Two-time Miami Open champion Andy Murray fought again for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over struggling Italian Matteo Berrettini within the first spherical at Arduous Rock Stadium on Wednesday.
Berrettini wanted medical consideration close to the tip of the second set after showing to virtually faint on court docket however he battled on.
The Italian not too long ago returned to the tour after an injury-plagued 2023, reaching the ultimate of a Challenger occasion in Phoenix.
He broke Murray’s serve within the first recreation of the match and was in agency management of the opening set.
However he light badly within the second and known as a medical time-out when 5-2 down after strolling off the court docket wanting dizzy.
The climate in Miami was not notably scorching or humid and extra pleasantly delicate than has typically been the case on the match in previous years.
The 27-year-old former world quantity six, put up a greater struggle within the third, however a solid-looking Murray noticed the match out in two hours and 47 minutes.
Murray made simply 20 unforced errors whereas Berrettini dedicated 44, because the Scot clinched his fourth consecutive first-round win.
“There may be life within the outdated canine but,” wrote Murray on the tv digital camera lens on the finish of the sport and he was happy with the way of his win.
“I began off just a little bit sluggish, however I do suppose I performed fairly nicely from the center of the primary set till the tip of the match,” he mentioned.
“I created a whole lot of alternatives and he was struggling for just a little bit on the finish of the second and starting of the third. I capitalised on that and obtained off to a fast begin within the third. I served it out nicely in the long run.”
Murray, who gained the Miami Open in 2009 and 2013, will meet Twenty ninth-seeded Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry within the subsequent spherical.
Within the WTA occasion, American Sloane Stephens beat Angelique Kerber 6-2, 6-3 in a gathering of two former grand slam champions.
Stephens, celebrating her thirty first birthday, was on prime all through in opposition to the German who had proven good kind in Indian Wells the place she reached the fourth spherical.
Stephens, the 2018 Miami champion, will play Romania’s Nineteenth-seeded Sorana Cirstea within the second spherical.
4-time grand slam-winner Naomi Osaka had little hassle in defeating Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto 6-3, 6-4 in a single hour, 18 minutes to maneuver into the second spherical.
Osaka is ranked 229th on the earth after taking a break after having a toddler and spending over a 12 months out of the sport and is returning to the scene of her run to the ultimate in 2022 the place misplaced to Iga Swiatek within the remaining.
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