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Paris, Nov 2 (IANS) Germany's Dominik Koepfer made the most of his second chance at the Rolex Paris Masters, saving seven match points in a display of grit and gumption to defeat Great Britain's Andy Murray 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(9) here.
Despite winning just three games in the final round of qualifying against Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia, lucky loser Koepfer eliminated the former world No. 1 and three-time major champion in three hours and one minute on Monday night to reach the second round of the main draw on his tournament debut.
Koepfer was in control of the match at 6-4, 5-3, but was broken at love when serving for the match and it was an uphill task from there. Murray had two match points on his opponent's serve at 5-4 in the decider and five more in the tie-break, but was left walking off the court shaking his head in disbelief after failing to convert.
"It was unbelievable. I thought I had it in my hands in the second set serving for it at 5-4. He just made a lot of balls; I didn't make a lot of balls. That was the difference, and it was just a great fight in the third set," Koepfer was quoted as saying by atptour.com. "I just tried to stay in the moment and tried to play every point.
"Obviously it's tough to play against him. He makes so many balls and is an unbelievable competitor. I knew that going in, I was ready for it and (am) just happy I got through."
Last week in Vienna, Koepfer fell short as a lucky loser in singles to Lorenzo Sonego of Italy and made the semifinals in doubles as a lucky loser alongside Belgium's Sander Gille. This time he took full advantage of his opportunity in the singles draw, standing on the baseline and battling through energy-sapping rallies to overcome the 2016 champion.
"I was struggling the past few matches, actually lost five times within the past week. I got in as a double lucky loser last week, lost four times: two times in doubles, two times in singles. That was not great, you lose some confidence," Koepfer said.
"Coming through with such a great fight, good attitude - I competed hard and played pretty good tennis - I think it was pretty big for me."
Koepfer was placed in the draw after American Jenson Brooksby withdrew earlier in the day with an abdominal injury.
"I heard about it (being placed in the main draw) at 4 o'clock. I was about to go back to the hotel and then one of the ATP tour managers texted me, 'Dom, you in? You're playing against Andy Murray'," Koepfer said. "Honestly, I was a little nervous. I didn't expect to play today, I was hoping that someone was going to pull out tomorrow. But a night match here in Paris, a lot of fans, they had an unbelievable crowd, the first time for me for a while. It's been a great day. Unexpected, but it worked out and I'm happy."
Murray threw everything at Koepfer on his match points, from lobs and drop shots to forehands, but the 27-year-old left-hander played his best tennis under pressure and had an answer on each occasion.
This was not Koepfer's first match against a former world No. 1 in Paris. Earlier this year, he pushed Roger Federer to four sets in the third round at Roland Garros.
Koepfer will next play ninth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada or Italian Gianluca Mager, who defeated him in the final round of qualifying last week in Vienna.
--IANS
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