‘Things are going in the right direction,’ declares Andy Murray after big win

Shahida Jacobs
Andy Murray

He admits he is not quite sure yet if he can play three or four matches in a week, but Andy Murray believes he is on the up after claiming his biggest win since undergoing hip surgery.

A week after securing his first singles win on the ATP Tour following his career-saving operation in January, the former world No 1 made it two wins in the space of a week as he claimed the scalp of world No 13 Matteo Berrettini in the first round of the China Open on Tuesday.

Murray admitted last week after his second-round defeat to Alex de Minaur at the Zhuhai Championships that he didn’t feel he was at a level to compete regularly with top 20 or top 30 players.

However, he got the better of US Open semi-finalist Berrettini, winning 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (9-7) in just over two hours.

Unsurprisingly the three-time Grand Slam winner is feeling upbeat and feels he took a major step forward in Zhuhai.

“I didn’t really feel like I was playing at a great level [against Gasquet in Cincinnati],” he is quoted as saying by Metro.co.uk. “Whereas even last week [in Zhuhai], although I lost in the second round [to Minaur], I felt like I was playing Tour-level tennis. I think things are going in the right direction.

“Last week was a big step for me. Now I just need to try and get the matches, get them consistently, so that I’m used to playing three, four matches in a week.

“Right now, at this level, I don’t know if I’m ready to do that or not. So the more I can get through these sort of matches like I did today, I’ll get there a little bit quicker.”

Next up for Murray is fellow Brit Cameron Norrie.

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