Andy Murray marks competitive return with doubles victory at Queen’s alongside Feliciano Lopez

Updated 20/06/2019 at 19:57 GMT

Andy Murray marked his return to competitive tennis with a doubles victory over Juan-Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah alongside Feliciano Lopez at Queen’s.

Andy Murray with Feliciano Lopez at Queen's

Image credit: Getty Images

Playing for the first time since January, Murray and his partner Lopez battled to a 7-6(5) 6-3 victory to set up a potential quarter-final meeting with British duo Dan Evans and Ken Skupski.

"It was brilliant. I enjoyed it a lot. I was a little bit slow at the beginning but got better as the match went on," Murray said afterwards.

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"I'm very fortunate to be back playing tennis again. I love playing on this court, it's a brilliant place to play tennis.

I felt quite relaxed in the build-up today but I started to feel a bit nervous walking to the court. You want the nerves and the butterflies in the stomach and I had that today."

Five months after undergoing hip resurfacing surgery following his exit from the Australian Open, Murray took up the doubles invitation at Queen’s as he continued his journey to a possible return in the singles.

He admitted to having practiced just once with Lopez ahead of their first match together, which was as difficult as the draw could muster – a meeting with top seeds Cabal and Farah.

But Murray and Lopez stayed toe to toe with the Colombian duo, who won the doubles in Barcelona and Rome before reaching the French Open semis, taking them to a tie-break in the opening set with each player holding serve three times apiece.

A fascinating tie-break ensued, with Murray dropping both of his serves to relinquish a mini-break before he was then the benefactor of two lucky net cords as he and Lopez edged it 7-5.

Murray and Lopez were a lick of paint away from securing the first break in the fourth game of the second set, but they did so to love two games later as Murray followed up his forehand winner with a roar.

The fist-pumps continued from Murray and Lopez when they recovered from 0-30 down to hold serve the following game and edge towards an impressive victory.

Cabal and Farah forced them to serve for the match, and after a remarkable Murray winner prevented them from going 0-30 down themselves, Lopez sealed it with three unreturned serves.

"I want to thank Andy for playing with me this week. I told him already it was a nice moment for me sharing the court with him," Lopez said. "I will not forget this match. We played a good match. Thank you everybody for the support.

"I know I'm a little more British this week than usual since I'm playing with Sir Andy Murray. It was a lot of fun. The most important thing is that Andy is healthy and back on court."

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