First Challenger Tour: Andy Murray defeated Tommy Paul in the decisive set on Sunday in Aix-en-Provence to win his first ATP Challenger Tour championship since 2005.
After losing in the first round of the Madrid Open, the Scot received a late wild card into the lower-level competition, and he won his first clay-court final match since the 2016 French Open by scores of 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 in an hour and 56 minutes.
His chances of being seeded for Wimbledon later this summer will increase if he wins since it will bring him closer to the top 40 in the world.
Top of the mountain π #ATPChallenger pic.twitter.com/KS65eIFxGk
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) May 7, 2023
π @andy_murray is the ππ’π±-ππ§-ππ«π¨π―ππ§ππ ππ‘ππ¦π©π’π¨π§ π
Andy fights back to beat Tommy Paul 2-6, 6-1, 6-2#BackTheBrits π¬π§ pic.twitter.com/INUvoDTX02
— LTA (@the_LTA) May 7, 2023
“My game has been a little bit of a struggle over the past year or so,”Β The official ATP website quotes Murray as saying.Β “But [my team] have been there supporting me and working with me to try and get stronger. “From here, we continue.”
With Paul ranked 17th in the world, it was Murray’s third victory over a top 20 opponent and his second final of the year after his defeat by Daniil Medvedev in Doha in February.
The 35-year-old defeated Stan Warwinka in Antwerp in 2019 to win his last championship on any surface.
Murray lost the first four games of the match as Paul easily took the opening set by winning 73% and 89% of first and second-serve points against his opponent’s 45% and 57%.
The match was levelled after Murray won five straight games in the second set, but things changed around when he dominated on his comeback.
Murray then tried to take advantage of this early in the third game by gaining a two-game lead right away, and he never looked back as he went on to secure a crucial break of serve for a 5-2 lead that would ultimately lead to victory.
It was the worst losing streak of his professional career when he entered the competition, having lost to Jack Draper in Indian Wells, Dusan Lajovic in Miami, Alex De Minaur in Monte Carlo, and Andrea Vavassori in Madrid in the first round.
A strong showing on the Challenger Tour would be the ideal way to stoke anticipation for his participation in a lengthy clay court season and, perhaps more significantly, the grass-court campaign.
Murray’s victory over Harold Mayot in the semifinals ensured that he would return to the top 50.
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