US Open 2016: Andy Murray admits rise of young British stars is making him push even further in quest for tennis glory
The likes of Dan Evans and Kyle Edmund have seen Wimbledon champ hit the gym in bid to remain top dog
ANDY MURRAY says Britain’s new men’s tennis stars are making HIM better — not the other way round.
Two-time Wimbledon and Olympic champ Muzza has been credited with inspiring a generation of players.
Dan Evans and particularly Kyle Edmund have benefited from spending time with the British No 1 at his training base in Miami and elsewhere.
But Murray said: “When we do training blocks together, I train better probably with them than I do with others. I feel when I practice or train with them, I have a responsibility to work hard and push myself.
“I want to beat them. If it’s on the bike or the Versaclimber, I really want to push myself and beat them. I really want to work hard and show, ‘This is what you have to do’.
“Maybe if it was someone from another country, I wouldn’t feel like that. I train better probably with them than I do with others, I think.”
Do they ever win? Murray smiled: “Yeah, occasionally. I believe I’ve lost a practice set. Physical stuff, no, not yet. But I’d imagine that soon — as I’m getting older and they’re getting stronger — that will start to happen, unfortunately. But not yet.”
Murray, 29, is also quick to praise the way Edmund, 21, and Evans, 26, soak up the knowledge he can pass on.
The Scot said: “They would see the work that I’m doing, learning that maybe at an earlier stage than they would have done otherwise. But it’s one thing saying, ‘Oh, I did a training block with Andy, watched him train and he works really hard’. They still need to do the work themselves.
“There’s probably 30 or 40 weeks of the year when I’m not around Dan and Kyle. It’s down to them and their teams. They have very good coaches as well, who work them hard.”
But just as British tennis is on the up and up, so is Murray’s opponent in the fourth round of the US Open today.
Grigor Dimitrov is finding form again after linking up in July with Murray’s close friend and former assistant coach Dani Vallverdu.
When Vallverdu split with Murray and started working with Tomas Berdych, it caused tension which spilled over in wife Kim Murray’s X-rated outburst during the 2015 Australian Open semi-final.
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But Murray said: “The first time when I played Berdych after me and Dani stopped working together, it was awkward for sure. There was a lot of different emotions going on in that match. I played Berdych a few times after that and had no issues dealing with it.
“Dani and I go out for dinner. We went out for lunch the first day we got here. We flew together here from Cincinnati. I don’t talk to him about my tennis but I didn’t used to talk to him about my tennis before he started coaching me either.”
Bulgarian Dimitrov — who reached No 8 in the world two years ago — and Murray know each other well enough, anyway.
Murray said: “He's obviously not played his best the last 18 months or so but definitely the last few weeks has been playing very well, getting back to a level that he’s capable of playing at. I expect it to be very hard.”