Murray Advances To Face Nakashima In Surbiton QFs

Andy Murray continued his strong start to the grass-court season on Thursday at the Surbiton Trophy, but was tested in the second round of the ATP Challenger Tour event by Dutch qualifier Gijs Brouwer.

Playing in southwest London in his native Great Britain, the former World No. 1 advanced to the quarter-finals with a 7-6(4), 7-6(3) win that lasted just under two hours.

Watch Match Replay Of Murray’s R2 Win

The 35-year-old Murray has not dropped a set in his first Surbiton appearance since 2004, having cruised past Jurij Rodionov, 6-2, 6-1, in the opening round on Monday. He will next face fifth seed Brandon Nakashima, who defeated fellow American Stefan Kozlov, 6-4, 6-3, on Thursday. It will the pair’s first professional meeting.

Murray is the top seed in Surbiton behind his Pepperstone ATP Ranking of No. 67. He returned to the Top 100 for the first time since mid-2018 in February and holds a 12-8 tour-level record on the 2022 season, including a run to the Sydney final in January and the third round at the Mutua Madrid Open in May.

The ATP Masters 1000 event in the Spanish capital was his most recent tournament prior to Surbiton. In Murray’s lone clay-court event of the season, he scored impressive wins against Dominic Thiem and Denis Shapovalov before withdrawing due to illness prior to a clash against Novak Djokovic.