Dubai Tennis Championships: Andy Murray 'toughs it out' to beat Christopher O'Connell

Andy Murray believes he can compete at the highest level after battling past Christopher OConnell in the first round of the Dubai Tennis Championships.

The British man fell behind against the world number 158 but won in two hours and 51 minutes.

Seven of eight break points were saved by Murray, who had hip surgeries.

I liked the result. He said that what went on the middle was not easy.

The world number 89 said that he was frustrated early on in the match. I was able to serve a bit better as the match went on, which helped me a lot, and I was able to get through it.

He will face either Italian fourth seed Jannik Sinner or Spain's Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the second round.

Murray was emotional when he told the media that he might be playing his last tournament.

Murray told Amazon Prime that he has spoken to a lot of ex-players and that he finds what is needed to stay competitive in such testing matches.

A lot of people have said to keep playing as long as you can. Some have regretted stopping too soon.

I feel I can compete at the highest level. Winning matches like that is very satisfying.

Last week Murray was defeated by Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut in the first round of the Qatar Open.

He smashed his racquet late in the opening set against Australia.

In the first set, he only got 44% of his first serves into play, but by the end of the match, he had gotten 42% of his first serves into play.

At 4-4 in the decider, he saved four break points.

The rally to bring up match point was vintage Murray as he worked to keep a lost cause alive at the back of the court before sprinting to the net to just reach a ball and pass O'Connell.