Murray says body feels good despite Cincinnati defeat
➤ Briton believes his game is improving ahead of US Open ➤ Defending champion Thiem joins Edmund in pulling out
Andy Murray said he is playing better than at Wimbledon as he focused on the positives despite being knocked out of the Cincinnati Masters in straight sets by world No13 Hubert Hurkacz.
The Scot, who has won the tournament twice, went into the match fresh from his first singles victory since withdrawing from the men’s singles at the Olympics, only to exit 7-6, 6-3 at the hands of the Pole.
In the opening round, Murray had beaten former world No7 Richard Gasquet in straight sets, but he was unable to find the same momentum against 24-year-old Hurkacz.
It was a difficult encounter for Murray, with just 52 per cent of his first serves accurate compared to 71 per cent from Hurkacz. Murray also made some uncharacteristic errors, including three double faults, although he did manage to save four out of six break points.
The Cincinnati tournament was due to act as a warm-up event after he was added to the US Open main draw via a wild card.
Despite the defeat, 34-year-old Murray said: “I thought this week was fairly positive. I think I played much better this week than during Wimbledon or during the grasscourt season. So I guess the two issues for me are, one, my body doesn’t feel good and that is something that will influence my future, and if after competing for a number of months if my tennis is going backwards then that would be another sign for me that things are not how I would like them to be. But I don’t see this week as going backwards.
“My body felt good. The American hard courts are not easy on the body and physically I was a little bit tired after some of the longer rallies, but in terms of the pain and discomfort my body was really good.
“It’s [my tennis] still not how I would like it, but it’s difficult when you play against a lot of these guys now with big serves and you don’t get too many opportunities.”
On the women’s side’s of the draw, British No1 Johanna Konta lost 3-6, 7-6, 6-2 to Karolina Muchova, of the Czech Republic, in the first round.
British No 2 Cameron Norrie started strongly in his first-round clash with John Isner before being knocked out by the American, who hit 25 aces in a 4-6, 7-6, 6-4 victory.
British No3 Kyle Edmund withdrew from the US Open, which
begins on Aug 30. The 26-year-old underwent surgery on a persistent knee problem in March.
Defending champion Dominic Thiem also pulled out after failing to recover from a wrist injury and will now miss the rest of the season.
Emma Raducanu set up a secondround clash with former junior world No1 Clara Burel with an upset win over top seed Alison van Uytvanck, of Belgium, at the Chicago 125 tournament. The 18-year-old Briton, who reached the fourth
round of Wimbledon, was a 7-6, 6-3 victor over the world No60.
Compatriot Harriet Dart lost in the first round 6-1, 6-7, 6-2 to Denmark’s Clara Tauson.
World No 2 and second seed Naomi Osaka fought back from a set and a break down to beat American teenager Coco Gauff 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the second round at the Cincinnati Masters. Afterwards, Osaka, who has battled with mental health issues in the past year, admitted she has felt ungrateful about feeling
that playing tennis on the world stage was not enough of an accomplishment in itself.
“The choice to go out there and play, to go see fans, the people that are coming out and watching you play, that itself is an accomplishment and I’m not sure when along the way I started de-sensitising that. It started not being an accomplishment for me so I felt like I was very ungrateful on that fact.”
Britain’s Heather Watson lost 6-4, 7-6 to world No1 Ashleigh Barty.