Andy Murray wins first tennis match in 11 months to earn all-British showdown as Wimbledon return looms

Eleven months after he last won a match, Andy Murray reacquainted himself with the taste of victory on Monday in the unlikely surroundings of Eastbourne’s Devonshire Park. By beating Stan Wawrinka 6-1, 6-3 at the Nature Valley International, Murray earned a second-round meeting on Wednesday with Kyle Edmund, the man who replaced him as British No 1 earlier this year.

Murray, who had not won a match since his fourth-round victory over Benoit Paire at Wimbledon last summer, took a wild card here in the hope that he might be able to prove his fitness in time for Wimbledon, which starts in seven days’ time. He delivered a performance that will give encouragement as he continues his comeback following the hip operation he underwent in January.

Wawrinka, who is also on the comeback trail after knee surgery last year, was no match for Murray, who had made a promising return at Queen’s Club last week, when he was narrowly beaten by Nick Kyrgios in a match that lasted nearly two and three-quarter hours. Murray again looked assured in both his movement and his shot-making.

Murray said afterwards that he was “pretty positive” that he would eventually be able to compete with the best players in the world again, but said he was not sure whether he would be able to play in matches over the best of five sets at Wimbledon. He said he “didn’t feel particularly good” the day after playing Kyrgios last week though he would have been happy to have played again the following day.

Asked about his prospects of playing at Wimbledon, Murray said he would decide nearer the time. “It kind of depends a little bit on here,” he said when asked if he would make a decision before Friday’s Wimbledon draw. “I could potentially play a match on Friday of three hours and not feel good the next day. I'll just have to wait and see what happens the next few days. I can't predict what's going to happen.”

He added: I'm coming back from a very serious injury which is not easy. My health and my body are No 1 priority right now, and I will make that decision when I'm ready.If I feel like I'm in good enough shape, I'll do it. And if I don't, then obviously I won't play. But the two matches that I have played have been positive in many respects.”

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Murray said he had “expected to be happier” after his win. He explained: “I guess that's one of the problems with being a professional athlete and having competed at the top of the game. You have expectations. I always thought when I came back that I would be more pumped for every single win, but the reality was it's the first round of an event. It was obviously great to get through it, but I obviously want to do more than that.”

In years to come this could be a good quiz question for tennis buffs: in what year did the world No 156 take on the world No 225 in a first-round match on the centre court at Eastbourne in front of a full house?

Only 13 months ago Murray was world No 1 and Wawrinka world No 3 when they met in the semi-finals of the French Open, but both men played their last matches of 2017 at Wimbledon.

Although Wawrinka began his comeback at this year’s Australian Open, the 33-year-old Swiss took another three-month break in the spring and arrived here having played only 13 matches this year. The knee may have healed, but Wawrinka is still a long way off his best form.

Both men were playing courtesy of wild cards. This was the first time Murray has played a tour-level match here, his only previous appearance at Devonshire Park having come in 2009, when he surprised everyone at County Week – the highlight of the British county season – by turning out for the North of Scotland

The pairing of Murray and Wawrinka was a welcome bonus for the large crowd on a glorious summer’s afternoon. It was hard to recall when there had been match between two such high-profile players in the first round of a “250” tournament, which is at the lowest level on the ATP tour.

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All too often the weather here can be cold, wet and windy, but on this occasion the only time that Murray had to adjust to the conditions was when a low-flying seagull put him off his serve.

Moving well and missing little, Murray looked comfortable from the start, but Wawrinka was soon struggling. The former world No 3 has never looked at his best on this surface and all too often failed to get himself into the best position to play his shots.

From 1-1 in the opening set Murray won five games in a row. When the Scot served at 5-1 and 30-30 two successive missed returns by Wawrinka gave him the set in just 29 minutes.

The fact that Murray was putting his physical woes behind him was evident in the third game of the second set as the Scot chased a ball out wide and hit a superb running forehand pass winner down the line.

Two games later Murray took a grip on the second set with another break of serve. Wawrinka’s backhand is normally one of the most reliable shots in the game but the look on his face as he dumped what should have been a routine down-the-line shot into the net on break point told its own story.

Murray faced his only break points of the match when he served at 4-3 in the second set. Smart volleys saved the first two and Murray eventually capitalised on two errors to hold serve.

In the following game Wawrinka saved one match point with a wrong-footing forehand winner but on the second the Swiss double-faulted. It was probably a fitting end to his day.

Wawrinka said he was still struggling to find his practice form on the match court but had been impressed with Murray. “He was playing and moving well, for sure,” Wawrinka said.

“It’s good to see Andy back. It’s good when a player like him is healthy and playing on the tour. Hopefully he can keep building on that, stay healthy on the tour and keep coming back where he was before, because he's a great champion. I think we all like to watch him.”