Murray Breezes By Querrey In Windy Newport

Playing at the Infosys Hall of Fame Open for the first time since 2006, Andy Murray carried his strong grass-court form into Newport with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Sam Querrey on Tuesday.

“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.” 

After falling to another big-serving American in John Isner in the Wimbledon second round, the 35-year-old  beat Querrey on his opponent’s home turf to return to winning ways. The sixth-seeded Briton improved to 6-2 on the grass this season, including a run to the Stuttgart semi-finals last month, when he lost to eventual champion Matteo Berrettini.

Murray was a perfect six-for-six on his break chances in the match as he dragged Querrey into rallies on return throughout the 54-minute contest. The Briton dropped serve in the opening game of the match but was firmly in control beyond that, coping with the blustery conditions far better than his opponent. 

“It was so breezy and really difficult… but we’re doing the best we can given the conditions,” added Murray, who said he prioritised a high first-serve percentage and hit to big targets to avoid wind-whipped errors. The Briton made 76 per cent of his first serves in the match compared to Querrey’s 39 per cent. 

“Any match that I get to play now I try to make the most of it,” he said. “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.”

With the victory, Murray moves into joint-seventh place in Open Era grass-court win percentage according to Infosys ATP Stats, with a 116-25 record on the surface, an identical mark to Boris Becker.

Open Era Grass-Court Win Pct. Leaders (min. 100 matches)

Murray advances to face Max Purcell in the second round. The Australian backed up his Wimbledon doubles triumph alongside countryman Matthew Ebden with a 6-3, 1-6, 7-5 victory against Adrian Mannarino earlier on Tuesday.

Also advancing at the ATP 250 in Newport were fifth seed Benjamin Bonzi, seventh seed Jiri Vesely and eighth seed James Duckworth. Bonzi defeated American William Blumberg 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, while Vesely downed Feliciano Lopez 6-4, 6-2 and Duckworth edged Liam Broady 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.

Tim van Rijthoven, who claimed his maiden tour-level title on the grass of ‘s-Hertogenbosch last month and reached the Wimbledon fourth round, could continue his strong run in Newport. American Mitchell Krueger earned a 7-6(7), 4-6, 6-3 victory to eliminate the in-form Dutchman.