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Britain’s Andy Murray defeats Denis Kudla on the San Diego Open after his authentic opponent Kei Nishikori withdrew with a again harm simply 90 minutes earlier than they have been scheduled to play; the American was on his option to LA in his automotive when he discovered he was going to play the Scot
Final Up to date: 29/09/21 7:58am
Andy Murray made it via to the second spherical of the San Diego Open with a straight units win over Denis Kudla after his authentic opponent Kei Nishikori withdrew with a again harm
Andy Murray cruised via to the second spherical of the San Diego Open with a
straight units win over American Denis Kudla after his authentic opponent Kei Nishikori withdrew with a again harm.
The Scot arrived in San Diego after reaching the quarter-finals on the Moselle Open in Metz final week, his greatest end in seven tournaments since his newest comeback in June after enduring prolonged spells away from the sport in recent times because of hip surgical procedure and a string of different accidents.
And the 34-year-old continued his good kind after being given a wild card entry into the hard-court match, by beating the 94th-ranked Kudla 6-3 6-2 in a match lasting simply 69 minutes.
Murray admitted the last-minute change of opponent was not straightforward for Kudla, who was en path to Los Angeles when he discovered.
“Yeah, I imply, it is clearly not that straightforward, solely discovered most likely about an hour and a half earlier than we went on the courtroom,” he mentioned.
“I practised with Denis just a few occasions. However I do not suppose, I do not suppose we have ever performed in a match earlier than.
“It isn’t straightforward for him as a result of he was on his option to LA when he discovered, within the automotive. It isn’t like he was enjoying round right here. It is clearly a fantastic effort for him to come back out and are available again and play.”
Murray, at present ranked 109th and shutting in on the highest 100 which means automated entry into the Australian Open, will now face a difficult second-round match towards Norwegian second seed Casper Ruud, the world No 10.
The previous world No 1 had few issues dishing out with the 29-year-old Kudla, who gained entry as a fortunate loser.
Murray received 90 per cent of his first serve factors and transformed three of 4 break factors towards Kudla’s serve whereas not permitting his opponent a single break level over each units.
“I wish to attempt to win and push my rating as much as get myself a greater likelihood of getting a deep run in among the main tournaments once more.”
Andy Murray
“It is nice to be on the courtroom, form of wholesome and competing like week after week for the primary time since 2017,” Murray mentioned. “It has been a very long time and I am beginning to really feel higher with every match.
“The rankings should not the primary precedence. However I’ve had some robust attracts in the previous couple of months. And clearly, your rating will get excessive sufficient and you can begin to get seeded and finally you keep away from that. I wish to attempt to win and push my rating as much as get myself a greater likelihood of getting a deep run in among the main tournaments once more.”
Murray’s last-16 match can be his first assembly with Ruud, who has been in robust kind this yr with match wins on clay in Geneva, Bastad, Gstaad and Kitzbuhel, along with his world rating rising from twenty seventh in January to his present place within the prime 10.
In different first-round matches, Murray’s fellow Brit Cameron Norrie defeated Dominik Koepfer of Germany 6-2 7-5, whereas there have been wins for Diego Schwartzman, Lloyd Harris, Sebastian Korda, and Grigor Dimitrov.
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