Former world No. 1 Andy Murray played his first Newport match in 16 years and it was quite a return to the American grass court tournament. On Tuesday, Murray saw off home favorite Sam Querrey 6-2 6-0 to progress into the last-16 at the tournament.
Murray, 35, made his Newport debut in 2005, when he reached the last-16. In 2006, Murray made the Newport semifinal before losing to Justin Gimelstob. A lot has changed since Murray reached the Newport semifinal in 2006 but he is certainly happy be competing again at the American grass event.
“It’s obviously amazing to be back here and playing on this court again after 16 years,” Murray said in his on-court interview. “A lot has happened in that time: four kids, married and all that stuff. But I’m happy to be back.”
Murray dominated Querrey
Actually it was Querrey who made the first move in the match, breaking Murray in the opening game of the match. However, it didn’t take long for Murray to respond as he broke Querrey three times in the rest of the set to still easily win the opener.
After winning the last four games of the first set, Murray broke Querrey three times in the second set and finished the match on a 10-game winning run. The match was played under windy conditions but Murray was glad that he was able to execute well and start his Newport campaign with a convincing win.
“It was so breezy and really difficult, but we’re doing the best we can given the conditions,” Murray added. “Any match that I get to play now I try to make the most of it. I’ve obviously had a lot of issues with injuries the last four or five years.
You never know how close you are to the end, but I’m aware I’m getting towards the end of my career so I make the most of every match and every tournament I get to play now.”
