ZHUHAI, China — Andy Murray won his first tour-level match since January on Tuesday, beating American opponent Tennys Sandgren 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-1 in the Zhuhai Championships.
Murray, the former top-ranked player who had hip surgery in January, served 13 aces, won 80 percent of his service points and was not broken.
Murray lost to Sandgren at the Winston-Salem Open in North Carolina in August in his second tour-level singles match since returning from the operation.
Murray will next face seventh-seeded Alex De Minaur, who beat fellow Australian John Millman 6-1, 6-3 to advance to the round of 16.
De Minaur won eight of the first nine games and converted six of seven break points.
In another ATP event in China, Dusan Lajovic beat Juan Ignacio Londero 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 in the Chengdu Open.