SURBITON/STARNBERG, June 11, 2023
Andy Murray has clinched the Lexus Surbiton Trophy for the first time in his career. The No. 2 seed of the €145,000 ATP Challenger Tour grass-court event defeated Jurij Rodionov of Austria 6-3, 6-2 in Sunday’s singles final.
Murray advanced to the championship match with wins in the bottom half of the draw over Hyon Chung from South Korea, Chinese qualifier Bu Yunchaokete, as well as Australians Jason Kubler and Jordan Thompson. The 36-year-old Briton dominated most of the long and hard rallies in the final. Murray saved the only break point he faced and capitalized on all of his own three break-point chances to secure his first title on grass since winning at Wimbledon in 2016.
The moment @andy_murray secured his first title on home soil since 2016 👏#ATPChallenger | @the_LTA pic.twitter.com/8cbjE0EkJQ
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) June 11, 2023
“It’s great obviously,” Murray said during his on-court post-match interview, quoted by the Surbiton Trophy website. “We don’t get too many chances and these grass court tournaments aren’t easy ones to win but it’s brilliant to win another one. It’s been the perfect start to the grass season.
“My kids are always asking me if I go away, come home with a trophy and it’s been rare. I’ll be bringing it home today.”
By lifting his second ATP Challenger trophy of the season following his triumph at the Open Pays d’Aix in France in early May, the World No. 43 earned €19,650 in prize money as well as 125 ATP Ranking points. Murray will now move on to another ATP Challenger Tour grass-court event on home soil at the Rothesay Open Nottingham, where he will be the top seed in the singles draw.
