USO: Day 3 Results: Murray, Querrey, and Isner Move on; Berdych Upset

US Open—New York

First-Round Results:

No. 4 seed Andy Murray d. Lukas Lacko 6-3, 6-2, 6-2; Michael Llodra d. No. 7 seed Tomas Berdych 7-6(3), 6-4, 6-4;  No. 12 seed Mikhail Youzhny d. Andrey Golubev 6-2, 6-3, 6-3; No. 14 seed Nicolas Almagro d. Potito Starace 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 7-6(5); Ryan Harrison d. No. 15 seed Ivan Ljubicic 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-4; No. 18 seed John Isner d. Frederico Gil 6-4, 6-3, 6-4; No. 20 seed Sam Querrey d. Bradley Klahn 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4; No. 25 seed Stanislas Wawrinka d. Mikhail Kukushkin 6-3, 6-2, 6-2; No. 29 seed Philipp Kohlschreiber d. Tobias Kamke 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4; Juan Ignacio Chela d. Yen-Hsun Lu 6-4, 4-6 6-3, 6-3; Sergiy Stakhovsky d. Peter Luczak 6-7(8), 7-5, 6-4, 6-2; Dudi Sela d. Xavier Malisse 7-6(1), 7-5, 6-2; Dustin Brown d. Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo 6-4, 7-6(6), 7-5; Marcel Granollers d. Andreas Seppi 2-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3; Guillermo Garcia-Lopez d. Lukasz Kubot 6-3, 6-2, 7-6(4); Gilles Simon d. Donald Young 6-1, 6-4, 6-2; Marco Chiudinelli d. Jack Sock 6-1, 6-4, 1-6, 6-1; Victor Hanescu d. Carlos Berlocq 6-2, 6-4, 6-3.

Second Round Results:

No. 17 seed Gael Monfils d. Igor Andreev 6-3, 6-4, 6-3.

Matches that are still to come on Wednesday will feature Andy Roddick vs. Janko Tipsarevic.

USO: Andy Murray First-Round Press Conference

Q. Is it very nice to finally be allowed to start this tournament Wednesday?

ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, it is different to the other slams. I mean, I guess it’s always been that way. I don’t really know whether I like it or not. But, yeah, it was good to get off quickly.

Q. Because it obviously means you have a play — to win this title — seven in 12 days. Is that fair?

ANDY MURRAY: Well, it’s a lot easier to play seven matches in fourteen days. Anyone would tell you that. It’s just different here with the Saturday, Sunday, semi and final is always tricky for all of the players. It’s always been that way, so not a problem.

Q. How do you feel to have your first round match under your belt?

ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, it was good. It wasn’t necessarily the best tennis, but tricky conditions out there. It was very windy on the court. It was a guy I’ve never played against on the tour. I haven’t really seen much of him play, so took a little time to get used to his game. But I did enough to win in straight sets, and that was the most important thing.

Q. Is it just about sort of getting off the court as quickly as possible when it’s that hot out there?

ANDY MURRAY: Well, I mean, you would you’d rather win as quickly as possible in any condition, whether it’s cold or hot, in the slams. But the only important thing is to win the match. If it’s in five sets it’s not ideal, but just want to try to win.

Q. People have been falling over, and Ljubicic has been complaining about how difficult it is. Obviously Cincy a couple weeks it was hotter than this.

ANDY MURRAY: Ah, similar.

Q. Is this tougher here than Australia because it’s more humid?

ANDY MURRAY: Honestly, I don’t find it that bad on center today. It was hot, but the wind — it does get a lot breezier on that court than the outside courts. When I warmed up for my match this morning it felt hotter than when I was out there. And, yeah, it’s difficult conditions definitely, but I don’t know. I don’t know. Australia is Australia’s very tough as well when you play right in the middle of the day in Australia. I’ve played quite a few matches on the center court there. That’s really brutal. There’s not a whole lot of breeze there normally either, so I don’t know what I prefer.

Q. This is the benefit of the hard Miami training coming out here. Can you just talk us through what precautions and preliminaries you do to deal with it? Obviously you take in a lot of fluids.

ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, the night before, as well, try and drink a lot, eat as much good stuff as you can. And then I use an ice towel pretty much from the first changeover. I wore a hat today. I’ve hardly worn a hat for the last four or five years. And, yeah, they’re the only things you can do. I put a lot of sunblock on and train hard. That’s probably the biggest thing you can do to help yourself.

Q. Does that become an issue? Because if you put a lot of that stuff on, you sweat and then you become a bit of a mess.

ANDY MURRAY: A mess?

Q. Well, the sweat coming through the sunblock. My experiences on holiday.

ANDY MURRAY: If you put it on quite I put it on like 45, 50 minutes before I go out there. If you put it on right beforehand, it’s not great. Gets in your eyes and stuff. But I use the sweat bands too, so that normally stops it from coming down into my hand.

Q. What do you know of Dustin Brown? Have you seen much of him?

ANDY MURRAY: Not really. But, I mean, I’ve heard about him. He’s got a big game, serves and volleys a lot, and, yeah, is very different to a lot of players on the tour. He’s a good athlete. I haven’t seen him play, so another unknown opponent, really.

Q. How would you describe what this hardcourt season did for your level of confidence entering this tournament?

ANDY MURRAY: Well, it obviously helped in terms of you know, match fitness was key because of the tough conditions. That’s important to have, you know, played matches in it. But, yeah, I hadn’t been that consistent. Well, I played badly after Australia, and then Wimbledon was really gave me the confidence again. I wanted to do well there. You know, then I came over and practiced hard, and obviously I’ve had a good run in the tournaments, which definitely helps.

Q. Would you say that your level of confidence, because of what occurred in this hardcourt season, is the highest it’s ever been?

ANDY MURRAY: I don’t know. I feel good, but I felt confident quite a few times in my career. You know, Toronto was a big boost for me to win against Roger and Rafa. But, you know, I don’t know. I feel good. That’s it.

Q. So basically you say you feel good, feel confident. Are you saying you’re confident enough this tournament will give you a win? Give us an insight on how you perceive the tournament. You have Rafa and you have Federer. You say you feel confident. Do you think you feel confident enough that the game can take you over the top?

ANDY MURRAY: Well, it can, yeah, but I need to play my best, and am not really thinking that much about Roger and Rafa right now because I’m only in the second round. That’s disrespectful to all the other guys that you might have to play on the road to get there to think about playing against them. For me, I love playing against those guys. But a lot of tennis, you’ve seen someone like Berdych who has been great in the Grand Slams this year lost in straight sets today; Soderling nearly went out the other day; Djokovic nearly went out. It’s so pointless thinking ahead. I say it every Grand Slam. That’s how I feel.

Q. Does that mean you’re very impressed by the level of talent you see here so far?

ANDY MURRAY: I’m not impressed. I’ve been around it for the last three, four years. That’s what the tour is now. You have to be switched on from the beginning of every tournament. All of the players play very, very well. And, you know, on any given day, if they play great tennis and you’re not up to, you know, up to your best standard, then you can lose matches early in tournaments. It’s happened to me before. I don’t want it to happen to me again.

Q. To have beaten Rafa and Roger in the same tournament, does that have any special significance to you, to beat them in the same tournament?

ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, it was nice. Any time you beat those guys is good. But, look, beating Roger in a final for the first time was nice. You know, it’s the easiest scoreline I’ve had against Rafa in a match, so I feel like I’m playing well. But, you know, I need to try and keep that level up if I want to win the tournament.

Q. In terms of the speed of the court and the balls, how does this compare with Toronto and Cincinnati?

ANDY MURRAY: This is way, way quicker than Toronto, and it’s a bit different than Cincinnati. I just feel like it’s really difficult to control the ball in Cincinnati. But here I don’t think it’s as tough to control the ball, but it’s really, really fast out there. The balls get really small and fly, so they almost get they almost get quicker the more you play with them; whereas normally it would work the other way around.

Q. Do you prefer that?

ANDY MURRAY: I don’t mind it. It’s just different. It’s just something to get used to.

Q. Going back to Dustin Brown, when you don’t know too much about a player, how much do you try to find out, or do you just rely on getting out there and working it out for yourself?

ANDY MURRAY: Try and find out as much as possible. You know, you’ve got to try and get your tactics somewhat right. You do need to concentrate on your own game, as well. But it is important to know about your opponent and try and find out, you know, even if it’s just little bits and pieces about them that might have helped you in the match.

Q. Did you have a chance to see Roger’s shot between his legs the other night for a winner?

ANDY MURRAY: Yeah.

Q. What were your thoughts about that and how he’s able to come up with these shots?

ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I saw it. I thought the one against Djokovic last year was better. But, no, they’re difficult shots. They’re very difficult shots to time. And if you time them well, it’s very difficult for the opponent to reach them if you get, you know, reasonable direction, because you don’t see it very often. So to judge your split step, like if you see Dabul the other night when he hit it, he hit a really clean, great shot. But Dabul was charging the other direction. He had no idea when Roger was going to make contact with the ball. So it is very difficult if someone hits a clean one to get your movement right.

Q. Why do you think the one against Djokovic was better?

ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, because Novak was at the net. It was a bit harder. Dabul was out of position when he hit the lob. They were both great shots.

Q. Is that something that you work on at all?

ANDY MURRAY: Um, I occasionally hit it. If it happens in practice you just always try you know, if you’re in a situation in a match, you always try and get back and put up a lob, you know, if you can.So you don’t hit them that much. No, I practice them sometimes messing around in practice a little bit.

Q. How do you do?

ANDY MURRAY: Ah, yeah, not bad. Not bad.

Q. Would you try it in a match?

ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, for me, a lot of it depends on the scoreline and if purely — if you can’t get there anyway, then I would try it. My opponent today tried a sort of a similar shot, you know, not through the legs but, you know, similar shot. So if you are, you know, in a really tough position, then I’d go for it. If not, always try and stick up a lob.

Q. Novak said he’d be more concerned about damaging himself with a racquet. You wouldn’t worry, too?

ANDY MURRAY: You’ve got to be careful, yeah. (Laughter.) I have never had any problems when I tried it.

Q. This year in Russia we are celebrating 10 successful years in tennis. Just want to know what do you think about Russian tennis in whole and about the last ten years of Russian participants in particular.

ANDY MURRAY: Well, yeah, they’re definitely one of the strongest nations. On the women’s side what they’ve done has been pretty incredible. The results on the women’s side have been great. And then on the men’s they’ve always had, you know, a lot of top guys: Kafelnikov and Safin and you know, guys like Youzhny. They’ve obviously won Davis Cup, as well. They’re one of the toughest teams to play in Davis Cup. They’ve done very well.

Q. Talking about Davis Cup, are you intrigued that the next opponent would consider playing with Great Britain?

ANDY MURRAY: I don’t know. I don’t mind if it’s yeah, I don’t mind. If it makes the team better, I guess that’s a good thing. But you never know. I don’t know how English or British he feels, and I think that, for me, is something that’s quite important when you’re playing for your country.

Q. Do you think we might see more serve and volley in the evolution of the game in the near future?

ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I think so. You know, the players are definitely getting bigger, so I think that, yeah, with that you’ll get probably more — I don’t think it’s ever going to dominate the game again like it used to, but I think you’ll start to see more in the next five, ten years, yeah.

USO Blog: Morphing to the Moment

US Open—New York

Could we be seeing a different Andy Murray at this year’s US Open? A Murray, who takes charge and doesn’t wait for the ball to come to him, rather, a player that wants to win his first Major, and is willing to go after the title the same way Juan Martin del Potro did last year?

There’s no denying that Murray will never be able to clock his groundstrokes with the same lighting speed as Delpo, but he certainly does have room to take the ball earlier, and not solely rely on his defense and court speed.

During today’s match against Lukas Lacko in Ashe Stadium, Murray was adamant on taking it to his opponent, while conserving his energy in the scorching heat.

Defeating both Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer to take the Toronto title last month, Murray was proficient in mixing up his game when he needed to, while stepping up and blasting a first serve or a backhand when required.

I’ve always felt that Murray had enough power to spare, but his stubborn demeanor and mindset prevented him from achieving his potential. Slicing a backhand when he could have hammered the ball across his body, Murray would venture off deep behind the baseline, and provide his opponent’s with short shots. Brad Gilbert once suggested that Murray’s mentally was centered around playing every player in a different way, and his game style would be dependent on what his opponent would bring to the table. Depending on how you look at that philosophy (it can obviously be both beneficial and detrimental), Murray has more often that not opted to choose a passive approach to victory, while drowning in his unproductive court positioning.

However, based on what we’ve seen from Murray as of late, a smarter (could that even be possible?) Murray has sprung up during the summer season. Perhaps it’s the Scot’s lack of a coach at the moment; no coach usually allows players to rely solely on their own thoughts instead of falling victim to strategies that they wouldn’t want to employ. Again, I’m not suggesting that I’m against on-court coaching, or coaches in general—because I’m actually a big advocate of what a good coach can bring forth—but a little independence can certainly allow for some beneficial results.

Playing a shot-maker in Lacko today, Murray made sure that his strategy was built around the oppressive heat. He wasn’t interested in drawn out rallies, and decided to pull the trigger on his groundstrokes earlier than he usually would. Although Murray’s shot selection against Lacko was based more around conserving energy, his 37 winners and eight aces showcased his ability to hit through the court and stay in total control.

Lacko, who had drawn comparisons to Roger Federer because of his easy flowing strokes, managed to win only 65 points during the straight set white wash. Neutralizing his Slovak opponent to only 26 percent of his second serve points won, Murray managed to use his greatest weapon—his return—to get off the court in one hour and 51 minutes.

Morphing his game to the moment, Murray confessed that his Wednesday start could get him in trouble as the tournament progressed.

“Well, it’s a lot easier to play seven matches in fourteen days,” said Murray. Anyone would tell you that. It’s just different here with the Saturday, Sunday, semi and final is always tricky for all of the players.”

Taking into account Murray’s condensed tournament, he would surely benefit from continuing his aggressive play well into the second week, and remain in prime position for potential matches against Federer or Nadal.

But, as Murray suggested, he’s not looking that far into the future.

“[I'm] not really thinking that much about Roger and Rafa right now because I’m only in the second round,” admitted Murray. That’s disrespectful to all the other guys that you might have to play on the road to get there to think about playing against them. For me, I love playing against those guys. But a lot of tennis, you’ve seen someone like Berdych who has been great in the Grand Slams this year lost in straight sets today; Soderling nearly went out the other day; Djokovic nearly went out. It’s so pointless thinking ahead. I say it every Grand Slam. That’s how I feel.”

Respect is one thing, but here’s hoping that Murray continues to lace his groundstrokes, and not rely on the game to come to him.

Photos: Adidas Barricade 10th Anniversary Party

What would the US Open be without its monsoon of pre-tournament player and sponsor parties?

With Adidas celebrating the 10th anniversary of their flagship Barricade shoe, the sporting giant hosted a party at the their Soho New York location with Andy Murray, Justine Henin, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and Ana Ivanovic.

Taking questions, and posing for numerous photos, the players and fans had a great evening.

Pictures courtesy of GEM Tennis.

Movers and Shakers: Federer Finding his Form; Nadal Finding it Difficult

With another exquisite week of Masters action in the books, let’s now spare a few thoughts on those players who excelled last week in Cincinnati, and a few words for the not-so-successful.

Roger Federer: Is Federer back? Well, the all-time Slam champion proved that with a little bit of luck, and some fined-tuned all-court play, that he still had the goods to capture a Masters title. Leapfrogging into the quarterfinals after his early round opponents either couldn’t take to the court or retired with injury, Federer was fresh for the weekend’s action.

Dismantling Nikolay Davydenko and Marcos Baghdatis, Federer stepped up his court movement and backhand from his trip to Toronto. Dropping the hammer on his serve when he was in trouble, Federer will enter the US Open with the renewed confidence that his year will include a second Major title.

His Australian Open victory does seem like a long time ago, but a potential seventh straight final in New York could become a vivid memory for months to come.

Mardy Fish: The veteran American kept his chin up and socks low for another spectacular showing this summer. Defeating a cast of the who’s who on the ATP World Tour, Fish solidified himself as a conversation player heading into the Open. Continuing to improve on his forehand wing, Fish pounded his serve and backhand on countless occasions, and almost had enough to oust Federer in the final.

With a good draw and continued belief heading into New York, Fish could find himself fighting for the grand prize on the final weekend.

Marcos Baghdatis: The shot-making Cypriot added to his wonderful form in Washington by upsetting Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals, while pulling in his best performance of the season. Baghdatis’ second serve was questionable—the reason that he hasn’t won a Slam to date—but he did prove that his first serve was almost unreturnable.

Proving that his early ball-striking can rival anyone in the sport, Baghdatis might be pushing his luck by playing in New Haven this week, but he’ll still be a legitimate dark horse at Flushing Meadows.

Andy Roddick: Blowing the lead of leads against Fish in semifinals, Roddick will leave Cincinnati with many positives to draw off. His competitiveness appeared to back on track (that seemed to be an issue during his loss to Gilles Simon in Washington), and his on-court energy lasted through the heat and humidity of Ohio.

Roddick’s ground game was a little passive for my liking throughout Cincy, but his serve was razor sharp for the most part. Competing under best of five set matches will be a totally different story, and Roddick’s energy level will be tested from the get go. I don’t think Roddick will win in New York this year, but he could make a few night matches memorable.

One final note on Roddick: He jumped back into the top 10 this week.

Rafael Nadal: A frazzled Mallorcan (not a description that usually goes hand-in-hand with the world’s top ranked player) was evident throughout the event. Nadal never looked comfortable in Mason, and his practice time heading into New York will have to be increased if he’s to bag the final link in his Major collection.

The trouble for Nadal heading into the US Open could be that he’s completely healthy. I know that may sound strange, but it’s a scenario that he’s not accustomed to feeling. Having his knees in working order, Nadal seemed to be overthinking his shots for the second straight week, and that could hurt him at the year’s final Slam.

His backhand was hit into the net; his forehand was either struck long or too short, and although his serve improved from Toronto, it appeared slow compared to his competition.

I’ll provide more thoughts on Nadal in the coming days, but the Spaniard’s chances at the Open are definitely not the best.

Some final thoughts on Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic.

Murray was grumpy when he was losing, but I wouldn’t take his loss to Fish as an alarming concern. Murray has logged a lot of court time this summer, and his game will be ready to go come New York. The heat could be a factor for him, and if he can fight the urge and not resort to playing predominate defense, he remains a top three favorite for the event.

Djokovic remains a question mark from many standpoints. He didn’t play poorly in either Toronto or Cincinnati, but he did suffer from the heat at both tournaments, and his serve and forehand continued to misfire. The Serb’s inability to find the court or his fitness heading into New York can’t be good for his confidence, and although I don’t think he’ll crash out early, I can’t in good faith pencil him in as a top tier favorite.

Enjoy New Haven this week, and I’ll be back with some US Open thoughts in a few days.

Nima

Cincinnati Masters: Day 5 Photo Gallery

Pictures from day five action at the Cincinnati Masters are once again brought to you by GEM Tennis. Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, and Andy Roddick highlight the day in photos.

Enjoy.

Cincinnati Masters: Fish Sinks Murray; Roddick Rolls Djokovic

Western & Southern Financial Group Masters—Cincinnati, Ohio

Mardy Fish and Andy Roddick set up a rematch of their 2003 final in Cincinnati on Friday by defeating Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic, respectively.

Fish, who had defeated Murray on two previous occasions earlier this year, rebounded nicely after losing the first set. Taking advantage of the weary Scot, Fish blasted his first serve in relentless fashion, while attacking Murray’s short forehand with his backhand cross-court. Displaying improved court coverage throughout the past year, Fish’s net play was also a critical factor in his 6-7 (7), 6-1, 7-6 (5) victory over Murray.

Entering the tournament ranked No. 36 in the world, Fish will now be seeded heading into the US Open. The 28-year-old, who improved to 4-3 against Murray in lifetime meetings, admitted that his third straight win over the world No. 4 could have gone either way.

“I mean, I won two tiebreakers for the third [one],” said Fish. I’m not sure why. I mean, I clearly feel like I’m playing a lot better than I had in the previous matches that I played against him. I’ve had a lot of trouble with him. He returns so well and moves so well that, you know, he gives players ? aggressive players like me ? a lot of trouble.

“I mean, it’s a great win for anyone. Clearly he’s playing some great tennis that he showed last week and this week. Yeah, it’s a great win.”

Facing Roddick for the 12th time on Saturday, Fish will take a 9-2 head-to-head series deficit against his higher ranked countryman.

Surviving a barn-burner match against Robin Soderling on Thursday evening, Roddick went right back to work on Friday afternoon to defeat his Serbian opponent 6-4, 7-5. Capitalizing on his missile first serve during the first set, Roddick broke Djokovic to lead 4-3 before serving for a one set lead two games later.

Continuing his clean-cut performance in the second set, Roddick broke Djokovic at 2-2 before having an opportunity to serve out the match at 5-4. However, displaying the nerves that came with struggling on Tour since the spring, Roddick double faulted the game way and tied the set at 5-all.

Djokovic, who appeared slightly lethargic because of the hot conditions, couldn’t sustain his momentum and was once again broken to trial 6-5. Roddick wouldn’t fumble on his second chance to serve for the semifinals, and reached the final four after a Djokovic unforced error.

Improving to 5-2 against Djokovic lifetime, Roddick reached his first semifinal of the season since losing to Fish in the final four in Atlanta. Coming in as one of the in form players on the circuit, Fish will be adamant on avenging his 2003 finals loss to Roddick where he held a match point before losing.

The day’s remaining two quarterfinals will feature Roger Federer vs. Nikolay Davydenko, and Rafael Nadal vs. Marcos Baghdatis.

Cincinnati Masters: Andy Murray Quarterfinal Press Conference

Q. Can you talk about how you felt and the conditions.
ANDY MURRAY: Just tired. It’s nothing more than that really.

Q. How long will it take you to recover from this physically?
ANDY MURRAY: Few days probably. Not too long, I wouldn’t have thought.

Q. Going through there, you’re trying to obviously manage your time or your energy in the third set tiebreak. You were trying to push and make a run there. Was it 5-All where you missed, almost barely missed the pass on the forehand side? Do you remember that point?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah.

Q. Okay. What are you trying to get through there at that moment?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, I mean, there’s like five minutes left, so you just try and finish the match as strong as you can. But still, you know, even in the third set I wasn’t really using my legs at all on my serve. It was all arm.
Every time there was a long point, I felt tired for two or three points afterwards. When you get to the end of the match, you just try and finish as best you can.

Q. Do you feel like you’ve had enough matches? Even though you didn’t win the tournament…

ANDY MURRAY: I’ve had more than enough matches before the US Open, I think. It’s more than enough, yeah.

Q. Did you get a sense of Fish’s level, his improvements?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, he’s a good player obviously. But, you know, I can only talk for myself. And the fact that I nearly won the match today I think was a very good effort considering the circumstances.

Q. Was there a point where you were thinking about whether you could continue on?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, you always try and finish matches. I think I’ve pulled out of maybe one match, two matches out of over 300 or something on the tour.
But, yeah, it does cross your mind a little bit when you’re kind of struggling like that. But, you know, the doctor and the physio, did a good job with the ice and cooling me down a little bit.

Q. What do you tell yourself when you’re approaching that physical wall to fight through it, the fatigue?
ANDY MURRAY: You know, I put in a lot work off the court. I’ve worked as hard as I can to get in really good shape.
You know, I don’t think — you know, most of the guys, if they were in my position, would have been feeling exactly the same way, if not worse. I just tried to fight as much as I could, and nearly won.

Q. You were saying yesterday that you wanted, if possible, as late as possible. You were out there again early. Were you disappointed with the scheduling?
ANDY MURRAY: Um, I think you guys can decide that. If you ask for a late match and you’re put on first, that’s not – that’s pretty – I don’t ever request really when to play. I don’t make many demands at all during the tournaments.
I just thought yesterday was a pretty fair one.

Q. Have you ever made requests like that here in the past?
ANDY MURRAY: Never. No.

Q. Did the organizers give you any explanation?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, they said that because Fish had to play doubles, they wanted us to play early. But I’m not sure the way the tennis works — I don’t think matches should be scheduled around the doubles, because it’s the singles that’s on the TV.
I was more than happy to play on the Grandstand Court. Wasn’t really a problem.

Q. And you had that discussion with them?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah. I spoke to them straight after the match yesterday, yeah.

Q. In hindsight, has it been a useful week for you, are you a bit more tired?
ANDY MURRAY: Physically it will have been very good for me before the US Open. I’m gonna be fresh when I get there, but I’ve played three long matches, two to 7-6 in the third, and another three?setter in the first round was definitely beneficial.
I just would have liked to have been given a better opportunity to recover.

Q. Going forward it’s pretty difficult obviously. You won last week and this is another 1000. Would you like to see a week in between spacing these two out?
ANDY MURRAY: No. I’m happy for them to be back?to?back. Just a little bit more common sense with the schedule, I think.

Q. Where will you spend the next week?
ANDY MURRAY: I’ll go to New York. I have a few sponsor things to do there. Then, yeah, I’ll just – I might spend a little bit of time outside of the city, because it gets pretty busy there.
Can be a long few weeks. I’ll go to New York tomorrow probably.

FastScripts by ASAP Sports

Cincinnati Masters: Order of Play for August 20, 2010

Friday’s order of play at the Cincinnati Masters will highlight quarterfinal action. The top four seeds will all take to the court, led by Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, and Andy Murray. Mardy Fish and Marcos Baghdatis will also be in action.

For Friday’s order of play from Cincinnati, click the link below.

Order of play for Friday August 20, 2010.

Cincinnati Masters: Nadal, Djokovic and Murray Struggle to Reach Quarterfinals; Federer Advances on Walkover

Western & Southern Financial Group Masters—Cincinnati, Ohio

Fighting through the difficult daytime conditions in Mason, Ohio, No. 1 seed Rafael Nadal, No. 2 seed Novak Djokovic, and No. 3 seed Andy Murray all reached the quarterfinals of the Cincinnati Masters on Thursday.

Nadal, who has never won the Cincinnati event in six previous appearances, saved a match point in the second set tiebreak before defeating Julien Benneteau 5-7, 7-6 (6), 6-2.

Attempting to combat the flat-hit backhand of his French opponent, Nadal was forced to come out of his comfort zone and increase the velocity of his return of serve.

Benneteau, who captured a convincing one set lead on his first set point, continued to crash the net at any opportunity while avoiding long baseline exchanges against the Spaniard.

However, with the loss of the second set, and his match point, Benneteau began to encounter cramping in his left quad muscle to begin the third set. Unable to move with the same amount effectiveness as he did to start the contest, Benneteau dropped his serve in the first game of the final set, while only winning two games for the remainder of the match.

Advancing to the quarterfinals for the third straight year, Nadal will next face Marcos Baghdatis, who defeated No. 7 seed Tomas Berdych 7-5, 6-4.

Djokovic, who has historically struggled in hot conditions, blazed through the first set before needing a tough second set tiebreak to dismiss David Nalbandian 6-1, 7-6 (7).

Leading Nalbandian 3-1 in previous matches, Djokovic lit up the stat sheet in the first set by crushing his forehand cross-court, and winning 73 percent of his first serve points.

By contrast, Nalbandian won a shocking 25 percent of his first serve points during the first set, but rebounded nicely to force a competitive second set. Continuing to struggle on his serve, Nalbandian began to rely on his court craft and angled backhand to challenge his Serbian opponent. Succumbing to his greatest Achilles on the day, Nalbandian threw in his fifth double fault of the afternoon on match point.

The win for Djokovic was particularly satisfying considering his difficulties with daytime conditions. Defeating a quality and inform opponent such as Nalbandian will only do wonders for the former Australian Open champ’s confidence.

Djokovic discussed the challenges of playing his Argentine opponent.

“He’s definitely playing really well,” said Djokovic. He’s back on a great level. He’s playing Davis Cup extremely well for his country, winning some important matches, and playing great on hardcourts last couple of weeks.”

Defending his title in Toronto last week, Murray all but handed over his match to Ernests Gulbis, but the Latvian couldn’t close the door on the fatigued Scot.

Leading by a set, Gulbis lost his momentum to begin set two, and donated 23 unforced errors throughout the final set.

Using his consistent game-style to outlast his mentally unstable opponent, Murray reached the quarterfinals or better in Cincinnati for the third straight year.

Defending his fatigue on the day, Murray talked about his grueling summer of hard-court action.

“In terms of physical conditioning, I don’t think that’s the problem,” said Murray. I think the conditions are tough here. I mean, I played seven matches in nine days, every one of them between 12:00 and 3:00, you know, which is obviously when it’s at its warmest.

“I think everybody would be feeling like that in my position. Obviously I played a couple of long ones; this one was especially long. I’m hoping I’ll get to play a later match tomorrow.”

Murray will next face Mardy Fish, who continued his resurgence on Tour by defeating Richard Gasquet 7-5, 6-2.

Murray discussed the challenges of facing Fish in the quarterfinals.

“I need to play well,” said Murray. You know, last couple of times I played him I was struggling pretty badly and not playing particularly well.

“The couple of times before that when I played him I played very well. Quite like the matchup. I’ve played well against him. So if I play like I have been the last couple of weeks, um, you know, and play a smart match, I’ll give myself a good chance of winning.”

Defending champ Roger Federer advanced to the quarterfinals after his opponent Philipp Kohlschreiber withdrew earlier in the day with a right shoulder injury.

Receiving a first-round bye, Federer recorded a second-round retirement victory over Denis Istomin, before learning about his walkover against Kohlschreiber.

Federer has played 37-minutes in reaching the quarterfinals this week.

Tonight’s featured match will pit Andy Roddick vs. Robin Soderling.

Next Page »