Andy Murray headlines opening day at Surbiton Trophy after tough draw

Tennis News

James Richardson
June 4, 2023

At the ATP Challenger Tour tournament in Surbiton on Monday, three-time major champion Andy Murray will square off against former world No 19 Hyeon Chung in what promises to be a thrilling first-round encounter that headlines the opening day of the grass court season.

The match on a grass court adds to Murray’s recent series of Challenger Tour meetings with elite competitors.

In order to get his first tournament win at any level since 2019, Murray defeated Tommy Paul and Gael Monfils in the Challenger 175 tournament in Aix-en-Provence. At the Bordeaux Challenger, the former world No. 1 also faced off against three-time major champion Stan Wawrinka, with the Swiss star prevailing in straight sets.

No 2 seed Murray, who entered the Surbiton Challenger as a wildcard, will face Chung for the first time. After recovering from a back ailment he sustained in 2020, Chung, 27, is taking part in just his third competition. Chung, an Australian Open semifinalist in 2018, lost in the first round of the Seoul and Busan Challengers in April and May, respectively.

Murray anchors the draw as the second seed with compatriot Dan Evans eliminated from the French Open in time to accept a wildcard into the traditional grass court curtain-raiser.

Evans will start his tournament against a qualifier with a potential second round meeting against Lima Broady lying in wait.

Injury has kept Jack Draper from taking part in the tournament after he was initially entered.

The event was thrilled to welcome back Murray.

“Murray, a three-time major champion and former world No 1, returns to Surbiton for the first time since 2004 in decent form, having picked up a series of wins against Dominic Thiem and Denis Shapovalov at his last event in Madrid,” a press release read.

“As the most successful player in Queen’s Club history and as the only Brit to win the Wimbledon men’s singles trophy in 77 years, second seed Murray will be looking to claim his first singles title on home soil since 2016.”

American ATP Tour regular Mackenzie McDonald carries the third seeding and opens his tournament against Australia’s Jordan Thompson.

Fourth seed Max Purcell of Australia starts against Zizou Bergs of Belgium.

There are a few Australians in the field with Alexei Popyrin, Christopher O’Connell, Rinky Hijikata, Aleksandar Vukic and James Duckworth studding the field alongside fifth seed Jason Kubler.

Home hope Ryan Peniston has a tough opener against Jiri Vesely.

Andy Murray