Andy Murray's nightmare at the net ends with Madrid loss to 164th-ranked Andrea Vavassori

Just when it looked like Andy Murray was about dig himself out of another notable deficit this season, the former world No. 1 made a giant unforced error with a crucial point in hand. A few minutes later, 164th-ranked qualifier Andrea Vavassori completed a 6-2, 7-6 (7) victory to take their first-round encounter Thursday at the Mutua Madrid Open.

“It’s a dream come true, to play in a tournament like this, in a court like this, against a true champion like him,” Vavassori shared with the World Feed afterwards. “I play, I think, until the second half of the second set the best tennis of my life. Then the nerves come in a little bit. At the end, just joy.”

Making his main-draw debut on the Masters 1000 stage, Vavassori raced out to an early 4-0 lead. After closing out the first set, he built a 4-2 advantage before Murray worked his way back into the contest.

When it came time for the tie-break, more of the same played out. The Italian won five straight points to lead 5-1, his forehand accounting for three winners and Murray providing a pair of unforced errors. Vavassori soon arrived at three match points when Murray undercut a forehand drop shot.

For a brief period, the tide turned. The 27-year-old double-faulted, then completely mishandled his attempt to serve and volley. Murray drew even with a timely first-serve out wide that came back unreturned.

On 16 occasions, the three-time major champion has rallied from match point down in his career. Three have come in 2023 alone and there was reason to believe in the possibility of that figure being raised to four when the two swapped sides. After all, experience was vastly in Murray’s favor here.

Enter one big nightmare at the net: coming in off a short return, Murray all but had 7-6 in his grasp when Vavassori’s next shot floated shortly across the plane of the net. But rather than closing his backhand volley into the open court, Murray found the tape with a punch that proved all too cute.

Though it would take Vavassori two more match points to get across the finish line, ironically ending with Murray making one final mess of a trip forward. there will always be the question of where this match might have headed had the Brit reached set point. For it was a situation his opponent didn’t end up having to face as a result of the blunder heard ‘round the Caja Magica.

“There was like three, I think, in the tie-break, and I missed every single one of them in the net. I guess that's a frustrating thing as well, because you like to get into those positions,” Murray said in press. “Like you construct the point well, you play a good point, you play the right way, and then just butcher the basic, the simple shot.

“It's not a shot that top players should be missing. Bad miss.”

Awaiting the Turin native? Second seed Daniil Medvedev. Murray, who slammed his racquet into his bag following the pair's handshake, finished with 12 winners to 23 unforced errors.