Thee-time major champion Andy Murray is set to make his 17th appearance at the US Open this week. The 36-year-old arrives at Flushing Meadows after suffering an abdominal strain that forced him to withdraw mid-tournament in Toronto. Murray, who will face Frenchman Corentin Moutet in the opening round, has seen positive signs in his health ahead of the season's final major.
“The radiologist from back home looked at my scans and checked them, I had a small tear, which is healing and the last five or six days of practice have been really good,” Murray said in his pre-tournament press conference. “I've not had any issues serving. It's just obviously been a bit [difficult], you don't just take a week off from serving and then go full into it, you need to build up a little bit so it's not been perfect in that sense, but my ab has been okay.”
The Scot has played some of his best tennis at the majors this year. In Melbourne, Murray won two epic five-setters in his opening two matches against 13th seed Matteo Berrettini and Thanasi Kokkinakis. At Wimbledon, he was up two-sets-to-one on fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas before the Greek mounted a comeback.
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Despite competing with a metal hip, the 46-time tour-level titlist Murray is motivated to keep playing against the world's best.
“Some people probably stop and feel like they've had enough whether that's through performance or whether it is through their body hurting and aching and then maybe after an extended period of time away from the sport, they start to miss it again,” Murray said. “Maybe mentally some players just feel like they need a break away from the sport and then to refresh and maybe get another shot. Some people [stop because of] injury.
“I think everyone’s case is a bit different. For me, I came back to play because I felt like I still had more to give but also because physically, I was able to compete at the highest level. That’s why I’m still playing.”
Murray took no consolation from the Wimbledon defeat to then-World No. 5 Tsitsipas, labelling the loss as ‘very disappointing’. He revealed on Saturday that after that heartbreak at the All England Club, he went back to the drawing board and found ways he could still improve.
“I went away on holiday straight afterwards, went away for like six days and then after matches, especially Wimbledon or at majors, when everything is a greater disappointment and greater emotions at any time of the year… I [spoke] with my team about things that I really feel like I need to make a change to certain shots in my game if I wanted to win more of those matches and dictate more of those matches,” Murray said.
“My feeling was I wanted to put in some work technically to allow me to play the way that I want to and the way that my team wants me to.”
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