Murray locked in Geneva fight for survival

Andy Murray’s first ATP-level clay match of the season hung by a thread as the Scot trailed Yannick Hanfmann 7-5, 4-1 when their first-round match at the Geneva Open was halted for the night by rain on Monday.

Murray was playing his first match since losing this month at a Challenger as the 36-year-old shows his determination to take a stand on his least favourite surface.

The 35th-ranked Hanfmann was on the brink of a win when the weather set in,leaving Murray to stew overnight and plot strategy for a Tuesday recovery effort.

The winner of the contest will face surprise entrant Novak Djokovic in the second round after the ring-shy Serb broke precedent and entered the last 250 tournament prior to Sunday;’s start of Roland Garros.

Djokovic has not won a title this season and appears to be short on confidence – and perhaps self-belief – after being accidentally clobbered on the head with an errant water bottle in Rome.

Murray last played on the ATP in March when he seriously injured an ankle in Miami; the Scot is also in the midst of a high-wire act as he suddenly switches racquets on a risky whim from Head to Yonex.

First round play at the lakeside tennis club also included the first Tour win for Emil Ruusuvuori since last February,with the Finn suffering through a rough patch which included six match losses in a row.

The No. 66 booked into the second round as he defeated Marcos Giron 6-3, 6-3, avenging a three-set loss the American dispensed a fortnight ago in Rome.