Andy Murray notches up 200th Grand Slam win at US Open 2023, joins elite club ft. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic
Andy Murray recorded his 200th Grand Slam match win by beating Corentin Moutet of France in the 2023 US Open first round on Tuesday, joining an elite club with only seven other members.
The three-time Grand Slam champion - who won the Flushing Meadows title in 2012 - made a great start, dropping only two games before taking the opener. Moutet offered sterner resistance in the second - leading 5-3 - but Murray saved two set points and won four straight games to take a two-set lead.
With the Frenchman's challenge waning in the third, Murray dropped only three games, converting his fourth matchpoint to improve to 13-11 on the season. He's now 49-15 at Flushing Meadows, where he has crossed the first-round hurdle in all but one of his 17 appearances.
The win made Murray only the eighth male player in the Open Era to record 200 Grand Slam match wins. Roger Federer (369), Novak Djokovic (355), Rafael Nadal (314), Jimmy Connors (233), Andre Agassi (224), Ivan Lendl (222) and Pete Sampras (203) make up the top seven of the elite group.
The breakup of Murray's Grand Slam wins are as follows: 61 at Wimbledon (two titles), 51 at the Australian Open (five finals), 39 at Roland Garros (one final) and 49 at the US Open (one title).
Andy Murray next plays 19th seed Grigor Dimitrov on Thursday for a place in the third round, where a win will give the Scot his 50th win at Flushing Meadows.
"It was amazing" - Andy Murray after landmark Grand Slam win
Andy Murray was understandably a relieved man after getting past the opening hurdle in New York. He had an injury-plagued build-up to the US Open, suffering an ab strain in Toronto and pulling out of Cincinnati.
Back at the venue of his maiden Grand Slam triumph more than a decade ago, Murray was pleased with his performance against Moutet. He said after beating the Frenchman:
"It was amazing. A brilliant atmosphere against one of the most skilful players on Tour. He has so many ways to disrupt you, he is an exceptional player and he moves extremely well and always causes a bit of chaos. I hope it was entertaining for everyone. There were some fun points in there. I am happy to get through in straight sets because the second set was very tight."
The Scot added:
"The preparation was slightly tricky because I had to pull out of the tournament mid-way through in Canada and miss Cincinnati. I had to slowly build my serving up, but I was quite happy with how I served today. The ab felt good."
Against his next opponent, Grigor Dimitrov, Andy Murray holds a commanding 8-3 record. However, their last meeting was way back in the 2016 Beijing final, which Murray won. Their last Grand Slam clash was in the 2016 US Open fourth round, where the Scot dropped only five games.