Andy Murray beats Christopher O’Connell in Stuttgart opener after Emma Raducanu loses in Nottingham

Updated 07/06/2022 at 16:30 GMT

Andy Murray's Wimbledon preparations are continuing at the Stuttgart Open and he opened with a 6-4 6-3 victory over Australian world No. 116 Christopher O’Connell. Murray made the Surbiton Trophy semi-finals last week. Emma Raducanu did not fare as well in Nottingham as she retired after 35 minutes of her first-round match.

Highlights: Murray beats O'Connell to reach second round in Stuttgart

Andy Murray made a winning start on his Stuttgart Open debut as he beat Christopher O’Connell in straight sets in the first round.

The former world No. 1 battled back from 3-0 down in the first set to win 6-4 6-3 in one hour and 36 minutes.

He will next face seventh seed Alexander Bublik after the Kazakh overcame Denis Kudla 7-6(3) 7-5. American Kudla beat Murray in the Surbiton Trophy semi-finals last week.

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Murray is playing in Stuttgart for the first time after opting to skip the French Open and start his grass season early in Surbiton.

He will be hoping his extra time on the surface will prove beneficial when Wimbledon comes around on June 27.

Murray did not make the best start against world No. 116 O’Connell as he was broken in the second game of the match and fell 3-0 behind.

But the three-time Grand Slam champion turned things around quickly, winning five games in a row to swing the set his way.

He closed out the set with his first set point.

Murray showed flashes of his best with a trademark lob as he broke to lead 2-1 in the second set.

That was enough to set him on the way to victory and he wrapped up the match when O'Connell fired a smash wide to get broken again.

Stefanos Tsitsipas is the top seed in Stuttgart while Nick Kyrgios plays later on Tuesday after skipping most of the clay season.

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