Andy Murray reaches last 16 of Washington Open with victory over Brandon Nakashima

Murray showcased his authority by securing an early break in the second set and crucially fended off three break points while being 0-40 down in the fourth game.

Washington: Three-time grand slam winner Andy Murray defeated American tennis player Brandon Nakashima 7(7)-6(5), 6-4 in the Washington Open on Thursday.

Murray had played two doubles matches alongside Dan Evans earlier this week, which ended in defeat on Tuesday, but he was in singles action for the first time since losing to Stefanos Tsitsipas at Wimbledon last month. Next up for Murray is top seed Taylor Fritz or Zachary Svajda.

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According to Sky Sports, Andy Murray said, “I thought I did well. I hit the ball very well from the beginning of the match. I was struggling a bit on the return. Brandon serves well, especially on his second serve. I was struggling to create many opportunities on return.” He added, “I was just a little bit more solid than him at the end of the tie-break. He made a few mistakes and I got some balls back in play.”

Murray said, “The court and the balls are extremely slow here, so you have to work really hard in all the games and it’s not easy to finish points. It was a good one to get through.” It was a tight contest throughout and Murray looked like he was going to go a set down when Nakashima was 5-2 up in the first set tie-break, but won five consecutive points in a key moment in the match.

Murray asserted his authority by breaking at the start of the second set and crucially saved three break points when 0-40 down in the fourth game.

The rest of the match went on serve but it wasn’t without drama in the final game as Nakashima had a break point chance following a Murray double fault.

But, the Briton won a brilliant point with a brave drop shot forehand cross-court, which Nakashima hit into the net and held his nerve to get over the line.

On the drop shot, Murray said: “A little bit of luck in that shot but I executed it well. It was a pretty solid point up until that point.”