Andy Murray nets 500th career hard-court win in Dubai

Field Level Media|published: Mon 26th February, 16:58 2024

Aug 31, 2023; Flushing, NY, USA; Andy Murray hits to Grigor Dimitrov on day four of the 2023 U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. credits: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

Three-time major champion Andy Murray from Great Britain won his 500th career hard-court match when he beat Canadian Denis Shapovalov 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3 in the first round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Monday.

Murray — who joined Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andre Agassi and Rafael Nadal in the 500 club — said in a post-match interview that he "probably (doesn't) have too long left but I'll do the best that I can these last few months," a possible hint that the 36-year-old is considering retirement.

No. 2 seed Andrey Rublev of Russia rallied past China's Zhizhen Zhang 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-4, while Polish third seed Hubert Hurkacz outlasted German Jan-Lennard Struff 7-6 (5), 6-7 (4), 7-6 (6).

No. 7 seed Alexander Bublik also needed three sets to top Czech qualifier Tomas Machac 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5), and Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp upset French sixth seed Adrian Mannarino 7-6 (3), 7-5.

American Sebastian Korda knocked off Russia's Pavel Kotov 6-0, 6-2 in 54 minutes, and Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands led 7-5, 2-0 when Jordanian opponent Abdullah Shelbayh retired.

—Field Level Media

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