GENEVA (AP) — Needing a win to face Novak Djokovic next at the Geneva Open, Andy Murray was saved by a heavy rainstorm when he trailed unseeded Yannick Hanfmann 7-5, 4-1 in a first-round match on Monday.
Murray and top-ranked Djokovic both got wild cards to enter the last clay-court event to prepare for the French Open, and were drawn to meet in the second round. They have not faced each other on tour since February 2017.
Ranked No. 75, Murray began to struggle in his first tour match in two months when heavy rain and strong winds swept across the stadium court in a lakeside park.
The 85th-ranked Hanfmann broke Murray’s service twice in a row to lead 4-1 with his service game to come when play was suspended.
In the opening set, Murray found some big serves to get out of trouble in the ninth game when he saved two break points.
It was just a respite, as Murray was broken to love in his next service game, sealed by a Hanfmann forehand service return winner.
Four people killed in a house explosion in southwestern Missouri
Pic story of cultural relics guardian at Faxing Temple in N China
2 mln private vehicles pass through Hong Kong
Blooming cole flowers create water
'The Apprentice,' about a young Donald Trump, premieres in Cannes
Chinese online literature starts new chapter overseas
SW China's Guizhou awash in fragrant spring blossoms
La Liga returns with big game in Bernabeu
Mystery artist who erected signs comparing pothole
Titian's masterpiece 'Flora' breathes vibrancy into Sino
Amtrak train hits pickup truck in upstate New York, 3 dead including child
Everton lodges appeal against 2