Andy Murray plays Lukas Rosol in US Open first round
Wednesday 31 August 2016 07:06, UK
Andy Murray gets his US Open campaign underway against Lukas Rosol on Tuesday night, with his sights set on a fourth Grand Slam title.
Having claimed a sixth Queens title, a second Wimbledon crown and a second Olympic gold medal during a glorious summer run, the world number two heads into the action in New York as the form player in the world, losing just once since his French Open final defeat to Novak Djokovic.
Murray lost to Marin Cilic in the final at Cincinnati barely a week after his lung-busting effort against Juan Martin del Potro in Rio but he comes into the final major of the year with a 50-7 W-L record this year and tipped by many to claim his second Flushing Meadows crown, having landed the title so memorably in 2012.
And while Djokovic is the defending champion and still a warm favourite for the event, he has encountered troubles of his own with wrist problems that required attention during his first-round win over Jerzy Janowicz on Monday night.
I think Novak has got the sort of draw that will get himself nicely in the groove at the US Open. He starts as favourite, but at the same time, Andy is in the form of his career right now.
Djokovic has played in just one tournament since his shock third-round Wimbledon defeat - and he won the Rogers Cup in Toronto - but he is not quite the dominant force that claimed the first two majors of the year, beating Murray in Melbourne as well as at Roland Garros.
Murray's first-round match against Rosol could prove the most troublesome in his opening week, the Czech world number 81 having taken the first set off the Scot on both previous occasions they have met.
However, he has suffered defeats to Steve Johnson, Benoit Paire and John Millman over recent weeks and ahead of his opener with Murray, Rosol refused to be drawn on an exchange between the pair that saw the Czech shoulder-bump the world number two at a changeover at Indian Wells two years ago.
Former coach Mark Petchey believes Murray has the benefit of a decent draw. "When you look at the relative head-to-heads that he has against the people in there, I think in general he's going to be pretty happy with it," Petchey told Sky Sports.
While Murray himself refuses to get too carried away by his own terrific form, or the injury concerns which have beset his rivals, he said: "To be honest, Novak and Rafa, they're both in the top half. Them having wrist problems doesn't affect my chances of getting to the final as I wouldn't have to play them in that stage anyway."
It's a big day of British interest as the remaining six names in first-round action bid for a place in the second round, with Murray the headline act and his match not likely to take place until 2am BST.
After wins for Johanna Konta and Kyle Edmund on Monday, there is plenty of British interest on day two in New York - you can follow all the action with our live blog.
There is an all British first-round meeting between Naomi Broady and a revived Laura Robson on Court No 13, where Heather Watson starts the day against Richel Hogenkamp. Dan Evans begins his campaign against Rajeev Ram in the opening match at 4pm BST on Court No 4, and Aljaz Bedene takes on Nick Kyrgios in a tough first-round encounter.
