Murray feels grand about future after defeat
Evans and Norrie defeats end British hopes in US
ONLY Andy Murray knows exactly how his body is feeling after the efforts of the past two weeks but amid his
BRITISH interest in the singles came to an end last night as Dan Evans and Cameron Norrie were both beaten at the US Open.
Evans, the No.23 seed, was beaten 4-6, 6-3, 7-6, 7-6 by Frenchman Corentin Moutet in the second round while Norrie, the only one of the four British entrants to make it to the third round, was beaten 7-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 by rising Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
After Andy Murray’s exit general disappointment as he exited the US Open in the second round on Thursday night, there was a genuine, exciting note of optimism in the 33-year-old’s voice.
“I would say even after tonight, I would say I’m more on Thursday night, the defeat of Kyle Edmund by Novak Djokovic and Johanna Konta’s loss to Sorana Cirstea, Evans and Norrie carried the country’s hopes into day five.
Norrie, appearing in the third round of the US Open for the first time, went into his match with Davidovich Fokina as the favourite. But the Spaniard, who practised with world No.1 Djokovic when the Tours were locked down because of the coronavirus, is a superstar in the making and it was he who looked the more experienced player. positive about what I could do in Grand Slams than I was before I came over here,” said Murray, shortly after his 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 defeat by Felix AugerAliassime of Canada.
“I mean, you guys obviously don’t know how I was feeling even just a couple of months ago.
“So, to come over here and play… a couple of tough matches in Cincinnati and I played certainly one very tough match here, and my right hip felt good. That’s really, really positive.
“There [are] other things… that need to get better but I would say that I’m more positive now than what I was a couple of months ago, that’s for sure.”
There were clearly doubts about how his right hip would hold up to the rigours of five-set tennis, as you would expect, considering he is now
Norrie did well to take the second set, having dropped the first on the tiebreak but it seemed like he hit the wall after that and the 21-year-old cruised through sets three and four.
Evans will also think he let a good opportunity slip but Moutet was good value for his win in four sets. The Briton led 4-2 in the fourth set but could not hold the advantage. playing with a metal hip after his career-saving operation in January of last year.
The good news is that he seems to be pain-free, other than general soreness, after his four-hour, 39-minute epic comeback win over Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan in the first round, even if he didn’t do himself justice against AugerAliassime, the world No.21.
We’ll know more in a few months’ time, once the Scot has had more tournaments to get his match strength up, and more time to see what he is capable of.
Given what he has achieved in the sport, Murray’s desire remains undiminished. He knows he may never win another big one, but while it’s possible, he will give it his all.
“In terms of winning Grand Slams again, that’s going to be extremely difficult to do,” he admitted.
“It was hard enough when I had two normal hips. So it will be difficult, but I’ll keep trying. Why not? Why shouldn’t I try my hardest to do that? And if I don’t, that’s all right. But 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.”
Murray hot-footed it out of New York at the first opportunity, heading home for some family time with his wife and three young children.
He plans to play at the French Open, which is scheduled to take place at the end of this month, having moved from its traditional May-June slot this year due to the Coronavirus.
And it will be fascinating will be to see if, as his body hardens to competition, he tries to make any changes to his game.
Patrick Mouratoglou, the coach of Serena Williams, believes Murray should follow the example of Roger Federer.
“He’s getting older, he still wants to do well, he still feels and believes he can do well but he still needs to work as much as before to win matches,” Mouratoglou said in a coaching segment on the Tennis Majors website.
“So maybe, for the future… he probably needs to think like Roger did. Even though Roger has, of course, different tennis from him, he thought how to shorten the rallies, how am I going to win Grand Slams against guys who are fitter in a way that they can play much longer.”
The will’s still there and Murray will not stop until he’s exhausted every way of finding a way.