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 on Monday.
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.
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.
Andy Murray live
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Andy Murray open his grass-court campaign with straight-sets win at the Surbiton Trophy
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The 36-year-old served impressively to defeat Chung Hyeon 6-2 6-2 in 69 minutes
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Murray pulled out of the French Open to focus on his Wimbledon preparations
Andy Murray 6-3 6-2 Chung Hyeon – Game, set and match!
15:00 , Jamie Braidwood
Strong from Murray, who serves it out impressively. That was really the key to the game and the first serve sets up the forehand winner to the opposite side. Chung was rather blasted off the court here, with Murray’s serve providing a solid base to build from.
The serve was faultless really. Murray finished with eight aces, won over 90 per cent of his second-serve points, and lost just six points on serve during the whole match.
Chung has only just come back from a long injury layoff and this wasn’t much of a contest, truth be told. Murray will face a qualifier in the second round.
Andy Murray 6-3 5-2 Chung Hyeon
14:58 , Jamie Braidwood
Break! Murray senses his chance and jumps on Chung’s serve from the start. Facing two break points, Chung goes reaching for a crosscourt winner but is miles away. Murray will serve for the match next.
Andy Murray 6-3 4-2 Chung Hyeon
14:52 , Jamie Braidwood
Another service hold to love from Murray, who has yet to give Chung even the slightest whiff of a break point opportunity.
He moves two games away.
Andy Murray 6-3 3-2 Chung Hyeon
14:51 , Jamie Braidwood
Murray shakes his head at a line call as Chung holds to make it 2-3 in the second.
Murray has a new face in his box this week in the shape of doubles specialist Jonny O’Mara, who will be with Murray until the end of the season.
Andy Murray 6-3 3-1 Chung Hyeon
14:45 , Jamie Braidwood
Murray has barely dropped a point on serve to far (six in total through his first seven games).
He moves 3-1 ahead in the second as a backhand slice forces Chung low and into the net.
Andy Murray 6-3 2-0 Chung Hyeon
14:38 , Jamie Braidwood
Ace number six!
Ace number seven!
Hold to love!
Murray increases his lead.
Andy Murray 6-3 1-0 Chung Hyeon – Break!
14:33 , Jamie Braidwood
The live stream remains down, while Chung saves three break points in his opening game of the second set…
…but a fourth break point quickly follows and as Chung double faults, Murray gets the break to start the second.
Andy Murray 6-3 Chung Hyeon – Set!
14:23 , Jamie Braidwood
Set! Fittingly enough, Murray takes the opening set with his fifth ace of the match so far. A very solild start from Murray on his return to the grass.
Andy Murray 5-2 Chung Hyeon
14:18 , Jamie Braidwood
Still no pictures from Surbiton but Murray extends his lead to 5-2 as he continues to serve well in this first-round match.
Andy Murray 4-2 Chung Hyeon
14:13 , Jamie Braidwood
This match is live on the BBC but they’ve only gone and lost signal from Surbiton.
Andy Murray 4-1 Chung Hyeon
14:10 , Jamie Braidwood
Murray’s serving looks impressive so far. The 36-year-old belts down a couple of aces to hold to love and extends his first-set lead to 4-1.
Andy Murray 3-1 Chung Hyeon
14:08 , Jamie Braidwood
A double fault from Chung hands Murray a look at two early break points. Murray looked to attack on the first opportunity – a forehand cross just drifting wide – but then Chung lobs a forehand long and the Scot gets the first break of the match.
Andy Murray 2-1 Chung Hyeon
14:01 , Jamie Braidwood
Murray moves in nicely off the serve to put away the backhand volley and get to 40-0. Murray’s improved serve was a key reason for his improved form on grass last season, where he reached the final of the Boss Open in Germany.
Chung, though, finds the backhand pass to get back to 40-30.
Ace from Murray!
Andy Murray 1-1 Chung Hyeon
13:58 , Jamie Braidwood
Chung gets off the mark as a lovely volley at the net is followed by Murray drifting a forehand long of the baseline. It’s a sleepy Monday afternoon in Surbiton.
Andy Murray 1-0 Chung Hyeon
13:55 , Jamie Braidwood
Here are the players! Oh, the green of the grass-court summer, such a contrast to the red dirt of Roland Garros!
Murray elects to serve first and gets the ball rolling with an opening hold. Murray looking relaxed in an orangey-top.
Andy Murray on court shortly
13:47 , Luke Baker
The first two games of the day on centre court in Surbiton have been completed, so Andy Murray is next up to face Chung Hyeon. They’re just out on court now.
Incidentally, it was a mixed bag from a British point of view in those first two matches. Jay Clarke went down 6-4, 6-0 to Australia’s Luke Saville but Mark Whitehouse emerged triumphant in the following British-Aussie clash as he beat James McCabe 6-3, 7-5.
Andy Murray at Surbiton again after skipping French Open
13:45 , Lawrence Ostlere
Andy Murray took a wild card to be here in order to tune up for Wimbledon, which starts next month. Here’s more:
Andy Murray confirms he will play at Surbiton again after skipping French Open
French Open latest updates
13:33 , Lawrence Ostlere
Murray is expected to be on court at around 2-3pm, depending how quickly the preceeding match on Centre Court concludes.
In the meantime you can follow all the latest from the French Open today:
French Open LIVE: Latest scores and results from Roland Garros
Andy Murray vs Chung Hyeon
13:24 , Lawrence Ostlere
Andy Murray gets his grass-court season underway at the Surbiton Trophy as the 36-year-old takes on Chung Hyeon in the opening round.
Murray returns to action having made the decision to skip the French Open in order to focus on his Wimbledon preparations. The former world No 1 reached the semi-finals of the Surbiton Trophy last season and will be hoping to build momentum while staying injury-free ahead of his return to the All England Club next month.
Murray is the second seed for the tournament, which is an ATP Tour Challenger Event, but has been handed an interesting opponent in Hyeon. The 2018 Australian Open semi-finalist, who remains the last player to beat Novak Djokovic in Melbourne, has been disrupted by injuries in recent years and the South Korean has only been able to play twice this season.
Andy Murray vs Chung Hyeon
13:19 , Lawrence Ostlere
Follow live coverage of Andy Murray’s opening grass-court match of the summer.