I still want to be a part of it, New York, New York
Andy determined to find form
ANDY MURRAY tries to take another bite out of the Big Apple today while chewing over a loss of form that threatens to make his stay in New York a short one.
The Scot is adamant that he is finally in the kind of physical condition needed to perform consistently at the top level after almost three years of injury agony, only for his game to desert him.
Defeats to Hubert Hurkacz and Frances Tiafoe in the two tournaments that preceded the US Open are nothing to be embarrassed about but Murray at his peak would expect to win those matches comfortably.
Those days are gone for the 2012 champion, though, and although the 34-year-old is competitive against the young guns, he’s not beating them often enough for his liking.
And tonight, he’ll face an opponent in the Arthur Ashe Stadium who will have nothing but admiration for Murray but will believe the former World No.1 is the first stepping stone on a journey that can lead to him lifting the trophy two weeks from now.
Stefanos Tsitsipas is No.3 seed for a reason. The Greek is one of the Next Gen crew being tipped to dominate when Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic – the latter of whom is going for a calendar Grand Slam at Flushing Meadows – head off into the sunset. Murray said: “Obviously it was not the easiest draw out there.
“When you’re not seeded, these sorts of things can happen. It will be a good test for me to see kind of where my game’s at, where it’s progressed to from when I arrived in the States really.”
Murray has always thrived off the energy of the New York crowd and if he can plug into it again tonight – he’s due on court at about 6.30pm UK time – we might have yet another of those rollercoaster epics that have epitomised his career.
He added: “I played a lot of brutal matches here over the years. The crowd’s always helped. They like people that fight, give their all, show their heart and emotion and energy and stuff on the court.
“I think over the years here I’ve had very good support, so I’ve enjoyed that.
“New York as a city, obviously it’s a pretty hectic place usually. It’s a little bit quieter this year.”
By his own admission, Murray’s current level is around 50 or 60 in the world. He knows he’ll need to be better than that to make round two.
“I haven’t done that as well as I would have liked,” he said. “That’s what’s been frustrating the last few weeks.”
On a busy day one for the Brits, 24th seed Dan Evans and No.26 seed Cameron Norrie will face Thiago Monteiro and Carlos Alcaraz respectively.
I played a lot of brutal matches here over the years ANDY MURRAY KNOWS WHAT TO EXPECT TODAY