22 September,2023 10:31 AM IST | Beijing (China) | ANI
Andy Murray of Britain hits a return against Mo Yecong of China during their men`s singles first round match at the Zhuhai Championships tennis tournament in Zhuhai. Pic/AFP
Former World No. 1 Andy Murray marked his return to China with a victory over Mo Ye Cong 7-5, 6-3 to reach the second round at the Zhuhai Championships.
The 36-year-old three-time Grand Slam champion performed impressively to register a victory over a home wild card player in a match that lasted one hour and 42 minutes.
Murray had too much for the World No. 668 Mo, keeping all five break points he faced to possess his record of never losing to a player outside the Top 200 in the ATP Rankings.
"It was a very fast court. The conditions are very humid and he played a solid level and pushed me while I was trying to adjust to the conditions. Once I managed to get ahead in the second set, I felt a little bit more comfortable," Murray was quoted as saying by ATP.
ALSO READ
Old foes, new roles: Djokovic seeks Murray’s help for Australian Open glory
Andy Murray is going to coach Novak Djokovic through the Australian Open
Andy Murray heads into retirement after Olympic doubles loss to American duo
Andy Murray heads into retirement after Olympic doubles loss to American duo of Fritz and Paul
Andy Murray puts off retirement again with another doubles win at Paris Olympics
Murray will next play Aslan Karatsev. The World No. 63 snapped a four-match losing streak against the Italians when he defeated Matteo Arnaldi, who reached the fourth round at the US Open.
Karatsev scripted a stunning comeback as he rallied from a set and a break down to advance 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 6-2 in three hours and 23 minutes.
Chinese star Shang Juncheng was unable to progress to the second round after suffering a defeat against Mackenzie McDonald in his first tour-level event on home soil.
The sixth seed played with too much power against Shang. McDonald captured a 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-3 win in two hours and 32 minutes.
In other action, fifth seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry moved past Australian qualifier Luke Saville 6-4, 6-4 to set a meeting with Czech Dalibor Svrcina.
This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever