Andy Murray beats Australian Alexei Popyrin at Queen's in his 1000th Tour level match and first since March as the Scotsman continues to impress ahead of Wimbledon despite retirement talk

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After week upon week of grey skies, drizzle and Andy Murray defeats, the British summer is alive at last. The 37-year-old beat Australian Alexei Popyrin 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 at the cinch Championships to record his first tour-level win since he tore ankle ligaments in Miami in March.

It was Murray's 1,000th tour-level match and it came exactly 7,000 days after his first. It felt entirely appropriate for the Scot to bring up such a milestone here at the Queen's Club. His first ATP win came here in 2005 and he has won the title five times – along with a memorable post-hip-resurfacing doubles title with Feliciano Lopez in 2019. This was his 16th visit, equalling Lleyton Hewitt's record.

Murray is part of the furniture here. A huge poster of him welcomes spectators to the grounds and the stands bear the branding of Castore, the sportswear company in whom he is a shareholder.

He knows this court's every nuance; where to put the ball to get himself out of trouble and put his opponent's into it.

Murray's game has looked underpowered in the last few years but put him on a grass court and he's like an ageing matador: he doesn't move as swiftly as he used to - but he still knows exactly where to stick the banderillas.

Andy Murray recorded his first tour-level win since March after beating Australian Alexei Popyrin on Tuesday

Murray beat Popyrin (pictured) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 at the cinch Championships at The Queen's Club

It was Murray's 1,000th Tour level match and it came exactly 7,000 days after his first

He has also been prone to hitting the ball too short recently but that is far less of an issue on grass. In fact a short, skiddy ball can often be the hardest to deal with – especially for a tall guys like Popyrin.

Murray has an excellent record against big men, but the 6ft 5in, 24-year-old Popyrin won a couple of matches here to make it in through qualifying and has a huge serve. This was certainly a potentially tricky first round.

At 3-4 in the first set the old timer played a classic Murray return game – getting the ball back in play by hook or crook and outmanoeuvring from there, eventually extracting a big double fault on break point as Popyrin pushed to avoid another painful rally.

After the first set the DJ – what an incongruous figure she cut bopping away amidst the well-heeled society types – played a remix of I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) by Murray's countrymen the Proclaimers.

If that Scottish anthem was intended to inspire Murray it failed.

Popyrin landed some meaty blows in the second set and showed a greater willingness to come into the net; it was with a deft drop-volley that he sealed an early break.

Big servers like him are great front-runners on grass and he was untroubled in closing out the set.

But when Popyrin served for the first time in the second set, Murray played a superb game, sealed with a one-two backhand punch of a sliding slice and then a rifled double-handed pass.

Tuesday's win was a brilliant moment for Murray after he previously tore ankle ligaments in Miami in March

From there he held firm to set up a second-round meeting with another Aussie – Jordan Thompson. It was against Thompson in 2017 when Murray suffered a rare grim day at Queen's, suffering a shock defeat as his hip trouble really began to take hold.

It would be nice for Murray to be able to lay that particular phantom to rest, and his draw has given him a fair chance of a nice run at what is surely his farewell to Queen's Club. 

'I did OK,' was Murray's measured verdict. 'It was not the best match I have played here but I took my chances when they came. I was clinical when the opportunities were there.

'I obviously lost a bit of momentum at the end of the first set, beginning of the second. Then played pretty well in the important moments in the third set, because there was a few tight moments on my service game, and I missed a few balls leading into those close moments.

'I timed my serve well, and a few times hit the ball better from the back of the court. So, yeah, did well to get through.'

This was Murray's first tour-level win with his new Yonex racket, and he said: 'The racquet helped me in certain situations today. These things take time to adjust to. It's not something that takes one or two weeks. It takes a period of time. Each week I hopefully will feel more comfortable with it.'

After the match Murray scrawled: '1,000!' on the camera lens, but afterwards said he was not aware of the milestone until his mother Judy told him before the match.

'It's not something I have ever thought about,' he said. 'I didn't know until my mum told me today. Genuinely didn't know that was how many I had played.

'Yeah, it's obviously a lot of matches. There won't in recent years be too many players that have played that many, and considering the amount of tennis that I missed over a period of years with the injuries and stuff, yes, a good effort to get there. But it was not something that I ever thought about. 

Murray produced a brilliant performance against one of men's tennis' biggest servers

'But, yeah, had a very long career, and it's been really, really good to me. But it's been tough on the body, as well.'

Earlier in the day, defending champion Carlos Alcaraz extended his winning run on grass to 13 matches, saving three second-set points to beat close friend Francisco Cerundolo 6-1, 7-5. That sets up a second-round clash tomorrow with Jack Draper, after the newly-minted British No1 J thrashed Mariano Navone 6-3, 6-2.

Meanwhile in Birmingham, Katie Boulter withdrew with flu-type symptoms after losing the first set to Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina.

‘The last three days it’s been non-stop,’ Boulter said to the physio during a medical timeout, and it was indeed a surprise to see her maintain her place in this draw after having to win two matches in a single day to seal the Nottingham title on Sunday. A few days in bed with a hot water bottle could be just what she needs.