Latest Tennis Update: Murray, a three-time Grand Slam winner and two-time Olympic gold medalist, is still attempting to regain his fitness following two hip surgeries and several other ailments. On Tuesday night, former world No. 1 Andy Murray of the United Kingdom defeated Denis Kudla of the United States 6-3, 6-2 in the first round of the San Diego Open.
Murray, who is now ranked No. 109, was supposed to face Japan's Kei Nishikori, who is ranked 52nd. But the 31-year-old withdrew due to a back ailment, according to tennis news reports.
Murray was coming off a promising quarterfinal performance in Metz last week when he lost to eventual champion Hubert Hurkacz. Murray took third-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas to five sets at the US Open 2021.
-It-s been better," Murray said. -The U.S. Open was sort of the start of where I played a bit better and I just need to start beating some higher-ranked players.-
Murray will face second-seeded Casper Ruud of Norway in the second round, after helping Team Europe win the Laver Cup last weekend.
-I-ve had opportunities in those matches against the top players I-ve played. I think I can beat them. I just need to start converting some of my opportunities against them and I get an opportunity on Thursday to do that against Ruud," Murray said.
Murray is a wild-card entrant in this hard-court tournament, which was established this year to fill a void in the ATP calendar left by the cancellation of the post-US Open circuit in Asia due to COVID-19 issues.
Sebastian Korda of the United States ranked 42nd, defeated Tommy Paul of the United States, ranked 60th, 6-3, 5-7, 6-1 in another first-round encounter.