After a straight-sets loss to countryman Kyle Edmund at the Nature Valley International on Wednesday, former World No. 1 Andy Murray took time to reflect on his comeback performances after an 11-month absence from the ATP World Tour.

Murray focussed on his progress, rather than results, as a measure of success after falling to the 23-year-old Brit after one hour and 40 minutes. The 31-year-old, who lost to Nick Kyrgios in three sets in the Fever-Tree Championships first round last week, notched his first tour-level victory in almost a year on Monday against former World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka.

“I need to be very patient just now and not get too high or low depending on a few results,” said Murray. “Hopefully things can continue to go in the right direction, but… it takes time and I’ll certainly give it my best shot.”

Tough draws have not helped the 45-time tour-level titlist’s return to action, with Kyrgios and Wawrinka his first opponents at The Queen’s Club and Eastbourne. But the top-level opponents have provided Murray with a chance to compare his game with the world’s elite.

“Certainly the last couple of weeks have been positive, and I’ve [played] three matches all against top, top players,” said Murray. “Obviously Stan (Wawrinka) is coming back from injury, as well, but Kyle and Nick (Kyrgios) are Top 20 players. A couple of weeks ago I probably wasn’t sure whether I was going to be able to do that or not. So that’s a positive thing, and hopefully things keep going in that sort of direction.”

In both of Murray’s losses, to Kyrgios and Edmund, the British star has tried to gain valuable knowledge about his level, in terms of performance, physical conditioning and match sharpness.

“With each match I’m trying to gain information about where I’m at physically and where my game is at. The matches have been helpful for that… With Nick I felt like I was returning huge, huge serves but also getting more free points on my serve.

“Today, that wasn’t really the case. I was reacting a lot on the court rather than being the one that was dictating on my own serve. They are the sort of things that when you play against the best players, which obviously Kyle is one of them, over the course of the match, that tells a little bit,” reflected Murray.

One element of Murray’s game that may take some time to return to peak condition appears to be his serve. The 2016 Nitto ATP Finals champion won just 59 per cent of service points in his loss to the Grand Prix Hassan II runner-up and was broken on three occasions.

“My serve has been something that’s been a struggle to practise,” admitted Murray. “I haven’t really hit loads of serves in the last 11 months or so. Maybe it’s been a bit more inconsistent, or up and down, a bit like the rest of my game at times.”

An interesting side note to Murray’s absence on the ATP World Tour in the past year has been the emergence of Edmund. Edmund overtook Murray to become the new British No. 1 on 5 March after a strong start to the 2018 season, which included a run to his maiden Grand Slam semi-final at the Australian Open.

“I’m really happy that Kyle’s doing really well,” said Murray. “It’s great for British tennis… Obviously this is a really good thing for British tennis that, with the stage of my career I’m at, [there is] another player at the top of the game. Hopefully he’ll be competing for the biggest tournaments.”

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With the third Grand Slam of the season taking place next week at Wimbledon, two-time champion Murray shared his mindset as he prepares to make the decision on whether or not to participate on the mown lawns of the All England Club. 

“It’s just [a matter of] whether I feel like I’m able to do myself justice… Two weeks ago I practised with Kyle and I didn’t win a game,” shared Murray. “That was the first set or points that I played in six months… I have made decent improvements the last couple of weeks and obviously have been somewhat competitive in the matches that I have played.

“I don’t just want to go out there to just play. I want to be able to compete properly. And if I don’t feel like I can do that, then I won’t play. If I do and physically I feel ready, mentally I’m in the right place, then I’ll go for it.”

Kyle Edmund has had bigger wins on bigger stages, such as during his Australian Open semi-final run in January. But the 23-year-old might have earned one of his most meaningful victories on Wednesday at the Nature Valley International in Eastbourne.

The top Brit beat mentor and countryman Andy Murray 6-4, 6-4 to advance to the quarter-finals of the ATP World Tour 250 event. Murray, a former World No. 1 on the comeback from hip surgery, hadn’t lost to Edmund in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series (2-0), including a 2016 matchup on grass at the Fever-Tree Championships.

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Murray, however, beat Stan Wawrinka in his Eastbourne opener and competed well against his confident countryman on Wednesday. More importantly, probably for him, he showed no visible signs of his hip injury affecting him on court. Murray raced behind the baseline, chasing cannons from Edmund’s forehand, without pulling up.

It was that shot, though, the same one that has carried Edmund to a home inside the Top 20, that helped him beat his 31-year-old off-season training partner. Edmund broke in the opening game when Murray shanked a forehand off the court, and he littered their rallies with big forehands, forcing Murray to stay feet behind the baseline. Murray tried to pick on Edmund’s weaker wing, his backhand, but Edmund defended it well, rarely going a few shots without seeing another forehand.

Read More: Murray Confident He Can Compete With The Best

In the second set, it looked as if Murray might rally. At 1-1, he came back from 15/40, peppering the crowd with his familiar rally cries of “Let’s go!” and “Come on!” But Edmund was too solid and too strong, even when on the run and even when hitting his backhand. He stumbled while first serving for the match at 5-2, but Edmund recovered in the 10th game and held to 15.

Edmund will next meet Kazahkstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin, who saved all seven break points to beat Spaniard David Ferrer 6-2, 6-0.

The five biggest servers in our sport have a favourite spot to hit their aces – and it’s not where you think.

Fifteen thousand serves to the corners by the five biggest servers in our game uncover some fascinating insights into how power and direction dominate the start of the point.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of first serves out wide and down the T in both the Deuce and Ad courts reveals where aces occur the most from the tall timber, and how likely their towering first serves are to be returned back in play.

The following five players lead the ATP World Tour in Average Aces Per Match for the past 52 weeks and are the focus of this first-serve analysis.

Player Height / Average Aces Per Match Past 52 Weeks
6’11” / Ivo Karlovic 22.6
6’10” / John Isner 19.6
6’4” / Gilles Muller 16.5
6’8” / Kevin Anderson 16.4
6’5” / Milos Raonic 15.0

The overall data set of 15,020 first serves for these five players comes from 2011-2018 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events and Nitto ATP Finals.

Here are three things we learned from the big five servers:

Deuce Court Wide = No. 1 for Aces
Isner led the way with aces out wide in the Deuce court with 473 to this specific location. Interestingly, it was 108 more than he hit down the T (365) in the Deuce court.

Karlovic and Muller also targeted out wide more than down the T, while Anderson and Raonic went slightly more to the T. We seem to remember bombs right down the centre T a lot more from taller players, but it’s wide in the Deuce court that delivers the most free points.

Ace Location
Deuce Court Wide = 28.8%
Deuce Court T = 26.5%
Ad Court T = 23.5%
Ad Court Wide = 21.2%

2. Deuce Court Wide = No. 1 for Unreturned Serves
The first thing to consider is that this location is directed towards a right-hander’s more potent forehand return, but it also taps into the natural slice motion of a right-handed server. Most returners will be looking/leaning towards a serve down the T to their backhand, so the surprise factor out wide also contributes to the return being missed.

Most Unreturned Serves (not including aces)
Deuce Court Wide = 29.0%
Deuce Court T = 25.7%
Ad Court Wide = 24.1%
Ad Court T = 21.2%

3. Ad Court Wide = Most Returned Serves
Players at all levels of the game target the wide serve in the Ad court as a way to get free points from the first serve. The theory is solid as you are pulling a right-handed opponent off the court and stretching him to hit a backhand return. But the analysis shows that more first serves are returned back into play from this position than anywhere else.

Most Returned Serves
Ad Court Wide = 48.2%
Ad Court T = 47.3%
Deuce Court T = 44.8%
Deuce Court Wide = 43.6%

Muller, the only lefty in the group, had 49 per cent of his first serves unreturned from this typical lefty location. But he actually had fewer returned (44 per cent) when he served down the T in the Ad court.

Holding serve is definitely about power and hitting spots, but it’s also about getting inside your opponent’s head and figuring out where they think you’re going and switching it up.

Gael Monfils got off to a winning start on his Turkish Airlines Open Antalya debut on Wednesday, but was made to work hard for a place in the quarter-finals.

The fourth seed beat Slovenian qualifier Blaz Kavcic 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 in two hours and four minutes, having led by one set and 2-0. Monfils recovered from 3-4, 15/40 in the deciding set, breaking in the 11th game. The 31-year-old Frenchman lifted his seventh ATP World Tour trophy (7-20 in finals) in the first week of 2018 at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open final (d. Rublev).

“It’s always good to have your first grass-court match under your belt,” said Monfils. “It’s never easy, particularly against a qualifier, who has had more time on the courts. I’m not a big grass specialist, but I always try my best.

“The grass is a little soft, so it doesn’t bounce as well, meaning I had to concentrate and be on top of my game. I would like to come back into the Top 10, and now I feel I am back 100 per cent body-wise, but I need to get fitter. He was fighting all the time. I received great support, particularly in front of the kids, and I think we gave them a good show.”

World No. 41 Monfils finished in the year-end Top 10 of the ATP Rankings in 2016 after achieving a career-high of No. 6 on 7 November 2016. However, knee and Achilles injuries hampered his time on the court last season.

Monfils will next face Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, who saved one match point to defeat fifth-seeded Dutchman Robin Haase 6-2, 6-7(5), 7-6(2) victory in two hours and 27 minutes. Haase held his nerve on serve at 5-6, 30/40 and Ad-Out, in the second set and held one match point opportunity at 6-5, with Garcia-Lopez serving at Ad-Out. In their only previous meeting, Garcia-Lopez also beat Haase 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(4) at the 2014 ASB Classic.

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The top two seeds — France’s Adrian Mannarino and Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia and Herzegovina — both advanced on Wednesday to the Turkish Airlines Open Antalya quarter-finals.

Top seed Mannarino, last year’s finalist, improved to 6-1 at the ATP World Tour 250 tournament with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania in 79 minutes. He struck 10 aces and lost 10 of his first-service points (30/37).

Mannarino now faces sixth-seeded Portuguese Joao Sousa, who beat Mirza Basic of Bosnia and Herzegovina 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4 in two hours and 28 minutes.

Basic’s compatriot, second seed Dzumhur, later needed one hour and 54 minutes to oust Romania’s Marius Copil 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. Copil hit 10 aces, saving 11 of 13 break points to frustrate Dzumhur, who had lost his past two matches.

Dzumhur now prepares to face France’s Pierre-Hugues Herbert, who held his nerve to beat seventh-seeded Japanese Yuichi Sugita, the defending champion, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(6) in two hours and nine minutes.

Mirnyi/Oswald Survive QF Test
At 5/5 in the second-set tie-break, Max Mirnyi and Philipp Oswald were two points from defeat. But the second seeds raised their level, overcoming France’s Jonathan Eysseric and Hugo Nys 3-6, 7-6(5), 10-6.

Mirnyi and Oswald won 42 of 45 points behind their first serves in the one-hour, 31-minute contest to improve to 15-10 this season. In the semi-finals, the Belarusian-Austrian duo will face third-seeded Sander Arends and Matwe Middelkoop. The Dutchmen also needed a Match Tie-break to advance, defeating Radu Albot and Guido Pella 6-4, 3-6, 10-7.

Marcelo Demoliner and Santiago Gonzalez defeated fourth seeds Andres Molteni and Hans Podlipnik-Castillo 6-1, 7-6(3). Demoliner and Gonzalez won all five second-serve return points and converted both break points they created in a dominant first set before securing victory after 67 minutes.

The Brazilian-Mexican tandem will meet fellow unseeded team Roman Jebavy and Julio Peralta for a spot in the championship match. Jebavy and Peralta defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Joao Sousa 7-6(5), 6-3, 10-6.

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