Andy Murray shows there's "life in the old dog yet" with Miami win over Matteo Berrettini

There’s “life in the old dog yet! :)”

These were the words of wisdom Andy Murray delivered when signing the on-court camera lens following his opening-round victory Wednesday at the Miami Open.

A two-time champion at the ATP Masters 1000 event, the 36-year-old battled back to defeat Matteo Berrettini, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, in two hours and 48 minutes.

“It was obviously a great win for me. “Started off a little bit slow but then I did think I played pretty well across then end of the first set through to the end of the match,” Murray told ATP Media.

“Created a lot of opportunities and he was struggling for a little bit end of the second and beginning of the third, and I capitalized on that and got off to a quick start in the third and served it out well at the end.”

The Italian was coming off a runner-up showing at the Phoenix Challenger in his first 2024 appearance. Berrettini enjoyed being out in front from the beginning, breaking Murray to open the contest as he settled into his first tour-level match since last year's US Open.

But later down 2-5 in the second set, the former Wimbledon finalist suffered a dizzy spell as a doctor was called to the court after he nearly fainted at the service line. Berrettini later left the court during the set break after Murray leveled the encounter.

The “life” Murray spoke about was on full display when the third set commenced. Having seen a 0-40 opportunity go wasted, he eventually fought his way through an 18-point game to secure the lone break of the deciding set. Murray notably wiped away his own 0-40 deficit on serve to reach 4-2 and served out the clash four games later at 15.

“I played a poor game, missed a pretty regulation volley on the first point and then an easy forehand on one of the points as well,” reflected Murray after picking up his 30th career Miami Open win.

“Came up with good serves and played solid tennis. Played smart, put the ball in the position on the court where he wasn’t able to dictate and attack so much. He at times maybe got slightly impatient and I wasn’t. I was comfortable in the rallies and did well to stay tough in those moments.”

In the second round, the world No. 62 gets a shot at Australian Open revenge when he takes on No. 29 seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry. The Argentine dispatched Murray, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2, in the opening round of this year’s Melbourne major.

Murray’s countryman Jack Draper was also victorious. The 22-year-old dispatched Taro Daniel, 6-3, 6-2, winning all but one of his 29 first-serve points.