“I made the right decision” – cautious optimism from Andy Murray ahead of US Open

The Scot suffered an abdominal injury in the run-up to the final major of the year, pulling out of Toronto and Cincinnati

MELBOURNE, VIC – JANUARY 21: Andy Murray of the United Kingdom in action during Round 3 of the 2023 Australian Open on January 21 2023, at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. (AI/Reuters/Panoramic)

Jamie Malachy

August 27, 2023

US Open •First round • completed

See draw

A. MurrayvsC. Moutet

Andy Murray’s US Open preparation has been far from ideal.

Having turned the page on a bitterly disappointing second-round loss at Wimbledon last month – a defeat that left him questioning his career – Murray arrived in North America newly motivated to earn a seeding for New York.

Things initially appeared on track before yet another bruising blow to the Scot’s progress came in Toronto, as an abdominal injury forced him to pull out of his last-16 match with Jannik Sinner.

Murray then had a difficult choice to make regarding Cincinnati. Should he compete in search of that elusive Grand Slam seeding he has been chasing all year, or take the seedings hit yet again and protect his abdomen?

Ultimately, he chose the latter. With the benefit of hindsight, the former world No 1 now believes this was the correct decision.

“I think I made the right decision [to rest],” said Murray, who will face France’s Corentin Moutet on Tuesday.

Andy Murray is back!

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— Perfect Tennis (@perfecttennisuk) August 25, 2023

Tear in abdomen justifies decision to skip Cincinnati

It was only after a second precautionary scan in New York that Murray and his team were made aware of a small tear in his abdomen.

“You have to be very careful with that,” Murray explained.

“You can’t protect that when you’re playing matches. You’re having to use that area a lot, especially when you’re serving.

“I had to take six or seven days off from serving and slowly build back up. It has not been perfect in that sense but my ab has been OK.”

Pain-free and no setbacks, but Murray at the mercy of the draw yet again

The result is that the three-time Grand Slam champion is now pain-free and in the required condition physically to be able to tackle five-set matches.

Further to this, Murray has revealed that there have been no unwanted curveballs in his recovery, as protecting the abdominal injury in its early days appears to have paid dividends.

“The last few days have been good – no issues or any setbacks in the practices. So that’s really good.”

The downside is, of course, that Murray was – once again – at the mercy of the draw.

Initially, it appears he has been lucky. Although a testing opponent, Moutet will be the underdog against the Scot in their opening round match on Tuesday.

However, should the former British No 1 get through his first-round encounter, he will likely face the considerable task of Grigor Dimitrov in the next round.