Tennis: Andy Murray signs his first victory on the main circuit since his surgery

Zhuhai (China) (AFP)

Andy Murray on Tuesday won his first singles victory on the ATP main circuit since his hip operation eight months ago, beating Tennys Sandgren 6-3, 6-7 (6/8), 6- 1 in Zhuhai (China).

The 32-year-old Briton had won two games on the Challenger circuit in late August in Mallorca, before being eliminated in the third round.

At the Zhuhai ATP 250 on Tuesday, the former world No. 1 dropped to 413rd ATP, delivered and won a physical battle of more than two and a half hours to advance to the second round of the Australian Alex De Minaur (31st).

The three-time Grand Slam winner (US Open 2012, Wimbledon 2013 and 2016) had evoked in January a likely retirement after Wimbledon 2019, where he played in doubles and mixed doubles, due to persistent pain in his right hip. But the successful installation of a metal prosthesis gave him a little hope and allowed a glimpse of a return to competition in singles.

He returned to the circuit in June first in doubles, including a win at the grass tournament Queen's, associated with the Spanish Feliciano Lopez.

In singles, he made his comeback in August at the Cincinnati Masters 1000: eliminated in the first round, he had given up the US Open, but had tried his luck again at Winston-Salem where he had been eliminated at the 1st turn ... by Sandgren.

© 2019 AFP