The former world No.1 Andy Murraywho persists in wanting to regain his former level, after long years of hardship due to injuries, was rewarded with the 700th victory of his career to advance to the second round of the Masters 1000 in Indian Wells on Friday.
The Scotsman, 88th in the world, is still far from his best level, which had seen him win three Grand Slam tournaments (two Wimbledons and a US Open). Perhaps he will never find him again at 34, because after a serious hip injury suffered in 2017, which required two surgeries, his comeback attempt, which began in 2019, seems illusory.
So this victory, by overthrowing the Japanese Taro Daniel (1-6, 6-2, 6-4), had the effect of a balm to the heart for the finalist of the event in 2009.
“Reaching 700 wins is a very, very big accomplishment. It wasn’t easy to get there“, he said, recalling that he had reached the mark of 600 victories in 2016: “Five and a half years to win the next hundred, it took time.“
“I watch this stuff now“, he added of the career statistics. “It motivates me and encourages me to try to go higher. When you look at the players who have done that, they are definitely the best players of the last 30 or 40 years. It’s good to be among them.“
Here he is indeed in the club of 700, alongside the three current giants of world tennis, but far from them too: Roger Federer (1,251 victories), Rafael Nadal (1,043) and Novak Djokovic (991).
In Indian Wells, where he has an invitation, Murray is looking for a first title since 2019. He will face the Kazakh Alexander Bublik (seeded N.31) in the next round.
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