Top-ranked Andy Murray returned from an elbow injury to beat Gilles Muller of Luxembourg 7-5, 7-5 in the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters on Wednesday.
The right elbow injury prompted Murray to withdraw from last month’s Miami Open and he also missed Britain’s recent quarterfinal loss to France in the Davis Cup. Murray looked a bit sluggish early on, dropping serve in the opening game. He saved two set points in the ninth but then broke and held to love to move 6-5 up.
Murray dropped serve again in the opening game of the second set but broke straight back. He set up a match point with an excellent backhand cross-court winner as he retrieved a shot deep into the court, and clinched victory on his first opportunity when Muller hit a forehand wide.
Victory for Nadal came in his 400th match on clay, his record on the surface an outstanding 366-34. The Spaniard swept the first set 6-0 against 45th-ranked Edmund, but found himself fighting for survival in the third set.
The fourth seed finally squeezed home after two and a quarter hours.
Former champion Stan Wawrinka, who won here in 2014, hit 32 winners and broke Czech player Jiri Vesely’s serve five times in a 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 win.
Ninth-seeded Tomas Berdych, the runner-up here in 2015, rallied to beat 39-year-old German Tommy Haas 3-6, 6-1, 6-4. “It just shows what a great player he was and still is,” Berdych said. “Even at this late stage in his career he’s still able to play like that.”
Fifth-seeded Marin Cilic of Croatia won 6-3, 6-0 against Jeremy Chardy; sixth-seeded Dominic Thiem of Austria downed Dutchman Robin Haase 6-3, 6-2; No. 13 Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain won 6-4, 6-4 against Karen Khachanov; No. 14 Alexander Zverev of Germany broke Spanish veteran Feliciano Lopez’s serve five times in a 6-0, 6-4 win, and No. 15 Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain won 6-2, 6-2 against Argentine Carlos Berlocq.
Later, defending champion Rafael Nadal was facing Britain’s Kyle Edmund. This is one of Nadal’s favorite tournaments and he was won it nine times.
The Spaniard is looking for this first title of the year after losing in three finals to longtime rival Roger Federer at the Australian Open and the Miami Open, and a surprise defeat to big-serving American Sam Querrey in Acapulco, Mexcio.
Nadal will not be able to get his revenge on Federer here, since the 18-time Grand Slam champion is skipping the tournament. Federer is playing very little if at all on clay before he begins his bid for another Wimbledon title on his favoured grass surface this summer.
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