An emotional Andy Murray admitted he has been telling himself that every match could be his last after making a winning return to Queen’s Club.
The former world number one, back on the comeback trail following yet another injury setback, faced Benoit Paire at the cinch Championships in his first singles match on grass since 2018.
After completing a routine 6-3 6-2 victory – his first singles win on home soil in 1,084 days – Murray became tearful in his courtside interview.
He began: “The body is old. But I did quite well today in terms of my movement and stuff.
“It was my first match on grass in three years. I’ve only played three or four practice sets in the build-up so didn’t know how I was going to play or feel, so for a first match it was good.”
“I love playing tennis,” he added, before starting to well up.
“Sorry,” he continued. “Obviously competing is why you put in the hard work and in the last few years I haven’t been able to do that as much as I’d like so it’s great to be out here and competing again.”
Later a more composed Murray said: “I just wanted to go out there and enjoy it and just be myself. I did that. I enjoyed it. I get another opportunity tomorrow.
“I’m always sort of telling myself – and maybe it’s not the best mindset – but each match could be my last one, you know, that I play now.
“I want to make the most of every match that I play and each tournament that I get the chance to compete in.”
Murray could maybe not have hand-picked a more accommodating opponent in Frenchman Paire, who had won only two of his previous 17 matches this year, for his latest tentative return.
The fragile groin which kept the Scot out of the French Open passed its initial test, not least on set point when he stretched for a forehand and arrowed it down the line to take the opener.
A pinpoint backhand return of serve chalked up a double break in the second and when Paire floated a return long, the two-time Wimbledon champion was able to celebrate a long-awaited win.
Bigger tests await with Murray facing top seed Matteo Berrettini, the world number nine, in the next round.
Earlier British number one Dan Evans ended his losing streak at Queen’s with a 6-4 6-4 win over Australian youngster Alexei Popyrin.
Evans, at a career-high ranking of 25 in the world and seeded sixth, had not won a match at the Wimbledon tune-up in west London since 2014.
The 31-year-old had relaxed on Monday by watching Scotland’s Euro 2020 defeat by the Czech Republic with Murray, as well as the other players.
“It’s actually saving us in the bubble a bit, the Euros, and I think you sort of forget you’re in the bubble in the evening and the day,” he said.
“It’s been good and everybody has been getting involved, you know, other nationalities. It’s been pretty unique and pretty cool.”
Evans and Murray will be hoping to still be in the tournament, and the bubble, when England and Scotland clash on Friday. The British duo could even meet in the quarter-finals on the same day.
Their wins, added to those of Cameron Norrie and Jack Draper 24 hours earlier, meant it was the first time four British players had won their opening match at Queen’s since 2005 – the year Murray made his debut and won his first ATP match. That year Tim Henman, Greg Rusedski and Jamie Delgado also won their matches.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel