Saturday 29 August 2015 19:06, UK
Andy Murray will not face world No 1 Novak Djokovic until a potential final, but has been handed an unwelcome difficult start to the US Open after Thursday’s draw.
We've analysed the draw and plotted the possible route Murray would need to take to repeat his 2012 Flushing Meadows final.
Great Britain's likeliest hope of bringing back the American trophy will have to tackle tennis' 'bad boy' in his first outing when he touches down in New York. Murray is unlikely to be enamoured to take on such a threatening young prospect at this earliest stage.
Kyrgios has spent his summer embroiled in a row after insulting Stan Wawrinka at the Montreal Masters, before enduring scorn and booing upon his return in Cincinnati. The temperamental Australian is more widely known for his unpredictable mood swings on the court, as evidenced by a petulant Wimbledon defeat to Richard Gasquet.
But Murray will know that Kyrgios, aged just 20, remains one of tennis' brightest talents. The British No 1 advanced unscathed against Kyrgios at the Australian and French Opens, without dropping a set in either, and owns a 3-0 head-to-head overall record. The omens are good, but Murray may have fancied a warmer welcome to the US Open hotbed.
Should Murray advance beyond his tough opener he is likely to be paired at the second hurdle with the French left-hander for just their second career meeting.
The British No 1 won their Indian Wells meeting in March and was full of praise for Mannarino, who managed to earn a break of serve in the opening set of Murray's eventual 6-3 6-3 win.
"He's playing very well this year and he's got a very tricky game," Murray told Sky Sports about his potential US Open second-round opponent.
"He's a lefty but he has a very flat backhand and a short take-back on his forehand so it's hard to read."
The 27-year-old Mannarino is the world No 34, three places above Kyrgios, and a win against Murray on a Grand Slam stage would represent his greatest achievement. He has reached the third round in both of the previous two instalments of the tournament but has never been a contender to trouble the world's best player at the latter stages of Slams.
A dramatic early start would crank up a gear up in just the third round if Murray were to play his Davis Cup team-mate. Ward must first eliminate Thomaz Bellucci, which is not to be taken for granted, and then the winner of the match between Paul-Henri Mathieu and Yoshihito Nishioka. But he then knows that reward for coming through that would likely be his highest-profile match ever against his fellow Brit.
Ward, from London, is the world No 134 and the fourth-highest ranked Brit behind Murray, Aljaz Bedene and Kyle Edmund. He has never played Murray in competitive action, much less among the grandeur of the US Open.
They have shared gruelling training camps and countless practice hours but never stood opposite one another when it really matters. The possibility of a Murray showdown might be enough to inspire Ward to motor into the third round, matching his best Grand Slam finish ever from Wimbledon this summer, and would set up an inevitably emotional encounter.
One of a plethora of colossal servers on the current Tour, Anderson brings a no-frills approach to the court with his booming deliveries and aggressive style.
At 6'8" the South African's physical attributes are obvious and aid his ability to thunder the ball past his opponent when he has the ball in hand. But it's a style that Murray has seen before, and his head-to-head record against Anderson doesn't forecast any problems.
Five wins from six matches against the world No 15 largely relate to Murray's reputation as one of the world's elite returners. His athletic ability to cover the court at breakneck speed means it usually requires more than just a big serve to oust Murray from a tournament.
Should Murray get to the final eight, as he would expect to do, the going starts to get tough and is likely to begin with a fellow two-time Grand Slam champion.
Wawrinka captured the Australian Open in 2014 and this year's French Open, impressing against Novak Djokovic in the final to win the trophy the hard way, so has the same pedigree as Murray to go the distance in New York.
The world No 5, who seems to be in his prime aged 30, hasn't played Murray in two years when they last met, you guessed it, in the US Open quarter-finals. Overall, Murray edges an 8-6 head-to-head record but their careers are running parallel as serial Grand Slam contenders.
The prospect of meeting Wawrinka at this stage, much like his first hurdle against Kyrgios, could be uncomfortably early for Murray considering what is inevitably to come.
Overcoming his current hoodoo against Federer would be an achievement worthy of making a Grand Slam final and that's exactly what Murray will have to do.
Federer owns a five-match winning streak against Murray and, on top of that, looks capable of extending that run. Most recently in Cincinnati, as the US Open build-up intensified, Federer was at his mercurial best to beat Murray in straight sets.
That run also includes the 6-0 6-1 embarrassment in London last year, the worst loss of Murray's career, but the worrying aspect may be the Brit's chances of ending the rout.
Sky Sports expert Mark Petchey expressed concern that Murray must revamp his tactics in order to finally defeat Federer. A US Open semi-final would be a remarkable stage to end that chapter of his career.
Being drawn in the opposite half of the draw as Djokovic was the perfect coin-toss result for Murray, meaning he can't meet his long-time rival until the final.
And for the first time in memory, the British No 1 would enter a plausible encounter with the momentum on his side. He recently ended his eight-match losing streak to Djokovic in the Montreal Masters final, the same hard surfaces used at Flushing Meadows, so would relish back-to-back wins with the Serbian's wounds not yet healed.
Prior to Montreal, Murray's previous win over Djokovic was the Wimbledon final that ended Britain's notorious 77-year wait. Is another famous win in the pipeline?
You can watch live coverage of the US Open, starting at 4pm on Monday August 31 on Sky Sports 1.
Not a Sky subscriber? Then watch through online streaming service NOW TV.
By purchasing a Sky Sports Day Pass for £6.99 or Sky Sports Week Pass for £10.99, you can enjoy access to all seven Sky Sports channels and watch on a TV with a NOW TV Box or on a range of devices.
