Former champ Berrettini earns hard-fought Stuttgart win, Giron beats Murray

pTwo-time a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/stuttgart/321/overview'BOSS OPEN/a champion a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/matteo-berrettini/bk40/overview'Matteo Berrettini/a improved his impressive record in Stuttgart on Tuesday when he clawed past eighth seed a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/roman-safiullin/sx50/overview'Roman Safiullin/a 7-6(8), 5-7, 7-5 in a first-round thriller./p

pThe Italian, playing for the first time since Monte-Carlo in April, saved one set point in the first set and raised his level in the decider. The former World No. 6 fired 13 aces in the third set and fended off all four break points he faced, according to ATP Infosys Stats, to advance after two hours and 57 minutes./p

pBerrettini clinched the crown in Stuttgart in 2019 and 2022 and will next meet a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/denis-shapovalov/su55/overview'Denis Shapovalov/a or a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/matteo-martineau/mw76/overview'Matteo Martineau/a at the grass-court ATP 250. Berrettini has often found his best level on grass. The 28-year-old won the Queen’s Club trophy in 2021 and 2022 and advanced to the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview'Wimbledon/a final in 2021./p

p"First match after a few months and I was hoping for something easier," Berrettini joked. "I think I am really happy with the way I fought on court. After not playing for months it is not easy to comeback and play well and that is what I told myself, just to fight. Just to try to enjoy because I missed it and I am really happy to be back here."/p

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pa href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/marcos-giron/gc88/overview'Marcos Giron/a earned his first win against a current or former World No. 1 when he defeated a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/andy-murray/mc10/overview'Andy Murray/a 6-3, 6-4 in Stuttgart. The American won 80 per cent (33/41) of his first-serve points to set a second-round clash with a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/jack-draper/d0co/overview'Jack Draper/a./p

pMurray reached the final in Stuttgart in 2022 but will drop out of the Top 100 for the first time since Janaury 2022 next Monday following his 11th tour-level loss of the year./p

pThe Scot has won seven of his 46 tour-level titles on grass./p

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pBerrettini’s countryman a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/lorenzo-musetti/m0ej/overview'Lorenzo Musetti/a also advanced to the second round in Germany. The fifth seed defeated French qualifier a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/giovanni-mpetshi-perricard/m0gz/overview'Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard/a 7-6(9), 7-6(11). The No. 30 in the PIF ATP Rankings saved two set points in the first set and one set point in the second set./p

p"It was a really tough, challenging match, particularly returning his serve," Musetti said. "I am really happy on getting my first win on grass. It is always nice to play here and I have good sensations and feelings and looking forward to the next days."/p

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pMusetti, who reached the quarter-finals in Stuttgart last year, plays Germany’s a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/dominik-koepfer/ke73/overview'Dominik Koepfer/a in the second round./p

pIn other action, Frenchman a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/arthur-rinderknech/rc91/overview'Arthur Rinderknech/a beat #NextGenATP American a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/alex-michelsen/m0qi/overview'Alex Michelsen/a 6-4, 7-5, while Australian a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/james-duckworth/d994/overview'James Duckworth/a eliminated a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/pierre-hugues-herbert/h996/overview'Pierre-Hugues Herbert/a 6-4, 7-6(2). Duckworth next faces second seed a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/ben-shelton/s0s1/overview'Ben Shelton/a./p

pGermany's a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/jan-lennard-struff/sl28/overview'Jan-Lennard Struff/a, who reached the final last year, beat a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/flavio-cobolli/c0e9/overview'Flavio Cobolli/a 7-6(7), 6-3./p

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