Murray is ready to take his revenge
UNLIKE Kei Nishikori, Andy Murray has not forgotten their US Open quarter-final and is looking to make amends for one that got away.
The world number one was the favourite to claim the title in New York last summer after winning Wimbledon and Olympic gold, but came unstuck on a dramatic evening.
He won the first set against Nishikori 6-1, led by two sets to one and looked poised to go a break up in the fourth when play was interrupted by a loud noise from the PA system.
Murray lost his cool then fought back from 2-4 down in the decider to lead 5-4, but lost the last three games.
Remarkably, Nishikori was unable to recall the match at all when asked about it on Monday despite the win being one of the biggest of his career.
With a sheepish grin, the eighth seed said: “Actually I’m very bad with the memories. I don’t even know if I won or lost. I won?”
Murray has an encyclopaedic knowledge of his previous matches so there was no chance of him having a similar memory lapse.
He said: “Obviously we played at the US Open and that was five sets, a match that got away from me a little bit, so I need to learn a bit from that.
“There’s a good chance it’s a long one. He returns well and he’s very solid off both wings. He’s always a tough guy to play against.
“I’m happy with where my game’s at. Everything is going pretty well just now. I’m feeling good going into the middle part of the second week.”
Murray has played himself into form from unpromising beginnings and played his best match of the fortnight so far in beating Karen Khachanov in round four.