Andy Murray showed his British fans that he still has something left in the tank on Monday, as the former world No. 1 defeated Nikoloz Basilashvili to win his first-round match at Wimbledon.
Murray hadn’t competed at Wimbledon since 2017, when he suffered a hip injury during the tournament.
Murray collapses in third set, recovers to seal victory
Early in the match, the Scot played like his vintage self, racing out to a two-set advantage. He then took a 5-0 lead in the third set, giving himself multiple chances to close out the match.
But the No. 24 seeded Basilashvili stormed back to win the next seven games in a row to stay in the match. Murray managed to recover and win the fourth set to close out the contest by a 6-4, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 score.
“I did well to win the fourth set because mentally that was not easy to go back to the locker room after that third set,†Murray said afterward. “It was really disappointing to lose the third and I had to remind myself what I was doing.â€
Murray is currently ranked 118th in the world. He initially believed he would only ever be able to play doubles following hip surgery, but found his resurfaced hip so comfortable that he returned to singles play as well, even winning the European Open in 2019.
| Wimbledon Odds – Men’s Winner (via FanDuel Sportsbook) |
| Novak Djokovic: -170 |
| Daniil Medvedev: +700 |
| Matteo Berrettini: +1200 |
| Roger Federer: +1200 |
| Alexander Zverev: +2100 |
| Andrey Rublev: +3800 |
| Andy Murray +5500 |
Murray doesn’t rank among the likely favorites to win Wimbledon this year. Even after his impressive win, FanDuel Sportsbook rates him as a +5500 long shot for the title. But while that suggests he’s an unlikely champion, there aren’t many players ahead of him: he’s now seventh on the board, which Novak Djokovic (-170) leads by a mile.
Tiafoe eliminates Tsitsipas in straight sets
One potential favorite has already exited Wimbledon. No. 4 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas lost on Monday to American Frances Tiafoe, who scored a resounding upset over the French Open finalist. Tiafoe won in straight sets, defeating Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-4, 6-3.
The victory is the biggest of Tiafoe’s career. The American 23-year-old had never beaten a top-five player in the ATP rankings. “Definitely one of my best,†Tiafoe said afterward. “If you want to play against the [best] players in the world, this is what you train for.â€
FanDuel now lists Tiafoe as a +8000 pick to win Wimbledon. He has never gotten past the third round of the grass-court Grand Slam. His deepest run at a major came in 2019 when he reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.
It was a big Monday for American players in general at Wimbledon. Sloane Stephens scored the biggest upset of the day on the women’s side by beating No. 10 seed and two-time champion Petra Kvitova 6-3, 6-4. Stephens, who won the US Open in 2017, hasn’t gotten past the third round at Wimbledon since her quarterfinal appearance in 2013. FanDuel rates her as a +3800 pick to win the tournament this year.