Andy Murray will NOT play US Open singles as he slumps to straight sets defeat to Richard Gasquet during singles comeback at Cincinnati Masters
ANDY MURRAY has ruled out playing US Open singles after his comeback ended in frustration.
On Monday night the Scot was beaten 6-4 6-4 by Frenchman Richard Gasquet in the first round of the Cincinnati Masters – his first singles match in eight months.
After the loss, he revealed he would not attempt to play a best-of-five set match on his own at Flushing Meadows this month.
Instead, he will focus on playing in the men’s doubles and mixed doubles in New York from August 26.
Murray said: “I won’t play the US Open singles. We were hoping to hold a wildcard until closer to the time to see how I might feel and get some matches.
“But they announced them today and didn’t want to wait. I didn’t know how I’d have felt after this match. So, I might play Winston-Salem.
It didn’t feel right to take the wildcard. There was no certainty I would have played regardless. No guarantees. I don’t know who I will play doubles with yet.
“I need time. It won’t come back in one week or tournament. To get back to where I want to will take a lot of time and work.
“Physically my legs were heavy at the end of the match. I didn’t move forward well. When he did a drop shot, I didn’t run for the ball.
“With a few more weeks of matches and practice, I can do better. I have learned a lot. I need to work on a lot on the practice court. Physically I can get better.”
The two-time Wimbledon champion feared his career was over after the Australian Open in January until he had career-saving hip resurfacing surgery.
The now pain-free world No.324 only started full-time training a fortnight ago.
His appearance Stateside did not exactly start well as Murray doubled faulted with his first serve and was then broken in the opening game of the first set.
As the match went on, Murray became increasingly agitated, often berating himself for any missed shots and shouting over to his players’ box.
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He also expressed his unhappiness with some of the umpire’s calls.
Murray was broken in the first game on his serve in the second set and thanks to that break, the Frenchman finally saw out the match in just over an hour-and-a-half.
The 32-year-old will remain in the tournament as he scheduled to play a doubles first round match today (Tuesday) with Spaniard Feliciano Lopez against Romanian Horia Tecau and Dutchman Jean-Julien Rojer.
