Andy Murray clinches Nottingham Open title with 6-4 6-4 victory vs Arthur Cazaux for 10th win in a row
Andy Murray clinched the Nottingham Open title courtesy of a 6-4 6-4 victory over Frenchman Arthur Cazaux, in what was the Scot’s 10th win in a row.
The 36-year-old claimed a second successive title on the second-tier Challenger Tour having triumphed in Surbiton last week, and did not drop a set at any stage in Nottingham.
It is now four years since Murray returned to action following his hip resurfacing operation and he is pushing to be seeded at a Grand Slam for the first time since then at Wimbledon in two weeks’ time.
“It was a really good week, I really enjoyed my time here. The courts have played brilliantly, the groundsstaff did an excellent job,” Murray said.
“I played really well and got better as the week went on and I’m glad to get through – on to Queen’s. I’m absolutely pumped.”
Murray will return to the top 40 on Monday but will need more wins at Queen’s Club next week to earn a Wimbledon seeding and the concern could be the number of matches he has played in a short amount of time.
His form is his best sequence since 2017, when he still topped the world rankings and wasn’t playing with a metal hip.
And he will now head to a favorite stomping ground at Queen’s, where another good week would see him improve his ranking enough to be seeded at the All England Club.
He made it through the week at Nottingham without dropping a set, but it was a second-tier Challenger event so he will receive a truer test of where his game is at next week in west London, with the likes of Carlos Alcaraz, Matteo Berrettini and Holger Rune all in the draw.
However, on the evidence of his movement, serving and matchplay, Murray looks a good bet to enjoy his best run at Wimbledon since he hobbled out of the 2017 quarter-finals with the hip injury that derailed his career.
Murray did not drop a single set throughout the tournament
His physicality was tested here as he won his semi-final at 6.30pm on Saturday night but was back on at 11am for the final, which was brought forward owing to the threat of rain on Sunday afternoon.
He hit the ground running, though, breaking the world No 181 in the opening game before eventually seeing the first set out 6-4.
The second set was much tighter than Cazaux served big, but Murray broke at 4-4 and then saw it out to get his hands on the trophy.
