Andy Murray produces inspired performance to progress at Queen's

By Abi Curran

The king of Queen’s Andy Murray catapulted into the second round of the LTA’s cinch Championships with an inspired opening performance in west London.

The 37-year-old, who has a record five Queen’s tournament titles to his name, beat Alexei Popyrin in a three-set thriller, 6-3 3-6 6-3.

It was Murray's 1000th career tour-level appearance, while Popyrin was looking for his first win in his third main draw appearance at the event.

The two-time Wimbledon champion recorded his 739th career win in front of a raucous Queen’s crowd who witnessed the tennis legend in his 16th main draw at the tournament.

Murray said: "Obviously during the match it's difficult [to appreciate the occasion] but a great reward at the end for the hard work and effort I put in. I did well to come through in the end.

"Any win that you can get is important, that's why we're playing. With Wimbledon a few weeks away I want to build up some confidence and get matches in my legs. It's great to get another win here.

“I lost a bit of momentum at the end of the first set and the beginning of the second and then I played pretty well in the important moments.

“At times I served well and a few times I hit a lot better from the back of the court so I did well to get through.”

It is one last Queen’s swansong for Murray who is set to retire after Wimbledon or the Olympics following an ITF singles wildcard selection for the Games in Paris.

The 2012 Olympic champion looked at home on grass, and following an even first two sets against Popyrin, he showed his trademark grit in the decider.

Murray clung on during a back-and-forth affair and fired himself through with a determined winning point to seal victory by holding his serve for 6-3.

He let out an invigorated roar after punching his second-round ticket and is savouring every moment on the grass court.

He said: “There are amazing crowds here, for a Tuesday afternoon it’s a brilliant crowd, it’s got bigger over the last few years when I started playing here but it was pretty amazing, the turnout that they get every single year.

“It was a brilliant crowd, I’ve always enjoyed that, to create a bit more of an atmosphere on the court and I tried to do that and the crowd supported me really well.”

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