Andy Murray lost a three-hour epic at the Swiss Indoors in Basel, while Cameron Norrie fell to Alexander Zverev on a bad night for the British at the Vienna Open.
Murray erased an early break deficit in the opening set to take the score 7-6 (7-5), but the former world number 1 ran out of gas midway through the second set and lost the next two sets 6-3 6-2 in a three hour and eight minute battle against the Argentinian Tomas Etcheverry.
After being broken in his first service game, Murray responded with an excellent lob for break point before a volley at the net leveled the score at 2-2.
Ultimately a tie-break was necessary and a stylish drop shot helped Murray take the first set.
The 84-minute set seemed to take its toll on the 36-year-old at the start of the second, with Etcheverry able to build an early lead and saving four break points in a long seventh game on his way to forcing a decider.
Murray was struggling physically at this point, while Etcheverry was on the rise and he set up match point with an excellent passing stroke before a service winner sent him through to the last eight.
The Scot will now travel to France where he will compete in the Paris Masters, which starts on Monday.
Defending champion Felix Auger-Aliassime defeated local wildcard Leandro Riedi 6-3 6-2 to reach the last 16 in Switzerland, while there were wins for Casper Ruud And Taylor Fritz against Alexander Bublik and Max Purcell respectively.
In Vienna, Norrie lost 6-2 6-4 to Zverev, with the German firing 23 winners to Norrie’s eight in his 79-minute win and improving to 4-0 in encounters against his opponent.
Norrie came into the clash having broken his losing streak following a fruitless swing to Asia against Austrian world number 169 Filip Misolic in the first round.
The British No. 1 fell during the first leg in Beijing and Shanghai, as well as at last week’s Japan Open in Tokyo.
An excellent backhand winner down the line earned Zverev a break in Norrie’s first service game and he was broken again before losing the first set in 36 minutes.
Norrie tried to wrestle her way back into the match, but was broken again in the third game of the second set.
It remained on serve until Norrie forced two break chances when Zverev was serving for the match and yet the German responded by winning four straight points to cap off a solid victory, making it four defeats in five for the semi-finalist of Last year’s Wimbledon.
Top seed Daniil Medvedev sealed a dominant 6-4 6-2 win against 19-year-old Arthur Fils, losing just five points on serve.
“I was a little nervous going into the match,” Medvedev said, explaining that he took a week off from training after Shanghai, during which he celebrated his daughter’s birthday.
“Arthur wants this top victory and he will achieve it one day. But fortunately I was able to serve well, play well, train him during the match and it worked, so I am very happy.”
Stockholm champion Gael Monfils also achieved victory in Vienna, extending his winning streak to six matches with a 6-4 6-4 victory against Daniel Altmaier.
Italian Jannik Sinner held on for victory in a tough opening round against Ben Shelton, winning 7-6 (7-2) 7-5 to avenge his defeat to the American in Shanghai two weeks ago.
“It was a very tough match. He always serves very well, and today was obviously the same,” Sinner said. “He’s confident, he’s a very tough player to beat. I was looking forward to it. I lost the last game so I’m happy to win this one. I’m already looking forward to the next one. “
Alcaraz fit to play in Paris and Turin
Carlos Alcaraz announced on social media on Wednesday that he is fit to play in the Paris Masters and the ATP Finals.
“I have good news!” Alcaraz posted. “I feel better every day and I will play Paris-Bercy and be in Turin for the ATP Finals! I’m happy to end the year on a high!”
The Spaniard withdrew ahead of the Swiss Indoors Basel due to a left foot injury and muscle fatigue in his lower back.
The Paris Masters start on Monday, while the ATP Finals take place from November 12 to 19.
Osaka back to training
Naomi Osaka, the four-time Grand Slam champion, gave birth to a daughter, Shai, in July and now she is preparing for her return to tennis, posting a video to her social media account of herself hitting tennis balls during a practice session.
GB play on opening day of United Cup
Great Britain will play Australia on the opening day of the 2024 United Cup, the mixed team event that starts on December 29 at the RAC Arena in Perth.
The British team led by Cameron Norrie and Katie Boulter, including Dan Evans, Neal Skupski, Fran Jones and Maia Lumsden, will take on world number 13 Alex de Minaur alongside Ajla Tomljanovic, John Millman, Storm Hunter, Matt Ebden and Ellen Perez .
Each tie consists of one men’s singles match and one women’s singles match, followed by one mixed doubles match.
Singles matches are best-of-three tiebreak sets. Mixed doubles are two tiebreak sets with a deciding match tiebreak (10 points) in one set-all.
The 18 teams are divided into six groups, three of which will play in the preliminary phase in Perth on the Australian west coast and three in Sydney.