlier this year for myself [when he was denied entry to Australia due to his COVID-19 vaccination status].

"It's frustrating knowing that you're not able to play. I still stand by my position that I don't support the decision. I think it's just not fair. It's not right. But it is what it is, they are entitled to make the decision.

"I guess it's on Player Council, the tour management, to really decide, along with the players, what is the best solution in this situation whether they keep the points, protect the points, take away 50 per cent of the points.

"So I heard that some of those models are still considered to be used in this kind of instance, but I'm not sure what is right, what is wrong, to be honest. I guess we'll have to wait and see the outcome."

Novak Djokovic hopes Boris Becker is able to live a relatively normal life once the six-time grand slam champion has served his prison sentence.

Becker, who became the youngest ever male major singles champion when he won Wimbledon in 1985, was sentenced last week after being found guilty of four charges relating to violations of the United Kingdom Insolvency Act.

The 54-year-old declared bankruptcy in 2017 but was found to have hidden assets and loans in order to avoid paying his debts, which amounted to around £50million.

Becker coached Djokovic earlier in the Serbian's career and the world number one is shattered for the German.

"Heartbroken for him," Djokovic told a news conference ahead of the Madrid Open.

"He is a friend, a long-time friend, a coach for three, four years. Someone I consider close in my life, he has contributed a lot to my success in my career.

"I was just heartbroken. I don't know what to say more than that. It's [not] getting into details of the verdict, because I'm not in a position to do that, but as his friend, super sad for him and there's not much that you can say.

"I just hope that he will go through this period that he has to be in jail and that when he comes out he's being able to live his life as, I don't know if you can use the word normal, because his life is definitely changing. For anybody going to prison, especially for that long of a time.

"So I don't know how things will turn out for him. I just pray for him. I hope things will be well in terms of his health, his mental health, because that's probably going to be the most challenging part."

Former world number one Andy Murray, however, has little sympathy for Becker.

"I feel sorry that he's in that situation, but I also feel sorry for the people that he's affected with his decisions as well and what's happened to them," said Murray. who faces Dominic Thiem in his opening match in Madrid.

"I hope he's okay and that he learns from his mistakes. But I didn't have a particular emotion about it.” 

Ivan Lendl insists Andy Murray can still compete for grand slam titles after re-joining the Scot's coaching team for a third time.

Lendl has teamed up with Murray in order to prepare the two-time Wimbledon champion for his home grand slam this summer, with the 34-year-old skipping the clay-court season to enhance his chances of being at his best on the grass.

Murray won all three of his grand slam titles, Wimbledon in 2013 and 2016, and the US Open in 2012, under Lendl's guidance, but has not reached a grand slam quarter-final since 2017, undergoing two hip surgeries during that time.

Lendl, who himself won eight grand slams during a glittering playing career, cited Rafael Nadal's victory in January's Australian Open as evidence that class remains permanent, and expressed confidence in Murray's ability to follow his lead.

"You are asking this [whether Murray can compete] with a straight face after what Rafa [Nadal] has done in Australia," Lendl said after watching Murray's second-round defeat to Daniil Medvedev in Miami.

"They are just like bulldogs, and they want to do things because they haven't been done before.

"If they set their mind to it then they can achieve amazing things.

"Rafa said he wasn't even sure he's going to be able to play again [after his own injury problems], then he goes and wins the Australian Open. So yes, these guys can do it.

"I would say grass is probably Andy's best surface. 

"[For] a lot of the players, it's their worst surface. That would obviously increase his chances." 

Murray made his first ATP final since 2019 earlier this year, losing in straight sets to Aslan Karatsev in the final of the Sydney International in January, and is 85th in the ATP world rankings.