Andy Murray on Monday defeated Dominic Thiem to enter the second round of the Madrid Open 2022.
Back on clay for the first time in nearly two years, the two-time Madrid champion looked right at home in a 6-3, 6-4 win. It was his first victory on the surface since the 2017 Roland Garros quarter-finals, when he beat Kei Nishikori.
Despite his time away from the surface, he showed very few signs of rust in a dominant display. In a strong serving performance that included nine aces, Murray saved all three break points he faced, with all three coming in in his opening service game of the second set. He won 78 per cent of his first-serve points in the one-hour, 42-minute contest.
With the victory, Murray improves to 8-1 in first-round matches on the year. He next faces 14th seed Denis Shapovalov, who squeezed past lucky loser Ugo Humbert of France, 7-6(1), 6-3.
Jannik Sinner had to come back from the brink against Tommy Paul at the ATP Masters 1000 event.
Paul let slip two match points when serving for the match at 5-3 in the second set and another at 6-5 on the Sinner serve in the Spanish capital. The Italian upped his level at crucial moments to bounce back for a dramatic three-hour 6-7(4), 7-6(4), 6-3 win.
In Madrid, Sinner now faces a second-round meeting with Alex de Minaur, who earlier defeated home favourite Pedro Martinez, 7-6(2), 1-6, 6-3.
( With inputs from ANI )
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