Andy Murray returns to the US Open after a year of abstinence and is not one of the contenders for the title this time. Even the Scotsman himself doesn’t believe in this really big coup.
The big showdown in New York is coming up and it will be the first Grand Slam tournament for Andy Murray since Wimbledon 2017. And the Scotsman enters the last major of the year with a funny feeling.
“It’s a funny feeling to go to a tournament like this,” Murray explained before the tournament started. By the feeling, the three-time major winner means that he is not among the favourites this time. He himself “doesn’t reckon with any chances at all”.
“These are the tournaments I’ve been preparing for, training for, and then fighting to maybe win one. This year is different and I have no expectations at all,” continued the 31-year-old.
With seven matches in the current calendar year, Murray is currently ranked 378th in the world rankings. He returns as an underdog to the place where he won the first Grand Slam title of his career in 2012. Six years later, after a one-year injury break (hip), the ex-number one does not even belong to the extended group of favourites.
The reasons for his low expectations are clear, says the Scotsman: “I’m competing in this event without any real match practice and only very little training. “If I continue to make progress and gain weight, I can get back to a high level.”
Sir Andy” will start in New York against Australian James Duckworth. A feasible task for Murray. However, long five-set matches could be seen as a stumbling block. At the past tournaments in Eastbourne and the Queen’s Club Murray was fighting but not physically at the height.
In the second round, Feliziano Lopez or Fernando Verdasco are two top players who could make life difficult for Murray.