Andy Murray explained how he managed to battle through the hot and humid conditions to earn a first-round win over Francisco Cerundolo at the US Open. The 2012 champion needed two hours and 42 minutes to send the 24th seed packing with a 7-5 6-3 6-3 victory and looked to be dealing with the heat well following his recent cramping issues.
A decade on from winning his maiden Grand Slam title in Flushing Meadows, Murray started his 2022 campaign off with a straight-sets win over the No 24 seed to open play on Louis Armstong Stadium on day one of the US Open.
The former world No 1 came into the tournament with some physical issues, having suffered with cramping at his previous tournaments in Cincinnati and Washington, but managed to prevail in the heat of the daytime in New York, though he admitted it was still a struggle. “It felt like five sets to me. It is very, very tricky conditions today. Very humid and hot,” he joked, speaking in his on-court interview.
“Really happy with the way I got through that one. He has had a brilliant year and I knew I had to play well. Even though we started at 11am, the atmosphere was great and I really enjoyed it.” The 35-year-old was also full of praise for himself as he explained how he stayed strong mentally despite the fear of cramping again in the hot weather.
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Speaking to Amazon Prime Video after the match, the world No 51 said: “I thought I did well considering that mentally it’s not easy going into a five set match in those conditions against a guy who makes you move a lot with what’s happened recently and I did really well mentally to get through that. It’s important to give myself a pat on the back with that stuff sometimes because rare that anyone else does.
“I thought I did well with that and at the end when it got tough I just hung in, I returned really well and managed to get through.” Murray was also happy with his tactics during the match, as he explained how he managed to overcome the 24th seed.
“I tried to use my strengths which were the serve at times – maybe not so good at the end but I got quite a few free points on my serve,” he continued. “I used my high forehand down the line well, my backhand cross court and down the line were good. I didn’t let him sort of camp out in the backhand corner and hit too many forehands. When he’s doing that he’s extremely dangerous, at times when he had the chance to do that he made me move a lot but I didn’t let it happen too often.”
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