Andy Murray produces trademark gutsy display in Dubai as Scot claims landmark 500th hard court victory

Andy Murray has managed to secure his second win of 2024, beating Denis Shapovalov in the first round of the Dubai Open in three sets.

Two-time Olympic gold medalist Murray has been battling rumours of retirement after a series of first-round losses and looked on course for another defeat when former top 10 ranked Canadian Shapovalov took the first set 6-4. But the 36-year-old bounced back, keeping his cool during a second set tie break before going onto win the decisive set 6-3 in a match that lasted two hours and 33 minutes to bag his 500th hard court victory.

The last time these two played, Scottish star Murray came out on top, but that was back in 2022 and he's only had one win this year so far. Shapovalov made his intentions clear with three aces in his first service game. Then both players held their serves for a while. The first chance to break didn't come until the ninth game. Murray saved it when he was 15-40 down, but Shapovalov outlasted him in a long rally on the next point to go 5-4 up.

Murray showed his frustration after a bad backhand gave Shapovalov the advantage. He threw his racket at the court before the Canadian finished the opener with two more aces. Former tennis world number one Murray started the second set strongly. Amazingly, he successfully challenged three calls on his serve.

Murray, with his sharp vision, had a chance to break Shapovalov's serve. Although he missed the first opportunity, he succeeded on his next try, leading 3-1. Shapovalov made two double-faults which helped Murray, but he quickly recovered with a break of his own and then held his serve after a long 10-minute game that included a speedy 137mph ace.

Murray had to show his well-known fighting spirit to keep the second set