ANDY Murray believes there is “no time to waste” as he endeavours to ensure the injured hip which dogged him at Wimbledon does not impede his chances of a second US Open win. The World No 1 will sit down with his coaching team today to consider how best to deal with a joint problem which has afflicted him since childhood but has flared up with a vengeance since Roland Garros. While one good hip was “close-ish” to carrying him the defending champion all the way to the last four, by the end of his 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 1-6, 1-6 defeat to Sam Querrey of the USA he was clearly in pain. The Scot said he would consider medical advice before deciding whether his body needed an extended break leading into Flushing Meadows. Roger Federer, the clear favourite for this title after the departures of Murray, Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal, is a good advertisement for that.
“I’ll go home tonight and spend time with my family,” said the World No 1. “Then it is back to work. I’ll sit down with the team and discuss the best plan moving forward. There’s no time to waste there.
“It wasn’t like I was a million miles away from winning the match,” he added. “Obviously the end was a bit of a struggle. But I almost found a way to get into the semis. I was close-ish. I got through five matches.”
While keeping some of the details of the hip issue private, the Scot said it had been a “little bit sore all tournament long”. The next tournament he is currently scheduled to take part in is the Rogers Cup in Montreal in early August. “It depends,” he said. “I’ll get the best advice I can, then stick with that. If it means taking a few weeks’ rest, then so be it. If it means training and doing the right rehab and stuff, then I’ll do that. Before Wimbledon, it’s a very short-term mindset. You’re trying to get yourself in the best shape possible for this tournament, and I did that.
“Obviously as you get older, things are a little bit tougher to manage than they are when you’re younger,” he added. “There’s a bit more wear and tear there. But I’ve managed to deal with it for a very long time. So I’m sure moving forward I’ll be able to get through it. I just need to do all of the right things and be even more diligent and professional than I have been recently. Hopefully I’ll come through the other side of it a better player, a better athlete.”
While the exit of Murray puts pay to hopes of an unprecedented home double in the singles competitions in the Open Era, the Scot said he hoped Jo Konta would go on to fulfil her part of the bargain. Konta faces five-time winner Venus Williams in the semi-final today. “That would have been tough regardless of Jo’s results,” the Scot said. “You know, I hope she goes on to win the tournament. She’s certainly got a fantastic chance. I saw quite a lot of her match yesterday and she played extremely well under a lot of pressure, at the end of that second set especially. If she keeps playing like that, there’s no reason she can’t do it.”
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