London | Murray edges winning and is joined by Draper and Harris

Five-time Queen’s champion Andy Murray made his 16th appearance at the exclusive London venue in what was his 1,000th match on the ATP Tour, making a winning start to his grass-court campaign in what is expected to be his swan song. a professional player.

“I haven’t had that many wins this year. It has been a difficult season and in the end I did well to get through it. Andy Murray

Murray, 37, outlasted the 48th-ranked Australian 6-3 3-6 6-3 after recovering from what appeared to be some physical pain around his metal hip while serving during the second set, losing early in the decider broke and then held on grimly to take the first-round match with a clinical backhand after one hour and 51 minutes.

“I didn’t have that many wins this year,” Murray said later. “It has been a difficult season and in the end I did well to get through it.

“Every win you can get is important, that’s why we play. With Wimbledon still a few weeks away, I want to get some matches under my feet and some confidence. It’s great to get another win here.”

The three-time Grand Slam champion now faces another Aussie, great Jordan Thompson who caused a major upset by knocking out last year’s number two Holger Rune, the seventh seed from Denmark, in the opening round.

The Scot, who has fallen to 129th in the rankings, continued: “I felt better but it was enough today.

“My mother told me it was my thousandth match and that’s a lot of matches, a lot of wear and tear on the body and it’s not easy, but I got through it.”

Dan Evans in action before his fall

(Photo by Luke Walker/Getty Images for LTA)

Murray, who has been confirmed to play at the Paris Olympics shortly after Wimbledon, may have to find another doubles partner following a serious knee injury suffered by Dan Evans on Court 1.

The 34-year-old from Birmingham was forced to withdraw from his opening round match after slipping behind the baseline while playing American Brandon Nakashima at the end of the second set with the match level at 4-6 6-3.

He was treated, but could no longer hand the match to his opponent, leaving him more than concerned about whether he could make it to Wimbledon or even the Paris Games.

“I’m heartbroken right now,” he admitted.

“This is probably the worst thing you can do on the grass. (Your leg goes one way and) Your body goes one way. We’ve all seen moves like this before.

‘You shudder when you watch, and you hope it won’t be too bad if it happens to you.

“I heard a pop in my groin, but that seemed fine. I think it’s MCL (the medial collateral ligament).

‘I have to wait 48 hours, let it sink in and then have a scan. Yes, I’m concerned. I’m a bit in limbo.”

It has been a more than frustrating season for Evans, who has now lost his last seven matches on the Tour.

He is not the first player to slip at Queen’s this year, as Francis Tiafoe also had to retire after a heavy fall.

Rune has complained about the surface as he struggled with his feet on opening day, but Evans refused to blame the courts.

“If I miss the Olympics or Wimbledon, it will undoubtedly be difficult to swallow,” was his final comment.

Billy Harris on his way to the best victory of his career

(Photo by Luke Walker/Getty Images for LTA)

There was better news on the home front: Billy Harris, Britain’s number 7, world number 162 and thanks to a wildcard, scored the best win of his career when he defeated Argentina’s number 32 in the rankings Tomas Martin Etcheverry by 6 -4 3-6 With 6-3 he advanced to the last 16, as did Jack Draper, after his success in Stuttgart, who defeated another Argentinian Mariano Navone 6-3 6-2 to make the game of the day a to end.

Jack Draper stormed through his opening match

(Photo by Tony O’Brien/Getty Images)

The new British No. 1 now faces defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, who suffered a temporary dip in the second but recovered strongly to eventually get past a third Argentine, Francisco Cerundolo, 6-1 7-5.

After dominating the opening set, the top seed trailed 2-5 in the second set as he put together an impressive run, saving three set points at 4-5 before claiming the set and the match for his 13-hour straight victory on grass, including winning. last year at Wimbledon.

“The first match in any tournament is never easy, but here on grass it is even harder, when the grass season starts,” said the 21-year-old Alcaraz.

“It’s good to have difficult situations and deal with nerves.

“When you start the grass season you want to get a good result, so you have to deal with the expectations you set for yourself.

“But I am very happy with the match I played. Of course a very good test, playing against Franscico.

“(It was) close in the second set. It was good to have situations like that, to deal with the nerves, to serve or return to stay alive in the second set.

“I’m really happy with everything I’ve done and hopefully I’ll continue.”

Earlier, Italian Lorenzo Musetti upset Australian second seed Alex de Minaur, who won the Rosmalen event last weekend 1-6 6-4 6-2.

There were also victories for former Wimbledon quarter-finalist Taylor Fritz, the American fourth seed, and his compatriots Tommy Paul and Sebastian Korda.

However, sixth-seeded American Ben Shelton was ousted by French qualifier Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, while Italian Matteo Arnaldi eliminated eighth seed, Frenchman Ugo Humbert.

Carlos Alcaraz shows off his skills

(Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)