Andy Murray wins another marathon match, Alexander Zverev beats brother Mischa

ATP Tour
Andy Murray screaming

Andy Murray had to go the distance against Marius Copil as he reached the quarter-final of the Citi Open while Alexander Zverev came out on top in the battle of the Zverev brothers.

Playing in only his third ATP Tour event since undergoing hip surgery in January, Murray came into the match on the back of three-set wins over American Mackenzie McDonald and fellow Brit Kyle Edmund.

And he was again taken to three sets after the Romanian won the opener, but the three-time Grand Slam winner showed his fighting qualities to win 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) in a match that lasted more than three hours.

Copil edged the opening set via the tie-breaker after no breaks of serve, but Murray stormed back to break in games one and nine of the second.

The Brit then got his nose in front in the decider as he broke in game six, but Copil hit back immediately before Murray won the tie-breaker.

Next up for the former world No 1 is Alex de Minaur after the Australian stunned eighth seed Hyeon Chung 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.

Alexander Zverev, meanwhile, came out on top in the battle of the Zverev brothers as he beat Mischa in straight sets.

In their first-ever meeting in an ATP Tour match, top-seeded Alexander broke three times to secure a comfortable 6-3, 7-5 victory over his older brother.

“We walked back, and the crowd was cheering, I almost had tears in my eyes,” Mischa told Tennis Channel. “I was like, ‘This feels so special. I wonder what my parents are thinking right now?’ I needed a few seconds to actually bite my tongue and focus. To me, that was incredibly special.”

Alexander echoed his brother’s sentiments.

“[It was] very special. As Mischa said, who can say you played your brother in one of the biggest tournaments in the world?” Sascha said. “It was unbelievably special. I hope this is not the last time. I hope we play a final one day or something like that. So hopefully [this was] the first of many.”

Alexander will face eighth seed Kei Nishikori after the former US Open finalist beat Next Gen star Denis Shapovalov 7-6 (7-1), 6-3.

Third seed David Goffin also advanced as he steamrolled Frances Tiafoe 6-0, 6-3 to set up a clash against Stefanos Tsitsipas, who was a 6-3, 6-4 winner over James Duckworth.

Sixth seed Lucas Pouille crashed out as he lost a marathon match against Denis Kudla with the American winning 7-5, 6-7 (6-8), 7-6 (7-5).

Andy Murray

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