Upbeat Murray departs New York ready to set sights on French Open
Scot feels positive despite early US Open exit and says he will keep striving to make an impact at the grand slams
As Andy Murray leaves New York, beaten in the second round of the US Open, his aim is to “viser les étoiles” ( shoot for the stars) at Roland Garros and beyond. And pourquoi pas?
The Scot was soundly beaten 6- 2, 6- 3, 6- 4 late on Thursday night by Felix Auger- Aliassime, the 20- year- old Canadian rising star who is generally regarded as the future of the sport. Murray could do little as 24 aces and 52 clean winners whistled past him. And much as his return game is his greatest strength, he could not manufacture a single break point as Auger- Aliassime, pictured inset, the world No 21, played a near flawless match.
“He’s a bi g guy,” Murray said. “He takes the ball on. They are obviously fairl y quick conditions here, as well. He maybe served a little bit better tonight than he had in the last couple of weeks, which helped. Because he obviously got quite a lot of free points with the first serve, and then even when I was getting a racket on it, he was able to dictate off the first shot of the rally, as well.”
It was hardly a surprise that Murray would struggle after t he heroics of his f ive - set, four hour 39 minute thriller
against Yoshihito Nishioka on Tuesday and it was not until the second set that he was able to challenge the Canadian.
Not that it made much diff erence with t he way t hat Auger- Aliassime was playing. But finding both physical and mental consistency in order to back up matches week in, week out, will only come with time and more matches against the best in the business. “I think the more tournaments that you play, the more matches that you play, you build up that sort of robustness in your body which right now I don’t really have,” he said.
“I think the last two weeks, like, I played a long one against Zverev, and the next day didn’t p l ay a p a r t i c u l a r l y g o o d match. Actually physically didn’t feel too bad but then same thing again. Obviously played a long match the other day. And today wasn’t the level I would have hoped for. So
that’s something that I’ll need to build up over the next few months and hopefully beginning of next year, if I can stay healthy, I will be better able to back up difficult physical efforts.”
Losing in straight sets is no player’s idea of fun but, even so, Murray is leaving Flushing Meadows feeling positive. He has learned that his resurfaced hip can withstand the rigours of grand slam tennis and, although he is tired and bits of his body hurt, he is feeling much better than he or any one else expected.
After a few days off, he will set his sights on the rescheduled French Open which begins on 27 September. The transition from hard courts to clay will take time – he has not played on the red dirt in three years
– and is not going to Paris in t he expectation of coming back with a trophy. It will, though, be another huge stepping stone on his route back to full fitness and wringing every last drop out of the rest of his career.
“In terms of winning grand slams again, that’s going to be extremely difficult to do,” Murray said. “It was hard enough when I had two normal hips. So it will be difficult, but I’ll keep tr ying, l i ke, why not? Why shouldn’t I try my hardest to do that? And if I don’t, that’s all right. But I might as well shoot for the stars. And if I don’t -- yeah, if I don’t get there, then that’s all right. But I’m trying my best to get the most out of what my body gives me now.”
And pourquoi pas?
“In terms of winning grand slams again, that’s going to be extremely difficult to do. It was hard enough when I had two normal hips. So it will be difficult, but I’ll keep trying, like, why not?”
ANDY MURRAY