Andy Murray defeats Chung Hyeon in first round at Surbiton Trophy

Last updated on 5 June 20235 June 2023.From the section Tennis

Andy Murray says he would "fancy" himself to beat a lot of the top 10 players in the world on grass.

The former world number one, now ranked 43, beat South Korean Chung Hyeon 6-3 6-2 in the opening round of the Surbiton Trophy Challenger event.

Murray, 36, skipped the French Open to focus on the grass-court season and hopes to be seeded at Wimbledon.

"It is hard to put numbers on it but I would fancy myself against a lot of them [the top 10]," he said.

Speaking after his first win since claiming the Aix-en-Provence Challenger title last month, the two-time Wimbledon champion drew on his run to last June's Stuttgart final to show that he remains a threat on his favourite surface.

"Last year I won against [Nick] Kyrgios who made the final of Wimbledon, I won against [Stefanos] Tsitsipas - it is probably not his favourite surface but he is one of the best players in the world," said Murray.

"I was a set all with [Matteo] Berrettini - who is quite clearly in the top few grass-court players - in the final of Stuttgart before I hurt my abs."

At the start of Wimbledon 2022, Murray was ranked outside the world's top 50.

He has been vocal about his desire to be ranked higher in order to avoid facing top players early on in tournaments and give himself a better chance of going deeper at events.

"I've got up to 41 in the world and believe I can go higher than that. Obviously I did well here [Surbiton] and in Stuttgart last year and I think I need about 300 points [to be seeded at Wimbledon] so I will have to do well the next few weeks if I want to do that," said Murray.

"If I have a good tournament at Queen's, if you make the final or win the tournament there then I would be seeded, but I need to just concentrate on the performances.

"If you start just thinking about points it is not necessarily the best way to look at things. I will just try and win as many matches as possible and see if I can get in there."

Murray plays with a metal hip after having surgery in 2019 following an injury which appeared to bring him close to retirement.

"I still want to win, I want to compete and see how hard I can push my body," said Murray.

"The operations I had, I was told I might be able to play again so I just want to see how far I can go."

Monday's match began on even terms as former Australian Open semi-finalist Chung kept up with Murray's level. However, once the Scot secured the break in the first set, he grew in confidence.

The three-time Grand Slam champion served eight aces and only dropped one point behind his second serve throughout the match, ending the encounter with a strong serve and forehand combination.

Murray plays either Briton Harry Wendelken or Chinese player Bu Yunchaokete in round two, both of whom are qualifiers.

Ryan Peniston also made the second round with a 6-4 6-2 victory over former world number 35 Jiri Vesely.

Briton Peniston, 27, was broken in the first game of the match but recovered to beat Czech Vesely, who had used a protected ranking to enter the event following a spell of injuries.

The world number 192 will face Australian fifth seed Jason Kubler next.

Peniston made headlines last summer for his performances on grass, reaching the quarter-finals at Surbiton, Nottingham, Queen's and Eastbourne, and beating the likes of two-time Grand Slam finalist Casper Ruud and world number six Holger Rune.

Other Britons scheduled to play at the event this week include 2019 champion Dan Evans, Heather Watson and Katie Boulter.