Andy Murray won his first Tour level singles match since January with victory over Tennys Sandgren at the Zhuhai Championships in China.
The Brit beat his opponent 6-3 6-7 (6-8) 6-1 in what was by far his best performance since returning from hip surgery.
Murray's last appearance was at the Rafa Nadal Open in Mallorca a month ago, and the Brit has spent the last four weeks undertaking an intensive training regime. The improvements this has brought were obvious: Murray's court coverage, serve and forehand were greatly improved, and gave him the confidence and freedom to play an attacking game.
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When he was pushed onto the defensive, flashes of the pre-injury Murray emerged. Drop shots were chased down, impossible defensive lobs sent up, and outrageous winners struck.
Murray, who did not face a break point during the match, took the first set with a break of serve in the sixth game and had a match point at 6-5 in the second-set tie-break. But Sandgren saved it and won three points in a row to force a decider.
In humid conditions and after two long opening sets, this was a test of Murray’s physical condition as much as anything else. The Brit exceeded expectations, and it was Sandgren who was found wanting. After Murray broke to lead 3-0, Sandgren took a long medical time-out to have strapping applied to his foot and then dropped serve again after a mammoth game.
"In some ways it's one of the best wins that I've had," said Murray
"Not in terms of just getting through that today, but everything that's gone into getting back to this point."
"It's been difficult and it was undecided at times about whether I wanted to keep going or not and it's been tough," he said.
"I'm really glad that I can actually get the win today and hopefully I'll be able to keep going."
Murray will meet De Minaur in the second round.
