Andy Murray on brink of defeat when storm stops play in Geneva Open

As Andy Murray approached defeat in the opening round of the Geneva Open, he found himself struggling with peculiar weather conditions that were causing interference.

Murray was losing to Yannick Hanfmann, who is ranked 85th in the world. Hanfmann was winning with one set and a lead of two breaks. Suddenly, the umpire, Greg Allensworth, stopped the game because of an upcoming storm. Both players were then told to go back to the changing rooms, and the game was postponed for the remainder of the day.

A strong wind was blowing and causing whitish pollen to fall on the court from the nearby park called Parc des Eaux-Vives. This made Murray unhappy and he expressed his discomfort to Allensworth by saying, "It's as if it's snowing out here."

Despite the unexpected circumstances, Murray delivered two consecutive double faults that allowed Hanfmann to take a 4-1 lead in the second set. Hanfmann had already scored the crucial break in the first set and managed to win it 7-5 by stringing together 12 consecutive points.

Murray's comeback to the ATP Tour in Geneva was not as successful as he had hoped. He had planned to use the tournament as a warm-up for his first appearance at the French Open since 2020, but unfortunately, his performance at a Challenger event in Bordeaux last week was also disappointing.

He appeared to be in a lot of discomfort, having trouble with his service return and giving his opponent more control as the game progressed. His opponent was not keen on taking a break due to the weather.

Unless there is an amazing turnaround, Murray won't be able to secure a spot in the second round and won't be able to face the world's number one player, Novak Djokovic. This would have been their first meeting since the 2017 Doha final.

Dan Evans, who is ranked third in Britain, lost to Arthur Rinderknech in the first round of the Lyon Open yesterday. Evans had a chance to win the match but unfortunately missed it, losing 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (6). The final set was exciting, as Evans managed to make a comeback from 5-2 down and held a match point at 6-5 in the tie-break. However, Rinderknech did not give up and eventually won the match to advance to round two.