Citi Open: Andy Murray reaches second round
Andy Murray embarked on his second comeback as he won his first match since Eastbourne against American Mackenzie Macdonald in three tight sets.
Murray is scheduled to play three hard court tournaments in a row in preparation for the US Open: Washington, Toronto and Cincinnati. He has received wildcards for both Toronto and Cincinnati while using his protected ranking for direct entry into the US Open.
Rusty, but encouraging
Murray, who slipped to 839 in the world after skipping Wimbledon, will now face British number 1 Kyle Edmund for the second time within a month, having lost to him in Eastbourne. Needing over 2 and a half hours to get through, Murray squandered 5 match points in the decider at 5-4, allowing the American to break his serve to draw level at 5-5.
Murray immediately broke back to take the lead, needing 73 minutes in total to clinch the victory.
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Looking forward
Murray now faces Kyle Edmund in the second round. Edmund, the highest ranked British player, beat Murray just over a month ago in Eastbourne in two comfortable sets, highlighting how far Murray is from his prime playing days. However, all his four matches have been encouraging in that he’s been able to stick to his original play style without a lot of restriction in movement and shot making.
Murray also looks to have gained muscle, which his playing style seems to depend heavily on. Skipping Wimbledon in order to give himself more time to be match ready for best of 5 sets might pay off handsomely. Getting matches under his belt by playing several tournaments also seems to be a good decision, as winning titles so soon seems to be unlikely.
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Going by how he’s playing currently, it may take Murray till the end of the year to be back to winning titles/matches over top players. As for his match with Kyle, expect a competitive 3 setter which could swing either way.