Two-time Wimbledon Champion Andy Murray won his first clay court match in five years when he beat Dominic Thiem in the first round of the Madrid Open 6-3 6-4. Thiem has been away from the court for eight months due to a wrist injury and seemed to struggle with the physicality of the match. Murray has battled with his own injury woes in recent years and at the end of the match both players embraced in appreciation for each other’s determination to return to competitive tennis.
Former world No 1 Murray had planned to skip the clay-court season but then accepted a wildcard into the Madrid event. He will play Canada’s Denis Shapovalov in the second round, who beat him at Wimbledon last year.
Elsewhere, current British number one Cameron Norrie managed to battle through illness and a slow start to beat South Korean Kwon Soon-woo 7-5 7-5. The 26 year old will now face American John Isner in the next round.
In the woman’s draw Emma Raducanu continued he upturn in form as she reached the quarter finals. The US Open champion demolished Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk 6-2 6-1. The 19-year-old will now face another Ukrainian in Anhelina Kalinina for a place in the semi finals.
“Roland Garros 2012 – Andy Murray” by corno.fulgur75 is licensed under CC BY 2.0.