Andy Murray’s résumé and reputation have changed drastically over the last year after winning his first major tournament in New York last summer and becoming the first Brit in 77 years to win Wimbledon.
His humility, however, has remained the same.
Though Murray, 26, now has two major tournament titles under his belt, has reached the finals of the past four grand slams and enters next week’s U.S. Open as the tournament’s defending champion, he doesn’t consider himself the favorite.
“You know, [Rafael] Nadal is playing great, he’s won the last couple of tournaments. [Novak] Djokovic, his record on the hard courts has been unbelievable the last few years. And [Roger] Federer has won here five times, so he knows what it takes to win. It’s going to be a tough tournament,” Murray said yesterday in Midtown while promoting the seventh annual BNP Paribas Showdown, set to be held at the Garden on March 3.
As part of the event, Murray will face Djokovic in an exhibition match, and in a brothers doubles match, John and Patrick McEnroe will face Bob and Mike Bryan, twins with a record 15 Grand Slam doubles titles.
Murray has not played as much tennis this summer as in years past, taking several weeks off after winning Wimbledon. Yet he feels he is playing his best tennis at the right time, despite a quarterfinal exit last week in a hardcourt tournament in Cincinnati and a third-round setback the week prior in Montreal.
“I physically feel better every week,” he said. “Going from grass to hardcourts is challenging for your body. It hurts the first or second week. It’s a pretty hard surface. Each day my body feels more and more used to it. By the time the tournament comes, I’ll be ready.”
Murray finally enters a U.S. Open feeling he belongs among the sport’s elite. Winning two major tournament has had that effect.
“It helps, because coming into it last year, I didn’t know if I could win a grand slam or if it was going to happen,” Murray said. “I’d lost quite a few times in the finals and was doubting myself by a lot. To finally get over that hurdle, it obviously helps going into the slams now. I feel more comfortable in the later stages of the tournaments.“I know I can beat the top players over five sets, which hadn’t really been the case until a few years ago.”