Andy Murray makes a successful start to the 2023 grass season at the Surbiton Trophy
Ndy Murray skipped the French Open to focus on his turf ambitions this summer.
It remains to be seen whether that will pay off, but his first game on grass shows that the omens are initially good.
After opting to take a wildcard for the unremarkable Surbiton Trophy rather than making his second appearance at Roland Garros in six years, Murray faced a potentially difficult opener with Chung Hyeon.
But he served well, moved well and repeatedly broke his South Korean opponent’s serve, resulting in a comfortable 6-3, 6-2 win watched from the stands by doubles specialist Jonny O’Mara, who he is currently serving added to his coaching staff.
There was only one moment of concern during the game when he fell over a billboard, but his range of motion didn’t appear to be affected after that.
Murray has repeatedly said he believes he can go on a long run at Wimbledon this year to clinch a third title at SW19.
There will be infinitely tougher challenges than Chung’s, but the 27-year-old is no slacker. A former NextGen champion, he reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open before suffering a back injury in 2020. This is only his third tournament since returning.
Injury problems are no stranger to Murray but there doesn’t seem to be any ill effects at the moment as on the pitch at least Queen’s and Wimbledon will follow if he stays fit.
In the opening set, which he finished with three consecutive aces, he broke twice. In the opening game of the second set, he then defeated his opponent and was able to determine the course of the game from that point on. A second break of the set followed in the seventh game, in which he played the match to victory.
https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/tennis/andy-murray-surbiton-trophy-b1085685.html Andy Murray makes a successful start to the 2023 grass season at the Surbiton Trophy
