VINTAGE RALLY
Defiant Murray says he doesn’t feel old despite being beaten by 20-year-old who watched him as an adoring fan
ANDY MURRAY claimed he did not feel old after he lost his generation game with future superstar Felix Auger-Aliassime at the US Open.
And the Scot, 33, insisted he will still “shoot for the stars” and aim to win more Grand Slam titles with his metal hip.
But the chastening 6-2 6-3 6-4 defeat by the 20-year-old was a rude reality check for the three-time Major champion, who admitted he was working his way back from “square one”.
The ruthless No. 15 seed (below) hit 52 winners – to nine by Murray – and did not face a break point on his lethal serve.
It was the Olympic champion’s first straight-sets defeat before the fourth round of a major since the 2006 Australian Open.
Canadian Auger-Aliassime, who will only get better, had revealed before the match that he had watched Murray play the US Open as a fan in 2011.
“It’s nice because it shows that you have had a long career,” said a philosophical Murray (above). “I don’t feel old or anything like that. I’m happy that I get the opportunity to play against the younger guys coming through.”
Murray has beaten world No.7 Alex Zverev and seen off world No.49 Yoshihito Nishioka in a five-set marathon in his first two events of the year.
His longest match for 20 months certainly had an impact against AugerAliassime. But the good news for Murray fans is that he is still motivated to come back stronger. “I don’t want to lose in straight sets anywhere, and certainly not in Grand Slams,” Murray said. “So what I need to do is look at what happened the last couple of weeks and look at the things in my game that weren’t as I would have liked. Then I’ll look at what I can do to improve so that if I’m in that situation again in a few weeks in the French Open, I’ll deal with it better.
“I feel like I’m back to square one having not played in Slams for a few years, I need to build up my body and my physical conditioning so that I have the ability to back up five-set matches.
“That takes a bit of time, unfortunately. I’m ranked 115, 120 in the world and my game reflects that just now. So I’ll need to get better if I want to move up the rankings and be more competitive.
“I would say even after tonight I’m more positive about what I could do in Grand Slams than I was before I came over here.
“In terms of winning Grand Slams again, that’s going to be extremely difficult. It was hard enough when I had two normal hips. But I’ll keep trying.
“I might as well shoot for the stars. And if I don’t get there, then that’s all right. But I’m trying my best to get the most out of what my body gives me now.”