Mind doctor getting Murray in mood for U.S. victory

Not content with getting a handle on the likes of Anton Ferdinand, the Italian mind doctor has been helping the talented and complex British No 1 prepare for the U.S Open, which begins today at Flushing Meadows.

With Murray, his task has been to try to nullify the negative thoughts caused by the lingering effects of the injury that stopped the Scot's charge towards the world's top five.

So frustrated did he become after losing his second and third comeback matches in America that he headed back to London for a week in order to undergo a check on both mind and body.

Now, proudly in possession of a signed shirt from the West Ham team accompanied by good luck messages, Murray believes that all is finally right just in time for the last major of the year.

"I feel much better than before I went back to London and I'm just really looking forward to going back on court again and feeling like I can compete 100 per cent," he said.

"Some of the injury could have been mental but I was definitely feeling it was still there. It's a question of trying to stay positive.

"Now I'm not thinking like I was in Cincinatti and Montreal (where he lost in the first and second rounds) where I wasn't hitting the ball properly and not going on to the court with a good mindset."

If Murray really is playing pain-free then he is good enough, and the draw has been kind enough, for him to make a real impact on this tournament, just as Greg Rusedski did 10 years ago when he reached the final.

Going that far is surely beyond the 20-year-old at present, but he plays Uruguayan qualifier Pablo Cuevas this evening in the first round and would then probably meet Swedish veteran Jonas Bjorkman.

Were he to get through those two matches and start feeling good about himself then he could be a threat to anyone, despite having completed only five matches since March.

British tennis needs him to perform like never before in the wake of the retirement of Tim Henman, who in his final Grand Slam event will play Dmitri Tursunov.

Henman will not miss the flashy Russian when he puts his feet up next month, having lost five times to him, but at least he can finally go out there and play without a care in the world.

The tale of woe in British tennis continued with none of the eight attempted qualifiers managing to make it into the main draw with Scotland's Jamie Baker, who understands what it takes to succeed, knocked out by Cuevas in the final preliminary round.

On the wider stage Roger Federer will be attempting to win his fourth successive U.S title, but at least he has one more genuine challenger, aside from Rafael Nadal, in Novak Djokovic.

The 20-year-old Serb has established himself firmly as the third best player in the world and beat Federer in the final of the Montreal Masters earlier this month.

America is looking to the Williams sisters to come through to meet each other in the semi-finals of the women's draw, although they have hardly played since Wimbledon.