Murray beats Denis Kudla in 1st round of San Diego Open
Muguruza, Jabeur advance at Chicago Fall Tennis Classic
SAN DIEGO, Sept 29, (AP): Former world No. 1 Andy Murray of Britain beat Denis Kudla of the United States 6-3, 6-2 in the first round of the San Diego Open.
The 34-year-old Murray, a threetime Grand Slam champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist, is still trying to work his way back to form after two hip operations and a series of other injuries.
Murray, currently ranked No. 109, had been scheduled to play 52ndranked Kei Nishikori, but the 31-year-old from Japan withdrew with a back injury.
Murray was fresh off an encouraging quarterfinal run last week in Metz, where he fell to the eventual champion Hubert Hurkacz. At the US Open, Murray pushed third-seed Stefanos Tsitsipas to five sets.
“It’s been better,” Murray said. “The US Open was sort of the start of where I played a bit better and I just need to start beating some higher ranked players.”
Murray advances to the second round to face second-seeded Casper Ruud of Norway, who helped Team Europe capture the Laver Cup last weekend.
“I’ve had opportunities in those matches against the top players I’ve played. I think I can beat them. I just need to start converting some of my
opportunities against them and I get an opportunity on Thursday to do that against Ruud,” Murray said.
Murray is a wild-card entry in this hard-court tournament that was created this year to help fill a gap in the ATP calendar created when the postU.S. Open circuit in Asia was called off because of COVID-19 concerns.
In another first-round match, Sebastian Korda of the United States, ranked No. 42, beat countryman Tommy Paul, ranked 60th, 6-3, 5-7, 6-1.
Also, Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria beat Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics 6-3, 1-6, 7-5, and Italy’s Lornezo Sonego beat Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia 6-3, 6-4.
Top seed Andrey Rublev will make his tournament debut against local favorite Brandon Nakashima on Wednesday.
In Chicago, Garbiñe Muguruza and Ons Jabeur won in straight sets
TENNIS
in the second round of the Chicago Fall Tennis Classic.
Muguruza said the breezy conditions were challenging during her 6-4 6-4 win over 21-year-old American Ann Li.
“It was a difficult match just because (Chicago) is a windy city, or the city of the wind,” Muguruza said. “Just controlling the mindset and not getting very frustrated because it’s difficult. With 6-4, 6-4, it was very tight. I think the match was very equal due to the circumstances, but I’m happy that I stayed calm in the 5-4, serving for each set, and I managed to close them out.”
Jabeur, the No. 6 seed from Tunisia, dispatched Su-Wei Hseih 6-1, 6-0 in 46 minutes.
Seventh-seeded Elise Mertens, No. 11 seed Anett Kontaveit and 14th-seeded Victoria Azarenka also advanced in straight sets.
Camila Giorgi, the 15 seed from Italy, lost 6-4, 6-2 to Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania.
In doubles, Polish duo Magdalena Frech and Katarzyna Kawa beat Belgian pair Kim Clijsters and Kirsten Flipkens in the first round, 6-4, 6-2.
Clijsters, a former world No. 1 and US Open champion in 2009 and 2010, was eliminated from the singles bracket in a three-set loss on Monday, her first WTA Tour match since a first-round loss at last year’s US Open.
In Indian Wells, Calif., US Open champion Emma Raducanu has received a wild card into the BNP Paribas Open next month.
The combined men’s and women’s tournament will be played Oct. 4-17 in the Southern California desert, a move from its usual March date because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The 18-year-old Brit stunned the tennis world earlier this month by becoming the first qualifier in the professional era to win a Grand Slam singles title. Raducanu made her WTA Tour debut in June and soon reached the fourth round at Wimbledon.
World No. 1 Ash Barty has withdrawn from the tournament, joining Naomi Osaka and Roger Federer among those on the sidelines.
The remaining wild cards will be announced later.