Murray beaten by Berrettini in Stuttgart final after injury scare

Andy Murray missed out on his first grass-court title since winning Wimbledon in 2016 as he was beaten by Matteo Berrettini in the final of the Stuttgart Open on Sunday.

The former world number one suffered a 4-6 7-5 3-6 defeat to the Italian in what marked just his second-ever loss in 10 grass-court finals.

Perhaps the more pressing concern, however, was Murray requiring treatment from the physio on two occasions in the third set, with Queen's and Wimbledon on the horizon.

Berrettini was playing in his first tournament since March due to a right hand injury that kept him out during the clay season.

Murray had picked up his first victory over a top-five player in more than five years when he stunned Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter-finals, before defeating Australian Nick Kyrgios to reach his 70th career final and 10th on grass.

He finishes the week ranked 47th in the world having moved back inside the top 50 for the first time since May 2018 with the win over Kyrgios in the semi-finals. Victory in the final would have seen him rise to 35th in the rankings.

Murray had the chance to win his first ATP Tour title since 2019 back in January, only to suffer a straight-sets defeat to Aslan Karatsev in the final of the Sydney Tennis Classic.

"It's been a incredible week here. I really enjoyed it. I'd like to congratulate Matteo and his team on a fantastic week," said Murray in his on-court interview.

"He's just come back from a surgery and it's never easy. He played extremely well today and deserved the win. Finally, thank you to my team here and my team back home.

Video: Murray beat Kyrgios in straight sets to reach the Stuttgart Open final (The Independent)

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