After midnight: Tennys Sandgren tops Andy Murray at Winston-Salem Open

In a first-round match finishing well after midnight local time in Winston-Salem, NC thanks to heavy rain showers delaying play, Tennys Sandgren defeated wild card Andy Murray, 7-6 (8), 7-5, to deny the Brit his first singles win since returning from right hip surgery.

Sandgren saved a set point in the opening tiebreaker before building a double break lead in the second set. Murray clawed his way back—with a little help from Sandgren—who double-faulted twice in the 10th game to drop back on serve. Murray though, rushed his shot-making in the ensuing game, finding the net three times to fall behind once again.

The unseeded American hit his spots on serve to avoid any further chance of a collapse, advancing in two hours and 10 minutes to take the pair’s first meeting. Sandgren, ranked No. 73, will return to Center Court Tuesday evening to battle second seed Denis Shapovalov, who accepted a wild card into the ATP 250 event.

Set to skip the US Open, Murray previously stated he would consider playing singles events on the ATP Challenger Tour depending on how he felt this week. He lost on his singles return a week ago in the first round of Cincinnati, also in straight sets, to eventual semifinalist Richard Gasquet. Before that, he played doubles at five tournaments, winning Queen's Club with Feliciano Lopez in his first event back.