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NEW YORK — Unseeded Andy Murray has been looking for a breakthrough performance since he underwent a hip resurfacing procedure in 2019, his second hip surgery. The three-time Grand Slam winner nearly had that breakthrough Monday, when he showed he has some miles left in his legs at age 34 and strong emotions left in his heart during a fiveset match against No. 3 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the first round of the U.S. Open.
Moving well, constantly pumping his fist and often complaining to the umpire about what he considered delaying tactics by Tsitsipas, Murray had the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium on his side as he tried to keep up with Tsitsipas, who is considered a potential challenger to the Grand Slam dominance of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. Tsitsipas received a time violation warning for taking too long to return to the court for the fifth set, but that didn’t faze or prevent him from coming back to stop Murray from pulling off what would have been a thunderous upset.
Sweating and straining on a hot and humid afternoon that bled into night, Murray fell agonizingly short. Tsitsipas won 2-6, 7-6 (7), 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, but it was a minor miracle that Murray elevated his play to such a high level for so long.
Murray, who tested positive for COVID-19 this year and missed the Australian Open, said before the U.S. Open began he was feeling good physically and able to put in good amounts of practice time but was unhappy with his game. He had reason to be encouraged Monday against Tsitsipas, even if he hasn’t quite gotten that big win yet.
Murray left the court to a loud ovation, waving as he walked.
Tsitsipas called the atmosphere “electric” and said he had to make “lots of sacrifices” to get back into the match and win it. He also waved to the fans as he walked toward the locker room.
Brandon Nakashima upsets John Isner
The faded fortunes of elite American men’s tennis players got an emphatic jolt when Brandon Nakashima of San Diego, a wild-card entrant, upset No. 19 seed John Isner, the highest-ranked American man in the world.
Nakashima, ranked 84th, played well in crucial situations as he won tiebreakers in each of the first two sets and pulled away in the third. He cashed in on his first match point to clinch a 7-6 (7), 7-6 (6), 6-3 victory before an appreciative crowd at Louis Armstrong Stadium.
No American man has won a Grand Slam singles title since Andy Roddick won the U.S. Open in 2003. Nakashima was barely 2 then; he’s now 20.
Nakashima committed 16 unforced errors, to 28 by Isner. Nakashima made 32 forced errors, to 50 by Isner.
Isner is ranked 22nd in the world, the highest of any American man. He and Nakashima split a pair of matches recently, with Isner winning in Atlanta and Nakashima winning in Mexico.
“It was another tough match against John,” Nakashima said during an on-court interview. “We both know each other really well. ... A couple of crucial points in the tiebreaker I got lucky.”
He also said he enjoyed fans’ support. Nakashima made his U.S. Open debut last year, when fans were prohibited from attending matches because of COVID-19 concerns. He lost in the second round to Alexander Zverev.