-Washington D.C.
Andy Murray looked like the Andy Murray of old at times and it was enough to advance to the third round of the ATP 500 series Citi Open in Washington D.C.. Murray, wearing bright coloured shorts and shoes outlined in bright orange (unusual for him) picked up his biggest win since coming back from hip surgery, The World No 832 defeating countryman and No. 4 seed Kyle Edmund 7-6 (7-4), 1-6, 6-4. The victory also avenged a loss in straight sets to Edmund on the grass at Eastbourne just over a month ago.
Murray seemed to be moving well throughout the two hour 33 minute match after playing another two hour 38 minute match in the opening round. His forehand was also on the mark as several times off Edmund’s second serve Murray’s big weapon converted including the final point of the first set tiebreak which he hammered home.
Although there were no breaks of serve in the opening set, Murray was the better player in the tie break winning four of the final five points including a pair of aces.
Edmund turned the match around in the 2nd winning five straight games to close out the set. He had 19 winners and broke the former World No. 1 twice.
In the third however, Murray again looked to be the stronger player. Edmund, hadn’t picked up a racquet for two weeks after Wimbledon because of tonsillitis and it began to show. The World No. 18 missed a pair of drop shots and was struggling with his backhand. After Edmund’s seventh double fault of the match, Murray hit another winner off of Edmund’s second serve to close things out.
“That’s been my best win since I started playing again,” said Murray. “Kyle’s one of the best young players in the world and has had some excellent results this season. It’s a good win for me. Will give me confidence moving forward to play at that level. Just need to hope there’s still some improvements to come in how I feel physically.”
“I felt a lot better in the build up to the tournament (Washington), the practices I had beforehand, the way that I was moving on the court was significantly better. In Eastbourne, anytime Kyle was dictating the points I wasn’t tracking enough balls down, I felt a bit slow to the balls. Today I was able to defend and dig up a few more shots and that made a big difference.”
The 31-year old Scot is off to the third round for the first time since the 2017 Wimbledon. He should be the favourite as he will take on Romania’s Marius Copil who has lost more matches than he has won in 2018. The two have played once before: last year in Madrid with Murray winning in straight sets on clay.
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