Great Britain’s Andy Murray defeated American, Mackenzie McDonald 3-6 6-4 7-5 in the first round of Washington Open in what was his fourth match following hip surgery in January and his first hard court appearance in 16 months.
Andy Murray vs MacKenzie McDonald review
The three-set match against McDonald lasted 2 hours 39 minutes in which the American saved five match points on Murray’s serve before breaking him to draw level at 5-5 in the third set. Murray immediately broke back and then served out the 12th game in the 73-minute set to end up on top.
“I enjoyed getting through that one. You could see it in the celebration,”
“That was a tough match. It could have gone either way. It was nice to win it.”
Andy Murray was broken twice in the opening set by the 80th ranked McDonald, losing it in only 40 minutes. The Briton stepped up in the nick of time in the second frame, breaking the 23-year-old to take a 5-4 lead. He battled through the third set and got a much needed win to boost his confidence.
“Mentally, it was a big one to get through,”
“I hadn’t played in darkness or under the lights in a really long time and I felt my rhythm was off,”
“I cut the unforced errors a little bit in the second set and started serving better.”
Kyle Edmund next for Murray
The 31-year-old Murray, who is currently ranked 832nd after the lengthy layoff, faces fellow countryman Kyle Edmund in the second round of the Washington Open. He lost to Edmund in Eastbourne in what was his third match back after his injury. The former World No.1 realizes a performance like this one won’t be enough to beat his compatriot.
“I’ll have to play much better if I want to win that match, more aggressively,”
“It will help having one more match under my belt.”
Murray previously lost to Nick Kyrgios in London and beat Stanislas Wawrinka in the first round at Eastbourne, both grass court tournaments.
25-second service clock
Washington Open is Murray’s first experience with a 25-second service clock, a change which will be introduced for the first time in a Grand Slam tournament in this year’s US Open.
“Without a shot clock, that would have been a three-hour match. It’s a positive change for tennis.”
The ATP is experimenting with rule changes to quicken the game of tennis such as towel racks, shorter sets and reduced warm-ups. Rafael Nadal has already voiced his concern regarding the modifications.
“If you want to play well, you have to let players breathe a little,”
“We’re not machines. If you want to have matches like I played with Novak (Djokovic), you cannot expect to play 50-shot rallies and in 25 seconds be ready to play the next point,”
“But if you don’t want a great show, of course, it’s a great improvement.”
Andy Murray doesn’t seem to share Nadal’s opinion.
