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Despite having already won triumphs in a Challenger such as Manacor (organized by the Rafa Nadal Academy), Andy Murray has returned to achieve an individual victory in the ATP circuit nine months after the one achieved on January 1 in Brisbane (Australia) ) before James Duckworth. The Scot did it against the American Tennys Snadgren in the first round of the Zhuhai (China) tournament in three sets (6-3, 6-7, 6-2).

The former world number one was solid in the service since the start of the game, getting 13 aces , and did not yield any break in the entire game . After getting the first set with some comfort, he had in his hand the game in the second, but Sandgren managed to save the game ball that the Scotsman had with 6-5 in his favor and take that part later in the playoff.

Murray was not affected by missing out on that match point , and he managed to break two breaks that allowed him to close the game in the third round with a 6-1 after two hours and 41 minutes on the track.

" Today I had very good feelings : I have moved well, I have hit the ball almost always correctly, I have gotten quite well. I have many things to improve yet, but it is evident that I have progressed a lot these months," said the double Wimbledon winner after the match. "I am very happy with this victory, I hope to continue advancing in the tournament, " he added.

The shadow of withdrawal

On the doubts generated by his hip injury and the subsequent operation, the Briton acknowledged that he came to think about the withdrawal. "After going through the operating room in January I had many doubts, I came to wonder if it was worth following or not," said the Briton, who intends to be present in the vast majority of important competitions on this Asian tour.

Despite having achieved an important victory against a player who is 344 places ahead of Glasgow at this time in the ATP ranking - inactivity and injuries have led the Briton to position 413 -, Murray prefers to keep his feet on the ground. "Honestly, I don't think I can go back to my best level . I think it would be a bit naive if I really thought this was going to happen," said the US Open winner in 2012 at the press conference prior to the start of the Zhuhai tournament. .

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