Canadian qualifier Pospisil knocks off top-ranked Murray

Canadian qualifier Vasek Pospisil defeated British World No.1 Andy Murray 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) in a huge second-round upset at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament.

The win on Saturday night was the biggest in the 26-year-old Canadian's career, reports Efe.

"If I pick a handful of great moments in my career, this is definitely one of them. To beat the No. 1 player and somebody as accomplished as Andy, one of the greats of the game, is amazing," Pospisil said.

The Canadian, who entered the match ranked No.129 in the world, needed one hour and 51 minutes to pull off his stunning upset of the World No.1.

Pospisil got tight in the second-set tiebreaker, but he managed to dig in and hold on for the win.

"Of course, some thoughts come in, especially in the second set. It's not every day you're close to beating the No. 1 player in the world," the Canadian said.

Pospisil, who won the Indian Wells men's doubles title with American Jack Sock two years ago, had an 0-4 career record against the Scotsman going into the match.

"I didn't serve particularly well tonight, which didn't help things. And then in the second set, he started to play more aggressively," Murray said.

"I was giving myself decent looks at passing shots. I missed a few tonight. He also came up with some really good reflex volleys on important moments and important points."

In other men's action, Italy's Fabio Fognini upset France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the No. 7 seed, 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 6-4, while Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka, the third seed, rolled to a 6-3, 6-4 win over Italy's Paolo Lorenzi.

Spain's Pablo Carreño, the No.21 seed, defeated Germany's Peter Gojowczyk 7-5, 6-2.

On the women's side, France's Pauline Parmentier knocked off Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva 6-2, 6-3, while American Venus Williams, the 12th seed, rallied to beat Serbia's Jelena Jankovic 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1.

Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska, the No.6 seed, defeated Spain's Sara Sorribes Tormo 6-3, 6-4.

--IANS

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