McEnroe: Murray still has work to do to reach Djokovic level

AndyMurray is in the form of his life but still a long way shor t of Novak Djokovic at his best, according to seven- time grand slam champion John McEnroe.

Scot Murray begins his US Open campaign tomorrow against world number 82 Lukas Rosol and he arguably starts as tournament favourite after winning Wimbledon and an Olympic gold medal this summer.

A fourth grand slam title at Flushing Meadows would also represent a significant power shift given only two months ago Djokovic held all four major titles.

With Roger Federer out injured, Djokovic wrestling with “private issues” and a niggling wrist problem, andNadal searching for his first grand slam semi-final since the French Open in 2014, there appears to bean opening for Murray’s own period of dominance.

ButMcEnroe, who toiled with the likes of BjornBorg, Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl, believes it is still too soon to dismiss Murray’s biggest rivals.

“Can Murray dominate now? I think Novak is still the most obvious obstacle,” said McEnroe. “He’s been playing at a level the last couple years that Murray hasn’t been able to attain. That’s frustrated him.

“Things have changed the last couple months, the shock that he lost early at Wimbledon, but to me the level that Novak was playing, it was higher consistently. The bar was higher maybe than anything I’ve seen as far as his consis- tency. There’s a way to go where he would be able to lift it to do what Novak has done the last couple of years and is going to continue to try to do.”

Murray cannot meet either Djokovic or Nadal until the final but shouldhe get there, the Scot will become only the fourth man in the Open era tomake all four grand slam finals in a calendar year, joining Federer, Djokovic and Rod Laver.

Andy Murray: In the best form of his career