I’M BACK

Murray relishes his return to the big stage as he fights back from losing first set to make second round

ANDY MURRAY admitted it was like a new beginning as he marked his return to Grand Slam action with victory at the new-look Louis Armstrong Stadium.

The former world No.1 answered questions over his fitness as he was forced to dig deep before finally seeing off plucky Australian James Duckworth in four sets. It’s baby steps rather than giant leaps for Murray but while he might be short of match sharpness he showed he still has the guts and determination as he won 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 7-5 6-3. After 14 months without playing in a Major, it was a big moment as he set up a secondround tie with Spaniard Fernando Verdasco. After more than 411 days, thousands of hours of rehabilitation and plenty of soul-searching this, after pulling out of last year’s US Open and Wimbledon this year at the 11th hour, was the moment Murray finally made his Grand Slam return.

Murray said: “I’ve lost a lot of matches on Louis Armstrong but it’s like a new beginning in the beautiful new stadium. It was a great atmosphere for the first day of the tournament and I’m very happy to be back.

“At times it was tricky, especially early in the match. It was very lively. It was very hot and the ball was flying around.

“James was serving big and playing a lot of drop shots and throwing me off my rhythm a lot, so I’m happy I managed to get through that and played some good stuff at times.

“I made a bit of a change on the return games. I started standing a little bit further back to give myself a bit more time and got myself into a few more rallies that way.

“Once I got into the rallies I was a bit more comfortable.

“I found my range with the ground strokes and improved from there.” While Murray marched on, British No.1 Kyle Edmund (left) limped out of the first round as his US Open injury jinx struck again after a shock loss to veteran Italian Paolo Lorenzi. Court 13 at Flushing Meadows proved desperately unlucky for Edmund as he suffered from cramp in the dying stages of his tie and blamed a mystery virus for lacking fitness.

Edmund was forced to retire with a back injury during last year’s campaign in New York and while the 23-year-old at least managed to see out this match he was struggling badly by the end as the 16th seed slumped to a 6-4 4-6 5-7 1-6 defeat. Edmund was reduced to tears in America last year when a back injury meant he had to concede defeat to Canadian Denis Shapovalov.

And he was again left feeling down as he blamed a mystery virus for his flagging fitness which wasn’t helped by the scorching late morning heat.

Edmund, who could now be a doubt for the Davis Cup tie against Uzbekistan, said: “It was pretty horrible at the end with cramp and an indication of where I am at right now.

“A few things have been happening recently and I need to get stronger and fitter.

“I’ve had a virus but I don’t want to go into too much detail. It’s put me back quite a bit which is a shame but it’s happened.

“I need to get back to trying to build my fitness back up.

“It’s already better than it was but clearly not good enough. I know where I can be physically and I’ve proved that to myself.

“I have to get back there basically.”