Andy Murray: Scot earns first win of 2024 after beating Alexandre Muller in Qatar Open first round - 'I'm just so proud'

ByNancy Gillen

Updated 20/02/2024 at 21:30 GMT

Andy Murray earned his first victory of the 2024 season with a 6-1 7-6(5) result against Alexandre Muller at the Qatar Open. The 36-year-old had not won in six matches, and had to overcome knee pain to beat his French opponent. Murray will now play Jakub Mensik. Fellow veteran Richard Gasquet also progressed at the ATP 250 tournament, setting up a tie against top seed Andrey Rublev.

Andy Murray won his first match of the 2024 season with a 6-1 7-6(5) victory against Alexandre Muller at the Qatar Open.

The 36-year-old went into the ATP 250 tournament on a six-match losing streak after a poor start to the season.

Murray was dominant in the opening set against Muller, breaking the Frenchman on his first service game.

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He had a 3-0 lead when he was forced to call a physiotherapist on court with complaints of knee pain, but after receiving treatment, it did not appear to bother him again.

Murray squandered two break points upon his return to the match but soon settled into the swing of things again.

He secured a second break just a couple of games later, before holding serve to win the first set.

Muller started to show improvement, fighting back when he was broken and forcing the second set to a tiebreak.

It looked as if Murray might be taken to a third set when Muller went 4-2 up in the tiebreak, but the three-time Grand Slam winner pulled it back to 5-5.

Murray won the next two points, letting out a roar of delight as he finished with a superb backhand to secure the victory.

"The last few months have been really tough on the court for me,” he said. “I've not won many matches and lost a lot of close ones as well.

"It was getting tight at the end there as well, so delighted to get through. So many people came out to watch for a first round, which is brilliant.

"I'm just proud I managed to get through the match and get another win under my belt and happy for my team who have been working extremely hard with me to get through these difficult moments and hopefully this is the start of a better run."

Murray admits ‘last few months have been really tough’ after ending winless run in Doha

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Murray will now play Czech Republic’s Jakub Mensik, who defeated Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7-6(3) 6-4.

Meanwhile, fellow veteran Richard Gasquet got past Alexander Shevchenko 6-4 6-4, setting up a mouthwatering tie against top seed Andrey Rublev.

Jan-Lennard Struff, the tournament’s sixth seed, was stunned by Christopher O'Connell 6-4 6-4.

O’Connell will now meet Emil Ruusuvuori, the 7-6(2) 7-5 winner against Giulio Zeppieri.

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