Andy Murray kickstarted his Miami Open 2024 campaign with a win against a struggling Matteo Berrettini. With this, he became only the third active ATP professional with 30 main draw victories in the ATP 1000 tournament. Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal lead the way.
After a lengthy rough patch that saw him go winless for months, Murray finally has some wins under his belt. He came up against Berrettini in the first round of the Miami Open 2024. The Italian himself is on a comeback trail after suffering extended injury troubles. However, he got off to a great start and bagged the first set.
Murray found his groove in the second set, breaking to go up 4-2. A health scare for Berrettini late in the second set saw a brief interruption. Preparing to serve to save the set, he seemed to lose balance and lean on his racket. He stumbled and almost fainted, complaining about dizziness. A medical checkup later, he was deemed okay to continue. However, he could not get back to his level.
This allowed Murray to capitalise but the Scot did not make it easy for himself with some glaring unforced errors. Ultimately, he held on to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Miami Open 2024 official global broadcaster Tennis TV’s official X (formerly Twitter) account revealed that this win made Andy Murray the third active male player to record 30 wins in the main draw of the Miami Open.
Job FINISHED @andy_murray joins Djokovic (44) and Nadal (40) as the third active man to reach 30 main draw wins at #MiamiOpen, defeating Berrettini, 4-6 6-3 6-4. pic.twitter.com/93YaPKWwbW
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) March 20, 2024
Six-time champion Novak Djokovic, unsurprisingly, leads the charts with 44 victories in the main draw of the event in Florida. He has a sizeable lead despite not playing since 2019 and last reaching the final only in 2016. Second behind the Serb is great rival Rafael Nadal, with 40 main draw wins at the Miami Open. He is second despite never winning the title and having last featured in 2017. Both stars have played 13 editions each, as has Murray.
Andy Murray faces familiar foe at Miami Open 2024 as he looks to inch closer to Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal
Murray’s losing streak lasted from October 2023 to February 2024, spanning six tournaments. He snapped it when he won his first-round match at the Qatar Open. While he has not had any deep runs since then, he has managed to win the opening encounter of each event. The three-time Grand Slam champion’s triumph against Matteo Berrettini at the Miami Open 2024 marked the fourth straight tournament where he has reached the second round.
Now, Andy Murray faces a stern test for his 31st main draw win at the Miami Open as he plays Tomas Martin Etcheverry. The 29th seed received a bye into the second round and will be well-rested for the contest. The duo had recently clashed at the Australian Open 2024. The Argentine had sent Murray packing in the opening encounter in straight sets. This tie is scheduled for Friday, March 22, not before noon local time (ET).
However, before his singles fixture, Murray will pair up with Sebastian Korda for a doubles clash. They will take on Tallon Griekspoor and Julian Cash on Thursday afternoon.
