Andy Murray believes that Serena Williams still remains a tennis icon even after retirement. In the 1999 US Open, just 17-year-old Serena became the first black woman to win a major tennis championship since Attena Gibson in 1958. She lifted her 23rd Grand Slam title in the 2017 Australian Open at 35, won 73 career singles titles and has an 858-156 career win-loss record in singles.
Meanwhile, Andy Murray cruised past Yannick Hanfman to reach the second round of the Swiss Indoors in Basel, as the Briton and former No. 1 seeks his first ATP Tour title since 2019.
Andy Murray candidly speaks on Serena Williams’ retirement
In tennis, October is known to be Black History Month, and during an interview with several tennis personalities about which black player transformed the world of tennis, Andy Murray believed that Serena Williams’ impact was much bigger, having inspired many people.
“The response to her retiring at the US Open and the atmosphere during her matches were incredible. You listen to all of the players talking about her and so many of the young up-and-coming female players talk about how much she inspired them to pick up a racket,” said Murray about Serena Williams.
“Serena has been a huge part of all of their careers, that’s how long she dominated for and how long she was on the tour for. It’s obviously sad for tennis that she chose to retire but what an unbelievable career she had, and she did a lot for the sport, but she was a lot bigger than that. She inspired a lot of people across the world,” Murray added.
Serena Williams, who recently signed a two-book deal ended her glittering career with 23 Grand Slam titles, 73 career WTA singles titles, 186 consecutive weeks spent at No. 1 in the women’s world rankings, and 367 career wins.
Andy Murray passes Yannick Hanfmann in Swiss Indoors in Basel
The two-time Wimbledon champion defeated Yannick Hanfman 7-5, 6-4 to reach the second round of the Swiss Indoors in Basel. With this triumph, the Brit ended a three-match losing streak and will face Tomas Martin Etcheverry, who defeated world no. 23 Sebastian Korda 6-3, 1-6, 6-3. Furthermore, Andy Murray is hoping for a good run in Basel as he seeks for his first ATP Tour title since 2019.
“Happy to come through,” Murray said in his on-court interview. “He’s had a brilliant year and has been playing very well, so it’s a good result.”
“It was tough. The first four or five games were something like 45 minutes,” Murray added. “I don’t remember having that really before, it was ridiculous. And then had a chance at the end of the first set, didn’t get it and just managed to sneak a break at the end. Up again in the second, couldn’t quite finish it, but did well to respond and get the break at the end. Played a great point obviously on the match point to finish.”
Although Andy Murray didn’t look very convincing in the game, he did show perseverance and power. The 36-year-old won 43 per cent of his return points and breaking his opponent’s serve four times from six attempts. He also faced eight break points and was broken when he served for the second set at 5-3.
In a victory that took Murray two hours and 19 minutes in his third appearance at an ATP 500 event this season, it may be his opportunity to win the title in Basel, seeing that Carlos Alcaraz withdrew due to a muscle injury earlier this month.
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