MURRAY TO FACE ‘HATED’ FOE
ANDY MURRAY will renew a badtempered rivalry with Lukas Rosol after being drawn with the Czech in the first round of the US Open. His most recent clash with the world No 82 in Germany turned sour when Murray shouted at his opponent: ‘No-one likes you on the tour, everyone hates you.’ The British No 1’s shock outburst took place after Rosol appeared to bump into him at the change of ends, prompting Murray to complain to the umpire. Murray, bidding to claim his fourth grand slam title after a superb summer which saw him win Wimbledon and a second Olympic singles gold medal, has been given a relatively kind route to a potential final with Novak Djokovic if he can first dispose of Rosol. He has avoided Rafa Nadal in his half of the draw, as well as a nightmare early encounter with Juan Martin del Potro, the man he defeated in a pulsating Rio final. Fellow Brits Aljaz Bedene and Kyle Edmund have tough opponents at Flushing Meadows in Nick Kyrgios and Richard Gasquet respectively, while Dan Evans faces American wildcard Rajeev Ram. British No 1 Johanna Konta was drawn against American doubles specialist Bethanie Mattek-Sands, while Heather Watson and Naomi Broady are still to find out their first-round opponents. Serena Williams, who can overtake Steffi Graf’s Open era record of 22 grand slam titles with victory at Flushing Meadows, has an opener against Russian Ekaterina Makarova.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC shed light on the cause of his summer slump last night, admitting ‘private’ issues during Wimbledon were compounded by a wrist injury at the Olympics.
The world No 1 seemed in cheerful enough mood at the draw for next week’s US Open, which he goes into having played only nine singles matches since winning the French Open in early June.
Djokovic did nothing to dampen speculation that he may have been dealing with marital problems when losing in the third round at SW19, but emphasised everything on that front is now resolved. Of more immediate impact for the next fortnight — which sees Andy Murray being given a more comfortable-looking draw — he said his Olympic first-round loss was contributed to by soreness in his left wrist, which he is still having to contend with.
When asked what had happened at Wimbledon, he replied: ‘It was nothing physical, there was some other thing that I was going through privately but nothing linked to the wrist injury.’
All did not appear well at the All England Club, where he lost to Sam Querrey with his wife Jelena unusually sitting several rows away from his support box.
Whatever happened, he said, it was no longer a problem.
‘Everything is fine,’ said Djokovic. ‘I’m in a position like everyone, we all have private issues that you have to encounter and need to overcome to evolve as a human being — that was the period for me. It happened right there, it was resolved. Life is going on.’
Having won the Canadian Open, Djokovic then lost in the first round of the Olympics against Juan Martin del Potro. He suffered a setback with his wrist prior to the event and it is still affecting him.
‘The wrist hasn’t been in an ideal state for three-and-a-half weeks, but I’m doing everything in my power to make sure I am as close to 100 per cent as possible during the course of this tournament, at least for the beginning.
‘It happened in Rio just a few days before the start of the tournament. I experienced it for the first time in my career,’ added the Serb, who left the court there in tears and was said to have truncated his practice session yesterday.
Djokovic was given a tougher-looking draw than his biggest threat Murray, and plays former Wimbledon semifinalist Jerzy Jano-wicz in the first round.
Murray, whose 22-match winning streak was snapped in the final of the Cincinnati Masters last Sunday, cannot be displeased with how it may shape up.
He faces powerful Czech Lukas Rosol in the first round. They had a testy encounter at the Munich Open last year, where the Scot was picked up telling him: ‘Nobody on the tour likes you.’ His first seeded opponent, in the third round, is likely to be Gilles Simon, who has pushed him close in the past. In the quarters he is due to face Kei Nishikori, whom he thrashed at the Olympics, with a potential semi-final against Stan Wawrinka, struggling for his best form this summer. There are four GB men into the first round, with Aljaz Bedene given a plum tie against controversial Australian Nick Kyrgios. Kyle Edmund also has a seed in Richard Gasquet, while new British No 2 Dan Evans has a seemingly easier task, against American wildcard Rajeev Ram. Seeded 13, Jo Konta must be considered an outside contender and she was paired with another American wildcard, Bethanie Mattek Sands. The two other GB women straight into the main draw, Heather Watson and Naomi Broady, will both face qualifiers in the opening round.