Bachinger looks to extend dream run as he plays Murray

Eleanor Crooks 06:52 27/08/2014
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  • Fighter: Matthias Bachinger.

    Matthias Bachinger knows New York fairytales are real because he is living one at the US Open. The German qualifier plays Andy Murray in the second round after beating Radek Stepanek on Monday for his first ever grand slam victory.

    But Bachinger was not supposed to be in New York.

    His ranking, which now sits at 235, was too low to make the cut for qualifying, and he was so far adrift that he did not even travel to the States in the hope that people would pull out.

    “I didn’t think I would get in,” said the 27-year-old. “They called me last Monday. I flew here from Europe on Tuesday, I arrived in the afternoon and I played on the Wednesday. So my preparation was not very good, but from the beginning I had a very good feeling. Sometimes life is crazy.”

    Bachinger had been playing on clay back home in Munich but somehow the unusual preparation worked as he breezed through qualifying.

    More surprisingly still, he then eased past Stepanek, one of the trickiest customers on tour, and has not lost more than three games in any set.

    He said of the Stepanek win: “I played unbelievable. I think it was my best match ever. Stepanek is not a bad guy. He has much experience. But everything went for me and I played really well. It was the best tennis day of my life maybe.”

    Bachinger and Murray have never played each other in a professional match but they were briefly junior rivals – the German is a month older.

    “I’m really looking forward to playing him,” said Bachinger. “When we were 14 we played each other a few times. Now it’s a different match, for sure, but I’m really looking forward to it.”

    Murray quickly climbed to the top of the junior game and breaking through in the seniors. But Bachinger took longer to make his mark. He broke into the top 100 for the first time in 2011 but began to slide down again the following year, with injuries taking their toll and leaving him questioning his future.

    “Of course I thought about stopping,” he said. “But I didn’t want to stop like this. I wanted to stop when I could say that I had done my best. I don’t like to give up. Now I’m here Fighter: Matthias Bachinger. and it’s really nice.”

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