Briton Andy Murray scored his first top-10 win since 2017 by beating German Alexander Zverev at the Western and Southern Open.
The 33-year-old Scotsman, who played his first high-level tournament since November after injury, won 6-3 3-6 7-5 against world number seven to reach the third round in New York.
“It’s a good effort to win after not playing for a while,” Murray said.
Murray, ranked 134 in the world, will play Canada’s next Milos Raonic.
Raonic beat British number one Dan Evans on Monday, while British women’s number one Johanna Konta saw out Kirsten Flipkens from the Belgian.
Murray continues to defy the odds
Former world number one Murray, who underwent a second major hip surgery in January 2019, is back on track for comeback after a lengthy layoff imposed by nagging injuries and the suspension of professional tours due to the pandemic of coronavirus.
After beating American wildcard Frances Tiafoe in the first round, she faced a tougher test of her fitness and form against 23-year-old Zverev.
Murray showed his best in an impressive first set, when he used his court skills and shot variety to unlock Zverev’s game.
Murray’s level dropped in the middle of the second set as Zverev fought to bring the match into a decision maker, with Murray pissing off his inability to execute his shots.
He refocused to break to a 3-1 lead in the decision maker with a cross-court winner, only for Zverev to show his resilience again by winning four games in a row to serve for the match.
However, Zverev’s main weakness was his second serve and it is clear that he did not solve the problem during the forced interval, producing five double fouls while Murray claimed the last three games.
“The first two sets were very good, the third very patchy once I took the lead,” said three-time Grand Slam champion Murray.
“I don’t think either of us played very well as we approached the finish line. I’m happy to have passed him.”
Djokovic struggles with pain to win
Number one in the world Novak Djokovic he fought through the pain in his neck to secure a 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 win against Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania.
Djokovic, who needed care during the match, paused twice in the second set but went back both times to move forward and secure victory.
“He is improving,” said Djokovic, who will later face American Tennys Sandgren.
“It’s been four days. It’s still not where I want it to be, but it’s going in the right direction.”
Meanwhile, second-seed Dominic Thiem suffered a surprise exit as the Austrian was beaten by 32nd. Filip Krajinovic of Serbia 6-2 6-1.
The tournament is usually held in Cincinnati, but has been moved to Flushing Meadows to create a two-tournament security bubble that also incorporates the US Open, which begins on August 31st.
Konta is happy to win again
Konta, 29, took her first competitive win since the WTA Tour restarted with a sure win.
Seeded eighth and goodbye to the first round, he won the last 11 games by winning 6-2 6-0 and reaching the third round.
Konta has produced a dominant performance in his first game since then a direct set loss at the Lexington Open two weeks ago, where she felt lightheaded after suffering from heart palpitations.
Konta said she was not overly concerned about the problem and had no physical problems in the heat against world number 78 Flipkens.
From the start, Konta put pressure on Flipkens’ serve and broke twice in a streak of five straight wins to clinch the opening set.
He continued to hit the ball superbly, losing just seven points in a 24-minute second set.
Evans, 30, was looking for streak wins in a Masters event – the lowest tier of tournaments at the Grand Slams – but struggled to cope with former world number three Raonic’s big serve in a 6-3 7 defeat -5.
Raonic dropped to 30th due to injury issues but looked close to his best when he scored 23 aces.
Evans suffered his second defeat of the day in the men’s doubles, losing 7-5 6-1 alongside Belgian David Goffin against Croatian Nikola Mektic and Dutchman Wesley Koolhof.
In the women’s doubles, Britain’s Heather Watson and Poland’s Magda Linette lost 6-1 6-3 to Americans Coco Gauff and Caty McNally.
