Andy Murray’s first ATP World Tour singles match as a married man is scheduled to take place on Thursday afternoon in Munich. The British No. 1 will begin his campaign against Germany’s Mischa Zverev, whom he has never encountered previously on the professional tour.

 

Yet to begin his clay court season, Andy Murray took some time off to get married to longtime girlfriend Kim Sears. Now happily hitched, Murray will step onto the courts in Munich as a rejuvenated spirit looking to capitalize on the opportunities ahead. He most recently reached the semi-final stage in Indian Wells and the final in Miami, both times losing to world No. 1 Novak Djokovic. It will be interesting to see if Murray’s strong performances on hard courts can transition onto clay, where he has historically played well, albeit inconsistently.

In another interesting note, Murray has already gotten some practice on this court, as he, along with Jean-Julien Rojer, eliminated third seeds Raven Klaasen and Lukas Rosol 7-5, 6-2 in an entertaining doubles action.

 

His first challenge in Munich will be Mischa Zverev, who defeated Jan-Lennard Struff in three sets to secure his spot in the second round. He beat his fellow countryman 7-6(6), 3-6, 6-4 in a match where he struck four aces, won 61 percent of his first service points, and saved seven break points to finish it off in two hours and four minutes.

This marks the first time that these two competitors will cross paths on the ATP World Tour. Murray is undoubtedly the more experienced competitor and will look to impose his dominance on his German adversary en route to a straight sets victory before reaching the quarter-final round. It will mark Murray’s first clay court appearance of the season but that should not stop him from completing a reasonably straightforward encounter.