Andy Murray secures first victory of the 2023 season at Kooyong Classic, while fellow Britons Jack Draper and Cameron Norrie advance to quarter-finals in Adelaide and Auckland respectively; first Grand Slam of the year, the Australian Open, runs from January 16-29 in Melbourne
Wednesday 11 January 2023 09:02, UK
Andy Murray secured his first victory of the year with a super tiebreaker win over Zhang Zhizen at the Kooyong Classic in Melbourne.
The 35-year-old overcame his Chinese opponent 2-6 6-3 10-2 as he bounced back from his defeat to Sebastian Korda at the Adelaide International 1 last week.
Murray fell a set down to World No 97 Zhang but rallied to level up the match before breezing through the super tiebreaker.
He said: "I still love hitting tennis balls, I'm fortunate I'm able to do it at a high level, it's not the level that it was five or six years ago but... I love the sport."
"He [Zhang] served well and was taking my time away but I managed to gradually improve as the match went on.
Murray's fellow Briton, Jack Draper, is into the quarter-finals of the Adelaide International 2 following a 6-4 6-4 success against eighth seed Tommy Paul.
Draper, 21, was broken just once, fired 10 aces and won 88 per cent of his first-serve points.
He will now play third seed Karen Khacanov in the last eight, the man who knocked him out of the last week's tournament in Adelaide in the second round.
British No 1 Cameron Norrie reached the quarter-finals of the Auckland Open with a 6-4 6-7(4-7) 6-3 win over Jiri Lehecka in a match that extended to nearly six hours due to rain.
Auckland-raised Norrie, who is yet to lose in 2023, said: "It's tough on the concentration. Credit to him [Lehecka], he really took it to me.
"I really enjoyed the time on centre court, it's good to be back in New Zealand. I'm just a little bit disappointed I couldn't talk in front of (the crowd)."
The first Grand Slam of the season, the Australian Open, runs between January 16-29.
