China Open: Andy Murray Reveals Why He Was Nervous Ahead Of Match Vs. Cameron Norrie

Andy Murray, who survived close to three years of physical exhilaration, on Wednesday revealed he was nervous ahead of his China Open clash against compatriot Cameron Norrie.

Even though Murray was nervous, he defeated No. 24 Norrie in three sets and has qualified for the quarter-final in Beijing.

With the victory over Norrie, it is for the first time Murray has won two consecutive ATP singles games since January when his hip injury had reappeared.

When Murray was serving for the first set at 5-3, his fellow countryman bounced back and forced a tie. Norrie then saved three set points before handing the set to Murray with a double fault.

In the second set, it was the opposite. It was Norrie who took the lead of 5-2. Three-time Grand Slam winner, Murray, fought back to enforce a tie-breaker before he went down 7-4.

Murray, who admitted to having played poorly in the second set, zoomed away with the decider in no time. He broke Norrie twice and sealed the set and match at 7-6 (8-6) 6-7 (4-7) 6-1.

After the match, Murray revealed that ahead of the China Open, he had practiced with Norrie a few times and it was the latter who proved to be the better one during those training sessions. However, the former World No. 1 showed his class on Wednesday.

"It is always tough. I and Cam practiced like three or four times together before we came to Asia back home. He was getting the better of me in all the practices as well so I was getting pretty nervous before the match," Murray revealed in a post-match interview.

“I think maybe in the first set both of us were playing quite nervous but in the second we were going for the shots a bit more. It’s always tricky playing someone you know quite well. I tried to shorten the points a lot at the end of the second set and the third set I was playing more aggressive and coming to the net a lot more. I was trying to finish the points quickly. When we were playing long rallies he was getting the better of them and making me run a lot. I was getting tired. I had to change the way the match was going and I managed to score enough points in the end," the 32-year-old added.

Murray will next face Austria's ace player Dominic Thiem or Chinese Zhang Zhizhen.