Andy Murray marked his return to motion for the primary time since March with victory in Bordeaux on his thirty seventh birthday.
Murray had been sidelined since rupturing his ankle ligaments throughout a third-round defeat to Tomas Machac on the Miami Open earlier this spring however confirmed little rust towards world No 219 Kyrian Jacquet on the ATP Challenger occasion in France.
The three-time Grand Slam champion triumphed 7-5 2-0 after his French opponent needed to withdraw by way of harm simply over an hour into their first-round match within the clay-court match.
Murray was examined within the opening set and it was solely within the eleventh sport when he earned the break earlier than holding to like to clinch the opener in 51 minutes with the assistance of his third ace.
He broke Jacquet within the first sport of the second set however then needed to fend off two break factors earlier than extending his lead, at which level Jacquet retired.
Murray – who will face one other Frenchman, Gregoire Barrere, within the final 16 – adopted a brand new racket for the match with Jacquet, enjoying with a Yonex moderately than the Head tools he has used all through his profession.
Murray intends to seem on the French Open later this month, possible for the ultimate time after saying he doesn’t anticipate extending his profession “much past this summer”.
He final featured at Roland Garros in 2020, shedding within the first spherical to Stanislas Wawrinka, the identical participant he was crushed by in his earlier match on clay in Could 2023.
Murray’s fellow Briton Dan Evans, seeded fifth for the occasion, superior to the second spherical with a 6-4 6-4 victory over Hugo Grenier and can subsequent play Harold Mayot.
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