Andy Murray owned the top spot in the ATP Rankings when he last took the court at the Mutua Madrid Open in 2017. His performance in a Monday victory over Dominic Thiem showed that his current level remains far closer to that mark than his current position of World No. 78.

Back on clay for the first time in nearly two years, the two-time Madrid champion looked right at home in a 6-3, 6-4 win.

Murray’s last clay-court match came at Roland Garros in 2020, and he had initially planned to skip this year’s clay swing before deciding to accept a wild card into the Spanish ATP Masters 1000 event. Nonetheless, he showed very few signs of rust in a dominant display. Murray saved three break points in his opening service game of the second set, but did not face another in the opening-round contest.

Thiem, still seeking the first win of his comeback from a right-wrist injury, was brilliant in stretches on Manolo Santana Stadium — never more so than when he flicked a stunning backhand pass late in the opening set.

But the Austrian’s powerful forehand misfired too often in what was just his third tour-level event of the year, and Murray zeroed in on that wing to break serve in both sets.

With the victory, Murray improves to 8-1 in first-round matches on the year. He next faces the winner of 14th seed Denis Shapovalov‘s matchup with lucky loser Ugo Humbert of France.

More to come…