Roberto Bautista Agut is through to the quarter finals of the Swiss Indoors after beating Andy Murray 6-3 6-2 in Basel.
After a closely contested opening set that lasted almost an hour, Bautista Agut ran away with the second, saving 7 out of 8 break points en route to victory.
Murray failed to capitalise on a strong start after breaking to go 2-1 up in the first set. The 34-year-old responded immediately, before breaking once again to lead 5-3.
Bautista Agut then saved two break points whilst serving for the set and with his consistent flat hitting and strong defence proving too hard for Murray to break down, he closed it out after his first set point.
The world number 22 broke in the opening game of the second set, and after holding serve at 2-1 up from 0-40 down, went from strength to strength. He then broke for a fourth time in the match and took his first match point to close out a gritty display.
Bautista Agut next faces either Stan Wawrinka or Brandon Nakashima for a spot in the semi-finals.
Victory is Bautista Agut’s third in a row against his slightly older counterpart. The pair have contested some memorable matches of late, after the Spaniard thrashed Murray 6-0 6-1 in Doha earlier this year.
Back in 2019, Murray lost in a five set battle to the Spaniard at the Australian Open. The match was expected to be the Brit’s final match of his career, before he decided to undergo hip surgery.
Defeat for Murray was his 9th second round loss in what has been a frustrating year full of some missed opportunities. He is set to play in the BNP Paribas Masters next week in Paris, the final ATP Masters 1000 event of the season.
