Murray Is Coming To New York As The Defending Champion
Murray Is Coming To New York As The Defending Champion
As long as Andy Murray has been traveling the tennis circuit, be it as a wide-eyed junior or now as the defending champion of the US Open, his favorite port of call has always been New York. And though not a creature of habit, he hopes things are pretty much the same as usual in the Big Apple this year.
Just as 12 months ago, Murray has been seeded third for the men’s singles. But this time he is placed below the on-form Rafael Nadal on the ATP World Tour rankings, the Spaniard buoyant after winning back to back Masters 1000 series events in Montreal and Cincinnati.
Murray is not a creature of habit but he is sticking to a tried and tested formula for the next couple of weeks. For example he reported: “I will stay in the same hotel this year. I’ve changed in Australia, for example, numerous times, but I’ve stayed in the same hotel in New York the last couple of years.
“Wimbledon I’m at home, then the US Open I’ll stay in the same hotel. It’s pretty quiet. You need to try to conserve as much energy as you can during the slams, so the more you can get away from everything, the less noise, the better.”
And though he is likely to be a more recognizable figure he still hopes to enjoy his mind-clearing strolls through the streets in Midtown and into Central Park. “I would think I would be able to do that,” he said. “I do it pretty much everywhere I go, especially before a match. I don’t think it will be too much of an issue.”
However, obviously, things will be very different as he is both defending champion and the recently crowned King of Wimbledon. “I will be excited,” he accepted. It’s going to be a new experience for me. At this stage of my career, it doesn’t happen too often where you’re doing something for the first time, so I’ll look forward to that and hopefully deal with it OK.
“I’m glad I’ve played ten matches, including the doubles, the past couple of weeks. That’s decent. It could have been better, but it definitely could have been worse as well. Going in there with a decent amount of matches is good.”
Looking back at his most recent campaign in the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati, where he beat Mikhail Youzhny and Julien Benneteau before losing out to Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinals, he said: “I played very well, very solid the first two matches. The intensity was good. Against Tomas I served well and I felt I was pretty sharp on the returns. I just didn’t return his second serve as well as I would have liked, and I have been doing that in the first couple of matches.”
Meanwhile New York’s foremost tennis observer, John McEnroe believes Murray faces a different kind of pressure this year and must get used to being the ‘hunted player’ as defending champion and Wimbledon winner.
“On the one hand he’s done it, so that’s amazing,” said McEnroe. “On the other hand, you’re the hunted more than you were in the past. “People are going to be gunning for him even more. I think he’s found that a little bit since playing Wimbledon.”
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