Following his straight-set victory against American Brandon Nakashima on Wednesday, Andy Murray is making progress at the DC Open.
The three-time Grand Slam winner and former top-ranked men’s player returned to win the first-set tiebreak and broke Nakashima early in the second set on his way to a 7-6(5), 6-4 win at the stadium court.
Murray, who is 36 years old, proved that he still has it by hitting several powerful shots over the net and returning some hard volleys that Nakashima couldn’t handle.
The British player did struggle early to handle Nakashima’s serve, forcing a tiebreak that he trailed 4-2. Fans chanted, “I love you, Andy!” and “Let’s go, Andy, let’s go!” and Murray fought back to win it and retake command of the match.
Top-seeded Taylor Fritz, who was scheduled to take on fellow American Zachary Svajda later Wednesday, might be Murray’s next opponent in the hard-court tune-up for the U.S. Open.
On the women’s side, Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina moved to 8-0 against Russia’s Daria Kasatkina, winning 6-2, 6-2 in their first match since the French Open. Despite Kasatkina speaking out against the war, Svitolina declined to shake hands with players from Russia or Belarus, as she has done since the invasion in February 2022. In the quarterfinals, Svitolina will take on either fourth-ranked Jessica Pegula or alternative Peyton Stearns.