Murray makes winning return in Brisbane

Reuters-Former world number one Andy Murray made a successful return to competitive tennis on Tuesday (January 1) with a 6-3 6-4 victory over local favourite James Duckworth at the Brisbane International tournament. The 31-year-old Murray ended his season early last year after suffering pain in his hip following surgery earlier in 2018 that ruled him out of three of the four Grand Slam events. Murray, whose ranking has dropped to 240 and was unseeded in Brisbane, had earlier said he was still feeling pain in his hip but was in a "better place" than he was 12 months ago. It was the 10th successive win in Brisbane for Murray, who won the tournament at both his previous appearances in 2012 and 2013. He returned to the court last June and played just 12 complete matches last year. As an unseeded player in Brisbane he has a tough draw, with a second round clash with Russian fourth seed Daniil Medvedev. Also in action was Australia's Nick Kyrgios, who beat Ryan Harrison of the U.S. 7-6(5) 5-7 7-6(5).