FLUSHING MEADOWS, N.Y. — Another year, another series of disappointments for Andy Murray, who started the Slam season by reaching the Aussie Open final, where he fell to Roger Federer. The Scot then lost to claymeister Rafael Nadal at the French Open, and fell to power player Tomas Berdych at Wimbledon. Right after Rafa and Federer, the No. 4 ranked Scot was a trendy pick to claim the U.S. Open. After all, Murray historically has said that the Open would be the first Slam he would claim, and he did reach the Flushing final in ’08.
So his loss to that other Swiss, the No. 25 seed Stanislas Warinka came somewhere between a big surprise and a total shock. While fighting himself and struggling against minor injuries in the third and fourth sets of his 6-7(3), 7-6(4), 6-3, 6-3 loss to the Swiss veteran, Murray was disappointed, but less then sullen in his post-match presser:
Q: Did fatigue play a part at all today?
ANDY MURRAY: Could have been. I don’t know. I haven’t been really tired in any long matches for a long, long time.So whether it was fatigue or not, I don’t know.
Q: There were various incidents, including the one in the first set in the tiebreak?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, the ball hit the net, and, yeah, he celebrated. I asked the umpire whether or not you’re allowed to call out in the middle of the point, and he said yeah.
Q: What do you think you have to do to get through in a major?
ANDY MURRAY: I don’t know…I don’t have the secret answer to that. I think you need to play your best tennis during the tournament, and that’s it. That’s the only way to win one. There’s a lot of tough players out there.
Q: John McEnroe said at one point, Andy is fighting himself as much as Wawrinka.
ANDY MURRAY: Maybe in the third and fourth sets. I was disappointed that I was struggling physically. I tried to find a way to come back…I was disappointed that, you know, I’ve not been really in that position for a long time.
Q: There was not sign of a performance like this coming today really.
ANDY MURRAY: I didn’t think it was a terrible performance today…Very different playing against a guy like in my second round than playing a guy like Wawrinka.
Q: The mounting frustration that came to you in that match, including punching the strings, do you find yourself impossible to get out of that frustration? Does it overwhelm you?
ANDY MURRAY: I don’t think that is the reason why I lost…It hasn’t been the reason I’ve lost any matches in a very, very long time since I was 21.
Q: I’m talking about a huge amount of frustration in you.
ANDY MURRAY: In the third and fourth sets I said, yeah, I was struggling physically and I got frustrated with…maybe I felt like my chance of doing well here was slipping away. I’ve worked very hard to give myself a chance of winning tournaments…when I was struggling physically, I got disappointed.It happens to everyone in life at different points.
Q: This is the last major of the year. How would you assess your season?
ANDY MURRAY: I played great tennis in Australia. I played very well in Wimbledon…the Masters Series this summer went very well. I was poor from the Australian Open till about the French/Wimbledon time. But I’ve had two very good majors and two where I haven’t been so good. But I’ve lost to Roger, who’s probably the best ever. I lost to Rafa, who I think will be the second best, if not the best, ever. You know, Berdych, who played great tennis this year. And, you know, today was a match I probably should have won. The one in the majors that I lost that I probably should have won. So I’m disappointed.
Q: Does it put any doubt in your mind about the future, about cracking it, getting the big one in the bag?
ANDY MURRAY: I have no idea of whether I’ll win a Grand Slam or not. You know, I want to. But if I never win one, then what? If I give a hundred percent, try my best…then that’s all I can do, you know. It’s something I would love to do. It’s a very difficult thing. But, I don’t know if I’ll win a Grand Slam or not. But I’ll give it my best shot.
Q: You played Sam Querrey earlier this summer. How would you analyze the next round?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, it will be a tough match. They’re both serving well. I would say Stan’s probably a little bit more consistent from the back of the court, maybe moves a bit better. But Sam serves well. He’s a tough guy to beat.
Q: You said you haven’t felt like this for a while…Is that something that can only come from you, or can a third party help?
ANDY MURRAY: I’ll speak to all the guys I work with and see what’s gone well this year, what hasn’t gone so well. It’s one match. I wish I’d played better. But I’m not going to panic and start trying to analyze everything that’s going on, because I’ve been pretty much injury-free the whole year…I’m obviously going to look for a coach and people that are going to help me to do that. But, I’m happy with the guys that I work with just now. They’re all very, very good…So I’m not going to start changing everything. I’m still looking for a coach. That’s it.
Q: How hard is this one to take for you?
ANDY MURRAY: I’m very disappointed, obviously. But, I’ve been more disappointed. In other Grand Slams, when you get closer to winning, it becomes a lot harder to take.
