‘Need To Be on My Game’: Andy Murray Wary of Felix Auger-Aliassime Challenge Ahead of Rotterdam Clash

Published 02/11/2022, 1:15 AM EST

The ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament is underway in Rotterdam, and so is Andy Murray’s quest for a 47th career singles title. Back after being unsure whether he could play at all, owing to his persistent hip injury, Murray is now looking to relive his glory days, as one of the top players of the world.

At the Rotterdam Open, Andy Murray showed signs of his old self, defeating Alexander Bublik in the first round, 7-6 (8/6), 6-4. Murray moved well and won the tough first set. He then proved to be too much for the World No 31 Bublik, who won his first ATP title by defeating Alexander Zverev in Montpellier, this weekend.

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“I just managed to come through at the end of it. Some great returns off some big second serves from him at the end and I did a good job. It’s not easy playing against someone like that, huge serves, a lot of drop shots and you’ve got to keep your focus and I did that well tonight,” Murray said about his performance at the opening round of the tournament.

Andy Murray is looking forward to second-round clash

Murray’s next opponent is Felix Auger Aliassime, who has been in great form lately. Andy Murray has faced Auger-Aliassime once before at the 2020 US Open, where the Canadian won the encounter in straight sets.

ATP 500 Rotterdam Open: Andy Murray vs Felix Auger-Aliassime Preview, Head to Head and Prediction

“[I’m] looking forward to that one… He [Auger-Aliassime] started the year pretty well and is one of the best young players just now. I’ll need to be on my game if I want to beat him, but it’s a great test for me and we’ll see what happens out there,” Murray said, when asked about his upcoming second-round opponent.

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Though Auger-Aliassime had a slow start with Egor Gerasimov, he persevered to win the match 3-6, 6-2, 6-2. He had a good run at the Australian Open 2022 as well, where he lost in the quarterfinals to Daniil Medvedev. He took the first two sets against the Russian World No. 2. Even though he could not convert some crucial points during the match; he had excellent shot-making and a very sharp serve.

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Rishma Banerjee is a tennis author at EssentiallySports. Having done her masters in Political Science with International Relations from Jadavpur University, Rishma's outlet from the hustle-bustle of academics has always been sports, especially Tennis. A die-hard fan of Rafael Nadal, she admires his grit, determination and dedication towards always being better. When not writing content for firms dealing with fintech to social media marketing to sports, she finds herself in journals and books dealing with geopolitics and strategic studies or scrolling endlessly through Tumblr!

‘Need To Be on My Game’: Andy Murray Wary of Felix Auger-Aliassime Challenge Ahead of Rotterdam Clash

Andy Murray is looking forward to second-round clash

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