Almost a year to the day since he sat alone in a Brisbane hotel room for more than 10 hours contemplating his future, Andy Murray survived another comeback, with an encouraging and impressive straight-sets win over the Australian wildcard James Duckworth.
However, the former world No 1 knows – and all the evidence confirms – he has some way to go before he can challenge seriously for major honours. Only two of his five wins from 12 matches in 2018 were against top 20 players, and now he faces world No 16 Daniil Medvedev in the second round of the Brisbane International.
This is a place he feels comfortable, though, having won the title twice and where he remains unbeaten in 10 matches. He would love another win, but his focus must remain on his performance, which was too good for the world No 234, who lost to him in four sets in the first round of the US Open in September. Read more