Andy Murray admits his ‘tennis could have been better’ during win, but pleased with his movement

ATP Tour
Andy Murray fist pump

There is certainly room for improvement for Andy Murray following his first-round win at the Western & Southern Open, but the former world No 1 also took plenty of positives from the match.

Playing in his first ATP Tour match since October last year, Murray was forced to work for his win by American Frances Tiafoe as he required two hours and 28 minutes to see off the wildcard 7-6 (8-6), 3-6, 6-1.

The three-time Grand Slam winner was pleased with how he felt physically during the match, especially after such a long layoff, but admits he can up his game.

“I thought I moved well today. That was probably the thing I was most happy with and probably the thing I was most apprehensive about going into the match,” he said. “I thought I moved pretty well. My tennis could have been better. I did some things well at the end, but I could definitely improve in terms of my game.

“But I always need to see as well how I recover from a match like that too, because, you know, although I felt good during the match, things can sometimes stiffen up and hurt a bit afterward.

“I’m happy with how I did today. Would have liked to have played a bit better, but physically I was good. That is the most important thing for me, because that hasn’t been the case for the last ten months.”

Next up is fifth seed Alexander Zverev and Murray expects a good match against the German.

“[Zverev has] obviously been up at the top of the game for a number of years now,” he said. “It will be a good test for me, for sure… He moves well for a big guy, solid off the ground.

“[He] has struggled at times with his serve. When he’s serving well, he’s obviously one of the top players in the world.”

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