By Chris Oddo | Monday June 25, 2018
Andy Murray cruised past Stan Wawrinka in straight-sets to set up a second-round matchup with Kyle Edmund at Eastbourne.
Charlie Crowhurst/Getty
Andy Murray has won his first ATP match in 350 days, and the Scotsman did it in convincing fashion on Monday at the Nature Valley International, defeating old friend and rival Stan Wawrinka 6-1, 6-3 in a battle of late wild cards on the comeback trail.
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“Obviously very happy to get the win,” said Murray after the match in an on-court interview with the ATP. “I thought first set I played well, second set was a little bit patchy at times. [I was] A bit nervous towards the end, obviously—when you’ve not played for the best part of a year, closing out a match against someone like Stan who I’ve had lots of great matches with … it was tough, but I’m obviously delighted to get the win.”
Murray, who made his return to the tour after an 11-month hiatus at Queen’s Club and fell to Nick Kyrgios in three sets, is newer to the comeback game than Wawrinka, but he showed that he may be further along in form on Monday by saving all four break points he faced in a convincing victory that lasted only 77 minutes.
Murray broke Wawrinka four times on eight opportunities and won the final five games of the opener to take command.
Wawrinka temporarily righted the ship by holding twice consecutively in set two but a loose game helped Murray rally from 30-0 down to break for 3-2.
Wawrinka, who fell to 5-9 on the season with the loss, pushed to get even but Murray saved four break points to hold for 5-3 and broke in the next game on a Wawrinka double-fault to close the books.
Murray says he benefited from an increased net presence during his 19th career meeting with Wawrinka--it's something he plans to do more often as he eases back into tour life with the aim of not just getting fit, but staying fit.
“I tried to today,” he said, when asked if his gameplan included a concerted effort to play shorter points. “It was actually something when I was younger that I used to do a lot more. As I got older my game style changed. Coming back at this stage I want to try and keep some points shorter if I can, use the serve-and-volley a little bit and move forward when I have the chance. I’ll try to do that as much as I can.”
Murray will move on to face Kyle Edmund in the second round. The 31-year-old says he has yet to decide whether or not he'll be playing Wimbledon next week.
“No, I’m not going to decide until near the time,” he said. “I need to see how my body pulls up after a match. Hopefully I’ll play at least two matches this week. I’ll see how I feel tomorrow. Hopefully the hit feels good and we’ll take it from there.”
In other action at the Nature Valley International on Monday, sixth-seeded David Ferrer took out Italy’s Matteo Berrettini, 7-5, 6-3, while Jared Donaldson won a clash of young Americans, defeating Taylor Fritz, 6-7(8), 6-3, 7-6(3).
British wild card Jay Clarke won his first ATP match, 6-4, 6-1, over Ryan Harrison, while Aussie John Millman knocked off Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller, 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-2.
Denis Istomin (d. Andreas Seppi) was also a winner on Monday.