Murray Picked ‘Good Stuff’ From Sandgren Defeat

Andy Murray picked the positives from his straight-sets defeat to Tennys Sandgren in the first round of the Winston-Salem Open. The 32-year-old former world number one is attempting to resurrect his singles career having undergone major hip surgery at the turn of the year.

And, having lost in straight sets to Richard Gasquet in Cincinnati last week, Murray again fell at the first hurdle in North Carolina on Monday night. The three-time Grand Slam winner started brightly before losing the first set 10-8 on the tie-break and, after coming back from a double break down, Murray was broken again by the American world number 73 at 5-5 on his way to a 7-6 7-5 defeat.

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Speaking afterwards, Murray told the BBC: “I think there was some good stuff in there. “I think my ball striking was better than last week. I hit quite a few more winners, came to the net quite a lot. Obviously I didn’t win but I do feel I was a bit more in control of what was happening out there.

“Physically I felt OK in the rallies, but I did notice in the second set that my first serve wasn’t as good, and I think maybe my legs were a little bit heavy at the end there.” Having previously ruled himself out of the US Open, Murray is now pondering an outing in next week’s ATP Challenger Tour event in Mallorca.

“I think for my body it would be a good thing because I do feel at that level I will be winning matches each week,” Murray added. “And I think it would be good for my game as well because I’m not quite seeing the points as I used to. And if I can get more matches, I’ll start to work that out a little bit quicker, and see it faster.”