Andy Murray marked his 1000th tour match with a first-round 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win against Australia’s Alexei Popyrin at the ATP Queen’s Club Championships on Tuesday, in what his likely to be his last appearance at the tournament.
In February, the three-time Grand Slam champion had cast doubts over continuing to play beyond this summer. He was named in Great Britain’s team for the Olympics but said his involvement at the Games is contingent on how his body holds up over the “next few weeks.”
In anticipation of his likely farewell from the game, the All England Lawn Tennis Club have also revealed plans to honour Murray this year at Wimbledon, where he’s set to play doubles with his brother Jamie.
Following his first-round exit from the Stuttgart Open earlier in the month, Murray earned his first win of the grass-court season on Tuesday after a hard-fought encounter with Popyrin.
The Australian, who broke into the top 50 for the first time this year, struggled for rhythm in the first set, committing nine unforced errors to cede the set 6-3 to Murray.
But Popyrin did well to regain his composure and took the second set after breaking the Brit at the first time of asking. Murray rarely looked comfortable through the match, seemingly troubled by a niggle.
But roared on by a sellout crowd, Murray bounced back. The momentum shifted back in his favour in the third game of the deciding set, after a brilliant cross-court pass saw him gain advantage and then eventually break Popyrin.
The 37-year-old held his serve, held his nerve and eventually secured passage to the second round of the tournament he’s won five times.