Briton Andy Murray played and won his first Grand Slam match since 2019 on Tuesday at the US Open
At the end of the fight, Andy Murray let out a huge cry of rage, but also of joy and pain, Wednesday after the first round of the US Open. The 33-year-old Briton, who had not played in a Grand Slam since his loss in the first round of the Australian Open in 2019, has suffered for his comeback in the major. He took 4:38 to defeat the Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka (4-6, 4-6, 7-6, 7-6, 6-4).
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– Andy Murray (@andy_murray) September 1, 2020
“I’m exhausted, my toes are hurting me. They have an ice bath in the locker room, when I saw him I said to myself ‘this is for emergencies’, and emergencies this is what waiting for me there. My body hurts so much I’m going to ask them permission to put it in. “
“I was very moved,” he added. “When I found myself in the locker room, looked at my phone and saw all the messages from my family, my friends, my team and everything. . They saw me go through all these hardships. I don’t know how many of us believed that I would be able to win games like this again. This victory means a lot. The main question I was asking myself was to knowing if I would hold out physically, if the match would go in five sets … So it is perhaps my greatest satisfaction, to have held. As far as my game is concerned, I could have done better. “
The Scotsman, winner at Flushing Meadows in 2012 and world No. 1 in 2016, has come a long way. From a match point saved in the 4th set, before pocketing it, like the 3rd, in the tie break, after two initial rounds where he was apathetic. But he knew, unlike his opponent, 49th in the world, to convert his first match point.
It remains to be seen how, with or without an ice bath, Murray will recover, he who underwent a second hip operation in 2019, before injuring his pelvis during the Davis Cup last November. Injuries that made him think about the rest of his career but also made him change his mind.
“Obviously, over the past three years, I have often expressed myself to say that I was not particularly happy playing tennis because I felt really bad, my body was hurting, he admits. There now I come. to play a four and a half hour game when I never thought I could! I felt much better today at the end of the game than when I played Bautista Agut in Australia (first round in 2019 ). My hip is okay. I’ll be able to sleep well tonight. My quality of life is much better, so I imagine that improves my overall mood! “
His next opponent, the Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime (21st) has in any case also drawn on his reserves to beat the Brazilian Thiago Monteiro in almost 4 hours of struggle. The Austrian Dominic Thiem, seeded N.2, on the other hand was able to save himself against the Spaniard Jaume Munar who gave up (7-6, 6-3, 0-0).
In the night session, was expected the entry into the running of Daniil Medvedev, magnificent finalist last year against Rafael Nadal, absent this year because of the coronavirus.
On the women’s side, Serena Williams, in search of a record 24th major title, made her entry into the US Open on Tuesday. On the verge of tears last week after her elimination in the round of 16 of the Cincinnati tournament, the American found her smile after her easy victory at the expense of the 96th world Kristie Ahn 7-5, 6-3. “I’m really happy with the way I handled the big points. How good it feels to win in straight sets! It’s been a while since the 90s.”
Serena Williams overtakes Chris Evert
This match was the first not to be decided in three sets, unlike the previous five which marked his return – difficult – after six months without tennis. But this encouraging victory is also a record, since it is his 102nd at the US Open. Serena, who will meet in the second round the Russian Margarita Gasparyan, 117th in the world, exceeds the mark of Chris Evert.
Her big sister Venus (67th) was swept away by the Czech Karolina Muchova (26th) 6-3, 7-5. This is the first time that the 40-year-old American has been eliminated in the first round of a Grand Slam tournament.
Sofia Kenin (4th), winner of her first Major in Melbourne this year, easily qualified at the expense of Belgium’s Yanina Wickmayer 6-2, 6-2. It was not seen, but it was tears that helped her in her pre-match preparation: “I was moved, I had to evacuate. Cry. That’s what I did. It had to come out. Everyone knew in Australia that I cried every day before my matches. And it had worked. “
