ANDY MURRAY was a mightily relieved man – as he finally won a tennis match.
And his emotional celebrations were met with a wonderful ovation from a saluting Doha crowd.
A straight-sets victory over the world No75 is not normally cause for such huge celebration, especially by a two-time winner of Wimbledon.
But then Murray had endured some rotten luck, losing his opening four matches of the year and not winning on a tennis court since October 23 – 120 days ago.
Though he required a medical time-out for a left knee problem after three games, Muzza prevailed 6-1 7-6 in the Qatar Open first round against French qualifier Alexandre Muller.
Murray, 36, then raised his arms in celebration, especially as he recovered from a mini-break down in the second-set tie-break.
He has now booked a second-round date in the Middle Eastern desert with 18-year-old Czech Jakub Mensik.
The former world No1 – who has vowed to keep battling on – was clearly delighted to get the bitter aftertaste of defeat out of his mouth following sixes losses on the spin.
He said: “Obviously the last few months have been really tough on the court for me.
“Clearly not won many matches and lost a lot of close ones as well. It was getting tight at the end there.
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“I’m delighted to get through. It’s great.
“So many people came out to watch the first round, it was brilliant. I’m proud I was able to get through.
“I’m happy for my team who have been working extremely with me, trying to find solutions to get me through this difficult moment.
“Hopefully this is the start of a better run.
“Jakub is obviously very promising, a young player, a huge serve, moves well for a big guy. He’s new on the tour.
“Every match for him will be a learning experience. I will need to be ready and watch some videos. I have seen him play but not loads.”
Qatar
Feb 2024
Beat Alexandre Muller 6-1 7-6
Marseille
Feb 2024
Lost to Tomas Machac 7-5 6-4
Montpellier
Jan 2024
Lost to Benoit Paire 2-6 7-6 6-4
Australian Open
Jan 2024
Lost to Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-4 6-2 6-2
Brisbane
Jan 2024
Lost to Grigor Dimitrov 4-6 7-5 6-2
ATP Masters 1000 Paris
Oct 2023
Lost to Alex de Minaur 7-6 4-6 7-5
Basel
Oct 2023
Beat Yannick Hanfmann 7-5 6-4
Lost to Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-7 6-3 6-2
Murray’s long-awaited victory came a day after he publicly apologised to wife Kim over a kiss they shared 18 years ago.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist shared a clip from his maiden ATP title victory in San Jose in 2006.
But in the aftermath of the victory over Lleyton Hewitt, he was overwhelmed by excitement with a clumsy smooch for his then-girlfriend.
Dad-of-four Murray wrote on Instagram: “Huge apologies to my now wife for whatever I was doing to her mouth there.
“If I was on the receiving end of that I would have dumped me on the spot!”
