ANDY Murray let out one yell, then another, and violently pumped his right fist. Quite a reaction, considering this was merely a first-round victory over an inexperienced opponent who recently cracked the top 100 for the first time. Still, this meant something to Murray. It was a test of his surgically repaired hip, and he put aside a deficit and some real rust to win his first hard-court match in nearly 18 months, coming back at the Citi Open to edge Mackenzie McDonald of the U.S. 3-6, 6-4, 7-5. “I enjoyed getting through that one — obviously, you see by the celebration,” Murray said after a match that began a little past 10 p.m. Monday because of a rain delay, and ended at 12:45 a.m. Tuesday. LIVE Stream the ATP World Tour on FOX SPORTS. SIGN UP NOW > “It was great to get through that one,” he said, “but in terms of the actual way that I went about the match and played the match, I wasn’t that happy with it.” Andy Murray hits a forehand return against Mackenzie McDonald. Source: AP There were stretches when Murray looked very much like exactly what he is at the moment: a guy working his back from an operation in January. Particularly when he was failing to convert any of the five match points he held while serving for the win at 5-4 in the final set. He won on his seventh, though. Murray is a former No. 1 who owns two Wimbledon trophies plus another from the U.S. Open. But he’s ranked just 832nd now, on account of so much time away. He sat out the second half of last season because of the bad hip, and then didn’t compete this year until June. This match was only Murray’s fourth of 2018. No. 5 will come in the second round of the Citi Open against Kyle Edmund, the man who overtook him as Britain’s top-ranked man during Murray’s injury absence. “I’ll certainly have to play better tennis,” Murray said. He pulled out of Wimbledon on July 1 because, he said at the time, it “might be a bit too soon in the recovery process” for his hip to try to compete in best-of-five-set matches. Against McDonald, he said, “the movements and stuff were fine. I chased balls down. Obviously lasted pretty well.” Murray played just fine for the opening 10 minutes, breaking for a 2-0 lead. And then his game devolved for quite a lengthy spell into a ragged display, filled with six double-faults - two in a row to get broken to 2-1 - and shots that missed the mark. The 23-year-old McDonald, a Californian who won NCAA singles and doubles titles at UCLA, made it to the fourth round at the All England Club this month, the first time he had made it that far at a major tournament. That put him into the top 100, and he’s now 80th. He took six of seven games in one stretch and was actually one point from serving for the victory, holding a break point while already ahead by a set and 4-3 in the second. Eventually, Murray righted himself, just before rain returned. Mackenzie McDonald returns against Andy Murray. Source: AP That forced the postponement until Tuesday of a match involving another three- time major champ: Stan Wawrinka, who was scheduled to face American qualifier Donald Young. In other matches, Noah Rubin got past Mikhail Youzhny 6-4, 6-4, Tim Smyczek beat Ricardas Berankis 7-6 (4), 6-2, and Malek Jaziri defeated Evgeny Donskoy 6-4, 6-1. Rubin now faces No. 2 seed John Isner, Jaziri plays No. 1 seed and defending champion Alexander Zverev, while Smyczek meets Zverev’s older brother, No. 15 seed Mischa. In women’s results, two-time major champion Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Kristie Ahn 6-2, 6-1, Katie Boulter eliminated No. 5 seed Aleksandra Krunic 6-2, 6-0, and Andrea Petkovic defeated Jamie Loeb 6-1, 6-1.<doc-sep>Mitchell Layton/Getty Images Former world tennis No. 1 Andy Murray has hit out at organisers of the Washington Open after his match against Marius Copil finished at 3:02 a.m. local time on Friday morning. Murray eventually prevailed 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) in a thrilling contest, making his way into the last eight. However, he was critical of the scheduling and said he may not be in the right condition to play the quarter-finals, per BBC Sport. "I don't know how players are expected to recover from that," he said. "Not playing, potentially, is possible. My body doesn't feel great right now. Finishing matches at three in the morning isn't good for anyone involved in the event—players, TV, fans, anyone." Murray is playing the tournament as part of his recent comeback from injury. It's only the third competition he's taken part in since his hip surgery in January. After the game, the effects of the match and the late finish were clear to see, as Murray was pictured crying into his towel: Video Play Button Videos you might like When asked about the emotional conclusion, Murray said it was "just the emotions coming at the end of an extremely long day and a long match," per Neil McLeman of the Daily Mirror. His opponent also paid tribute to the efforts of the three-time Grand Slam winner in what was a gruelling contest: As noted by BBC Sport, the previous latest finish at this tournament was 2:27 a.m. Murray is set to be back in action later on Friday, with his quarter-final against Alex De Minaur scheduled for 7 p.m. Murray's world ranking has plummeted to 832 following his time away recovering from injury. The 31-year-old's last Grand Slam title came in 2016, when he triumphed at Wimbledon.<doc-sep>Former ATP No. 1 Andy Murray has been recovering from a hip injury that's kept him out of every major since Wimbledon in 2017, so the last thing he needs is a weird scheduling quirk to force him further out of his comfort zone as he tries to return in time for the US Open. Enter the Citi Open in Washington D.C., in which Murray started a match at midnight that he needed to play until 3 a.m. to win. The late start was due to inclement weather. Murray, who withdrew from Wimbledon last month to continue his recovery for his hip, which he had surgery on in January, defeated Marius Copil in three sets 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 7-6 (7-4). After the Round of 16 match, Murray sat in his chair and cried into a towel, according to The Washington Post. Murray has played three sets in each Citi Open match (best of threes), and he's played for over 2 1/2 hours every time. Murray went on to criticize the scheduling that forced him to play into Friday morning. "Finishing matches at 3 in the morning is not good," he said, per The Post. "It's not good for the players. It's not good for anyone, I don't think, involved in the event. It's not good for fans, TV. Nobody." After his match against Copil, Murray may have seen enough for the time being. He doesn't seem sold on playing on Friday. At the very least, he doesn't feel it should have to be a decision he has to make. "I'm giving my view right now as someone who's just come back from a very, very long injury layoff," he said. "I don't think I should be put in a position like that, when you're expected to come out and perform the next day. I don't think it's reasonable. And I'm disappointed with that, because I know that the weather's tricky and I know it is for the scheduling, but it's a very difficult position to be in." Murray has been very measured in his rehab. The 31-year-old said that he didn't want to play in Wimbledon last month just to play it. He wanted to be competitive. This marks the first time he's advanced to a quarterfinal in his comeback bid, so it's a step in the right direction. Should Murray elect to play Alex de Minaur on Friday, his match will begin at 8:30 p.m. The US Open, meanwhile, will begin at the end of August. Presumably that's what Murray is striving for.<doc-sep>Andy Murray continued his comeback charge with a gruelling three-set victory over British No 1 Kyle Edmund in the Washington Open second round on Wednesday. In just his fifth match of 2018, Murray - currently the world No 832 - outlasted his fellow Briton after two hours and 31 minutes on court, winning 7-6 (7-4) 1-6 6-4. The three-time Grand Slam champion, playing his first hard-court tournament in 17 months, faces Marius Copil next in the third round. 🗣️ANDY IS THROUGH TO ROUND OF 16 . @andy_murray DEF. @kyle8edmund 7-6(4) 1-6 6-4 The comeback tour continues. pic.twitter.com/nPBGTOsUTt — Citi Open (@CitiOpen) August 1, 2018 The British pair locked horns only five weeks ago at Eastbourne, with Edmund recording a straight-sets win as Murray tested the waters ahead of Wimbledon. Murray subsequently withdrew before the Grand Slam started, citing the prospect of five-set tennis as "too soon", but the former world No 1 has his sights set on the US Open in August. And after preparations for that major began with a demanding three-set win over Mackenzie McDonald on Monday, the 2012 US Open champion found himself up against a familiar opponent in Edmund, for whom he has been a mentor to during the 23-year-old's rise up the rankings. Andy Murray is playing his first hard-court tournament since Indian Wells last year An even first set saw Edmund break in the 11th game, but when serving for the set he was broken back by a fired-up Murray, who went on to clinch the tie-break 7-4 when a backhand clipped the line. Edmund was playing his first match since the Wimbledon defeat to Novak Djokovic last month, but looked to have brushed off the cobwebs in the second set, breaking Murray in the fourth game and sixth games to take it 6-1. Momentum continued to swing in the decider, and Edmund was forced to dig deep and save two break points before levelling up at 4-4. However, his resolve ended there, with Murray proving the master could still cut it against the apprentice when breaking two games later with a cross-court backhand return to seal the match. "I feel better than I did during the grasscourt season, which is positive," said Murray, who played three matches in late June but withdrew from Wimbledon as it came too early in his recovery process. "So things are still getting better and I've lasted fairly well through two long matches here on a tough surface on the body. "Hopefully I can keep healing up from the matches and feeling better." We have the US hardcourts covered from all angles via our websiteskysports.com/tennis. On the move? Head to our app for mobile devices and iPad, or follow our Twitter account @SkySportsTennis to join in the conversation. Never miss the big kick-off or have to deal with interrupted games or low-quality streams with a NOW TV Sky Sports Pass this summer. You'll get exclusive coverage of the Ryder Cup, ATP Tour and loads more, starting from just £7.99. No contract.<doc-sep>
Andy Murray was playing in his first hard-court match in 16 months Britain's Andy Murray beat Mackenzie McDonald 3-6 6-4 7-5 in the Washington Open's first round in his fourth match following hip surgery in January. Murray, 31, converted his seventh match point after more than two-and-a-half hours on court against the American. "Mentally, it was a big one to get through," said former world number one Murray. "I fought hard and I had to. The movements and stuff were fine." He will now play fellow Briton Kyle Edmund, 23, in the second round. Edmund beat Murray at Eastbourne in the third match of his return during the grass-court season before the Scotsman pulled out of Wimbledon as he felt it was "too soon" to play five-set matches following his rehabilitation. "I'll have to play much better if I want to win that match, more aggressively," Murray said. "It will help having one more match under my belt." Murray had been out of action since Wimbledon 2017 before having his operation at the start of this year. After the Citi Open in Washington he also hopes to play Masters-level events in Toronto and Cincinnati in preparation for the US Open. 'I enjoyed getting through that one' He was broken in two of his first three service games on the way to losing the opening set in 40 minutes against 23-year-old McDonald, who is ranked 80th in the world. In the second set, Murray, whose own world ranking has dropped to 832, broke in the ninth game to take a 5-4 lead and served out to take the match to a decider. He was then 5-4 up and serving for the match in the third set but McDonald saved five match points then converted his second break point to draw level at 5-5. But Murray immediately broke back - in a game that included a controversial call when McDonald's racket was adjudged to have crossed the plane of the net with the score 30-30 - before serving out to win a 73-minute set and reach the second round. "I enjoyed getting through that one. You could see it in the celebration," Murray said. "That was a tough match. It could have gone either way. It was nice to win it." Serve clock a 'positive change' The match was Murray's first on a hard court since March 2017 at Indian Wells and his first experience with a serve clock, which will be used at the US Open from 27 August. "I hadn't played in darkness or under the lights in a really long time and I felt my rhythm was off," Murray said. "I was struggling on my serve. I cut the unforced errors a little bit in the second set and started serving better." The serve clock, which was used at the 2018 Australian Open, allows players 25 seconds to start their service motion from the moment the umpire announces the score after the previous point. He added: "Without a shot clock, that would have been a three-hour match. It's a positive change for tennis." Meanwhile, three-time Grand Slam champion Murray has signed up to play in the China Open at the beginning of October.