Andy Murray claimed his first title since October 2019 with victory at the ATP Challenger event in Aix-en-Provence. The Scot, playing with a metal hip, last won in Antwerp three and a half years ago and, although this is a second-tier tournament, he will take great pride in this confidence-boosting success ahead of the French Open.
Having breezed past lowly ranked French players on his run to the final, the standard was lifted and he came good, beating world No 17 Tommy Paul of the USA 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 to lift the title.
In doing so he ensures his return to the top 50 of the rankings and a first Challenger Tour-level win for 18 years. It looked like it might slip away after a poor start that saw him lose the first four games of the match to hand Paul, an Australian Open semi-finalist earlier this year, the advantage.
The 25-year-old American coasted to the first set, but that was as good as it got as Murray came to the fore. The Scot turned the tables by winning the first five games of the second set, including two breaks of serve, and soon levelled up.