Tired Murray looks to recover for Davis epic

NO sooner had Andy Murray flown out of New York with his tail between his legs than he was preparing for an opening Davis Cup match with Juan Martin del Potro in Glasgow next week.

And the Scot admitted that recovering from his US Open defeat to Kei Nishikori will be no easy task ahead of what is sure to be a raucous semi-final with Argentina at the Emirates Arena.

Clearly exhausted from a glorious summer that saw him win Wimbledon and Olympic gold, the world No 2 is likely to face two singles rubbers as well as a doubles as he bids to help Great Britain retain their crown.

Murray has only seven days to recuperate before it all starts next Friday and acknowledges he will have to make the most of his time off.

‘Obviously, I’ll look forward to the match,’ he said. ‘It should be a great atmosphere, a great occasion.

‘I’d like a bit more time off, which I will get when the Davis Cup is done, but I just need to be smart in the next few days because I need a lot of energy for those ties.

‘Davis Cup does take a lot out of you over the weekend. It’s tough, especially if you play all three days. I’ll need to make sure I recover not only physically but mentally as well, because it’s always a stressful few days.’

Made even more so by his first opponent being del Potro, no doubt hell-bent on revenge after his defeat in that epic final in Rio.

Their crunch singles rubber will take place on Friday rather than Sunday because del Potro’s false low ranking has still not recovered sufficiently to make him Argentina’s lead player.

Both men will be smarting from Wednesday’s quarter-final exits at Flushing Meadows, Murray in five sets to Nishikori and del Potro later that same evening to Stan Wawrinka.

As the Swiss closed in on victory, the emotion caused by the crowd chanting his name proved too much for del Potro. He began to weep, so moved was he by the recognition of his struggle to shrug off years of wrist injuries.

‘My tennis is starting to respond as I want but physically I’m still down,’ admitted del Potro.

Nishikori meets Wawrinka in tonight’s US Open semi-final, while Novak Djokovic takes on Frenchman Gael Monfils.