Andy Murray beats weary Matteo Berrettini to advance at the Miami Open

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Andy Murray won another lengthy match with Matteo Berrettini, who appeared weary and leaned on his racket to keep his balance during Murray's 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory Wednesday at the Miami Open.

Playing his first match on the ATP Tour this season, Berrettini was serving with Murray leading 5-2 in the second set when he seemed to become dizzy, resting his racket on the court to hold himself up. He was visited by a medical attendant, who checked his blood pressure before play continued.

Berrettini left the court after dropping that set but was able to finish the match, which last 2 hours, 49 minutes.

It was a rematch of Murray's 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (10-6) victory that lasted more than 4 1/2 hours in the first round of the 2023 Australian Open.

“It was obviously a great win for me,” Murray said. “Started off a little bit slow but then I did think I played pretty well across then end of the first set through to the end of the match. Created a lot of opportunities and he was struggling for a little bit end of the second and beginning of the third, and I capitalized on that and got off to a quick start in the third and served it out well at the end.”

Plagued by injuries, Berrettini hadn't played a match on tour since being forced to retire during his match in the second round of last year's U.S. Open. The 2021 Wimbledon runner-up returned last week and reached the final of a Challenger tour tournament in Phoenix.

The 36-year-old Murray has won the title twice in Miami and joined Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal as the only active players with 30 wins at the event. The three-time Grand Slam champion advanced to face No. 29 seed Tomas Etcheverry in the second round.

Elsewhere on the first full day of the tournament, Sloane Stephens beat Angelique Kerber 6-2, 6-3 in a matchup of past U.S. Open women's champions. Naomi Osaka, a two-time U.S. Open champ, played her opening-round match at night.

Also, Donna Vekic outlasted Karolina Pliskova 6-4, 2-6, 6-2; and Americans Danielle Collins and Shelby Rogers advanced with three-set victories.

Men's winners included Denis Shapovalov, who beat Luciano Darderi 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-4; and Martin Damm Jr., who outlasted China's Zhang Zhizhen 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3).

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis