Rotterdam Open: Andy Murray breaks into top 100 on return; enters second round 

The British-ace will take on his third seeded Canadian counterpart Felix Auger Aliassime in the second round of the Rotterdam Open.

Andy Murray in action. (Twitter: @the_LTA)
By Samrat Chakraborty | Feb 10, 2022 | 2 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

British-ace Andy Murray broke into top-100 rankings for the first time since 2018 and proved that he has still got it all in his first round display at the Rotterdam Open. The former World No.1 displayed grit and brilliant court coverage to outclass his opponent and World No. 31 Alexander Bublik 7-6(6), 6-4 to reach the second round of the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam. His next match will take place on Friday midnight, according to Indian Standard Time (IST), against his third seeded Canadian counterpart Felix Auger Aliassime.

The wild card entrant believes that it was a neck-and-neck affair in the first round which he was able to overcome. He also applauded the returns from Bublik in the second set. 

“There were some tough moments in the first set for both of us,” said wild card Murray after the match. “I just managed to come through at the end of it. Some great returns off some big second serves from him at the end and I did a good job. It’s not easy playing against someone like that, huge serves, a lot of drop shots and you’ve got to keep your focus and I did that well tonight.”

Murray now leads the head to head battle against Bublik by a comfortable 2-0 margin. Their previous meeting came at the 2017 Wimbledon where the British won the first round contest in straight sets. He was, then, the top seed while Bublik was 135th ranked lucky loser. 

Andy Murray to face Felix Auger Aliassime in second round

The Kazakh has won his first ATP Tour title and the biggest win of his career by defeating World No. 3 Alexander Zverev in the final of the Open Sud de France in Montpellier only last week. 

Murray’s next opponent overcame qualifier Egor Gerasimov in three sets earlier on Wednesday after a slow start. He had won his last meeting against Murray in straight-sets at the 2020 US Open.

The British believes that the third seed is one of the best youngsters on the circuit currently and he desperately wants to beat him. 

“[I’m] looking forward to that one,” said Murray on the second-round clash. “He [Auger-Aliassime] started the year pretty well and is one of the best young players just now. I’ll need to be on my game if I want to beat him, but it’s a great test for me and we’ll see what happens out there.”

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