Andy Murray got his Wimbledon preparations up and running with a straight-sets win over Chung Hyeon in the opening round of the Surbiton Trophy.
Returning to grass for the first time since last year’s second-round defeat to John Isner at the All England Club, Murray encountered few problems as he saw off the challenge of the 27-year-old South Korean – who was playing just his third match since September 2020 due to a back injury.
Murray took the decision to skip the French Open in order to concentrate on his build-up to Wimbledon and the 36-year-old served impressively in his opening match of the grass-court season, which provided a solid base for a comfortable 6-3 6-2 win in 69 minutes.
The former world No 1 looked sharp from the start and thumped down three aces in one game to close out the opening set, and then broke Chung to start the second.
There was a brief moment of concern when Murray tripped over an advertising board but his serving remained at a high level and the two-time Wimbledon champion did not give up a single break-point opportunity to the South Korean.
The Scot, who is the second seed at Surbiton, finished with eight aces and lost just six points on serve throughout the match. He will play a qualifier in the second round.
Meanwhile, the BBC’s coverage of the match was blighted by technical issues. The live stream from Surbiton cut out with Murray a break ahead at 4-2 in the opening set and did not return until midway through the second set.