According to Reuters Media, Andy Murray of Glasgow, Scotland won his 500th career match on a hard court on Monday. He accomplished the feat by beating 2021 Wimbledon semifinalist Denis Shapovalov of Canada 4-6, 7-6, 6-3 in the first round of the 2024 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship.
In all, five players have won 500 matches on hard court. The other four are Roger Federer of Basel, Switzerland (783), and Novak Djokovic of Belgrade, Serbia (700), Andre Agassi of Las Vegas, Nevada (592), and Rafael Nadal of Manacor, Spain (517). Murray’s most significant win on hard court came in 2012. That is when he defeated Djokovic 7-6, 7-5, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2 to win the 2012 United States Open final.
With the win, Murray also ties Agassi for the fourth most ATP wins ever with 735. Federer is the all-time leader with 1251. Djokovic is second with 1094, Nadal is third with 1070.
This was only Murray’s second win of 2024. His first win came on February 19 as he defeated Alexandre Muller of France 6-1, 7-6 in the first round of Doha.
Next up for Murray in Dubai is Ugo Humbert of France on Wednesday. Murray has beaten Humber twice all-time, however on each occasion Humbert won the first set. Murray’s first win came in the semifinals of Antwerp in 2019, 3-6, 7-5, 6-2. Murray’s second win came in the first round of the 2021 Moselle Open in France, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
The other Murray headline on Monday came in the post match interview in Dubai. That is when he stated, “I’ll do the best I can these last few months.” Murray has not officially stated he is set to retire, but it is very clear he could follow in the footsteps of Nadal, who is also considering retirement.
