• ATP Tour

Murray backs rivals to rediscover form before US Open

ESPN staff
August 23, 2011
Andy Murray doesn't expect an easy run at Flushing Meadows © Getty Images
Enlarge

Andy Murray doesn't expect the recent poor form of his major rivals to continue into the US Open when it gets underway on Monday.

Murray won the recent Western & Southern Open partly by being the last big name standing - outlasting Novak Djokovic in the final, after both Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer had slumped to defeats earlier in the tournament.

Having been dumped out of the previous week's Rogers Cup in embarrassing fashion at the hands of Kevin Anderson, the victory in Cincinnati was a timely return to form for the Scot. And Murray believes his rivals will perform a similar recovery before action gets underway at the final grand slam of the year at Flushing Meadows.

"I'm sure come Monday, all of them will be fine," Murray said, according to The Guardian. "They will be playing great tennis, much better than they have played here."

Murray believes the top players in the world are playing at such a high level that even a minor drop in performance can have a profound effect - but can be recovered just as quickly.

"It's all about the three per cent," he said. "You can talk about trying to improve 12, 15 per cent, but it doesn't happen like that. It's about working on bits of your game, if it's the second serve or whatever it is, and improving it just a little bit over a period of time.

"Like, my second serve is better than Rafa's, for instance, but that's just one part of my game. Just because Roger or Rafa lost in Montreal and Cincinnati, they're not going to just be not there at the top, no way.

"They are still great players, so it won't have any bearing on the US Open at all."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
Close

ABOUT COOKIES

To help make this website better, to improve and personalize your experience and for advertising purposes, are you happy to accept cookies and other technologies.

More Info Here Cookie Choices