British tennis star Andy Murray reached a milestone after Tuesday's win over Corentin Moutet to reach the second round of the ongoing 2023 US Open.
Murray defeated the Frenchman 6-2, 7-5, 6-3 in a three-hour-long battle and recorded his 200th Grand Slam victory.
After winning the first set, he was trailing 3-5 in the second set and was just about to lose but the 36-year-old showed great resilience and saved two set points, and then went on to win four consecutive games, eventually winning the set 7-5.
“It was amazing. A brilliant atmosphere against one of the most skilful players on tour," Murray reflected on his win.
“He [Moutet] has so many ways to disrupt you, he is an exceptional player and he moves extremely well and always causes a bit of chaos. I hope it was entertaining for everyone. There were some fun points in there. I am happy to get through in straight sets because the second set was very tight.”
Murray withdrew from the Canadian Open earlier this month as he was facing injuries.
"The preparation was slightly tricky because I had to pull out of the tournament mid-way through in Canada and miss Cincinnati," said Murray, who suffered an ab strain in Toronto. "I had to slowly build my serving up but I was quite happy with how I served today, the ab felt good."
The world no. 37 will now take on Grigor Dimitrov in the second, who had a five-set long battle in the first round and also saved two set points.
Even though the 36-year-old registered his 200th Grand Slam win, he still could not make it to the list of top 5 players with the most wins at the Majors.
Roger Federer leads the chart with 369 wins, he is closely followed by the 23-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic who has 355 wins. Rafael Nadal is third with 314 wins.