No Grand ambitions for Murray
ANDY MURRAY admits he is unable to mount a serious US Open challenge and says it feels odd going into a Grand Slam without believing he can win.
But the former world No1 is convinced he can get back to a level where he is competing for major titles again as he looks to put his injury hell behind him.
Murray is set for a return to Grand Slam action for the first time in 14 months when he takes on Australian James Duckworth at Flushing Meadows on Monday.
The Scot spent more than a decade of his career trying to compete with the very best but knows that is an unrealistic aim in New York following more than a year out as a result of his hip injury.
The 31-year-old, who won his maiden major at the US Open in 2012 before adding two Wimbledon titles, said: “It is important to be back at a Grand Slam.
“For the last 10, 11 years of my life I have dedicated all my training and off-season to perform at these events. Missing them is hard and coming back to them is great.
“But this one feels slightly different because for the last 10, 11 years I have been preparing to try to win the event, where I don’t think that is realistic for me this year.
“It’s a slightly different mentality coming in than what I have had in the past 10, 11 years of my life, so it feels a bit odd.
“I’m trying to deal with the situation as best as I can but I do feel once my body is right again – which takes time when you haven’t played many matches in a year – I’m sure that my level will be OK to get me competing at the top of the game again.”
Murray, unseeded for the first time since 2006, has been handed a favourable firstround match against Duckworth, who made it into the main draw only as a replacement for the injured Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
But the tests will quickly become tougher for Murray as he tests his body in five-set matches for the first time since losing last year’s Wimbledon to quarterfinal to Sam Querrey.
If Murray can overcome Duckworth, he will face the winner of the all-Spanish battle between Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco, with victory there putting him on a potential third-round collision course with 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro.
Murray said: “I haven’t played a best-of-five match so I’ll need to see if my body is ready because you don’t know until you actually get out there and do it.
“The benefit of the Grand Slams is having that day off to recover which will help me. My expectations are to give my best effort in the matches and if I do that hopefully my tennis will get better.
“It’s kind of difficult to predict exactly how you’re going to do and how far you’ll go in the event but my tennis is getting better all the time and I just need to be on the court more consistently through to the end of the year.”
This one feels a bit different