Federer, 34, who won five consecutive U.S. Open titles from 2004 but has not been back to the finals since 2009, holds Mayer in high regard.
Advertisement
Caroline Wozniacki, of Denmark, blows kisses to the crowd after… That’s a good thing, because NK would be gone for a while after just his antics from the first 30 minutes of the match. “Having Lleyton [Hewitt] on court has helped me a lot”, he told reporters in the players’ garden.
He won his first major at Flushing Meadows in 2012, after landing Olympic gold in London that summer, and followed it up with the Wimbledon title in 2013.
Taking on little-known Aleksandr Nedovyesov, from Kazakhstan, a win could see Hewitt meet fellow Aussie Bernard Tomic in the second round, provided the No. 24 seed wins his match against world No. 94 Damir Dzumhur. But the match was moving well into its third hour by now, and Murray looked the fitter of the two as he closed out a 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 victory.
“After a tough year for me, I feel that today I’m closer than ever to be at the level of tennis I have been at in the past”, Nadal said.
“For me, it’s a tennis match and I go about the match the best way possible by getting all the tactics and everything sorted, tailoring my practice around his game style”, said the Scot. “You don’t pay attention to the other stuff”. “We talked on Twitter, he is a great guy” said Nick about Murray. But I’d say that’s something, the times when I played against him, I’ve done a pretty good job of just concentrating on my side.
Unlike any of his main rivals, Murray was competing in the Davis Cup a week after Wimbledon, meaning that he had played for three months with barely a break since the start of the clay-court season.
After their most recent meeting in the French Open third round, which saw Kyrgios defeated in straight sets, Murray took to social media to apologise for his colourful language, which had caused some viewers to complain after being picked up by television microphones. “I just didn’t come away with the win”, Kyrgios said.
There were the usual grumbles to the umpire, as Kyrgios moaned at one changeover: “What the hell are they doing letting people in in the middle of the game?” – but in the points Murray remained in charge. “And I think it’s wrong, a lot of the things that he’s done, but I also think that he’s still a young guy”.
Usually reserved and very protective of his private life, Murray opened up to the New York Times yesterday and revealed the secret of a happy marriage: don’t spend too much time together.
JUDY MURRAY reckons her boy has been playing the best tennis of his career since he tied the knot and announced that he will become a dad.
World No 3 Murray showed his class with strategic play throughout the opening two sets, despite glimmers from the turbulent Kyrgios.
Advertisement
“I hope he learns from these bonehead moves. He and his people will find the best way to make it”, Murray said. He also reached the quarterfinals of this year’s Australian Open, where he lost to Murray.
