Andy Murray: I don’t know if I’ll ever win a Grand Slam

Chris Jones
6 Sep 2010

Andy Murray crashed out of the US Open to Stanislas Wawrinka in the third round last night as his body and his game fell apart.

The 23-year-old Scot admitted that he had no idea if he would ever win a Grand Slam as he ended the final major tournament of the year empty-handed following his 6-7, 7-6, 6-3, 6-3 defeat by the 25th seed from Switzerland.

This was Murray's worst performance at Flushing Meadows since he was beaten by South Korean Lee Hyung-Taik at the same stage in 2007.

The year had started brightly for the British No1, as he reached the final of the Australian Open and he made the last four at Wimbledon but this was a huge disappointment.

Murray said: “I have no idea if I will win a Grand Slam or not. I want to but, you know, if I never win one, then what? If I give 100 per cent and try my best, work as hard as I can and press as much as I can then, that's all I can do.

“It's something I would love to do, it's a very difficult thing. I'll still give it my best shot.”

Murray required two medical time-outs after complaining about tightness in his leg and pain from nerves in his arms and hands but did not want to use his fitness as an excuse.

“I don't think it was a terrible performance,” he added.

“I lost to the better player, that's it. In the third and fourth sets I was struggling physically.

“The first time it was tightness in my quad, the second time it was pins and needles.

“I have not been really tired in long matches for a long, long time, so whether it was fatigue or not, I really don't know.

“I still feel like I'm super fit, I just did not feel great. There were a lot of things that I was feeling on the court. I have not felt that way for a few years now.”

Murray also refused to be panicked into finding a new coach to give him fresh direction despite last night's crushing defeat.

The Scot split with Miles Maclagan after three years at the end of July and then claimed the Toronto Master tournament as the remaining members of “Team Murray” proved they could help him win on the men's tour.

However, despite continuing to employ former world No2 Alex Corretja on a part-time basis — he was at courtside for this loss — Murray looks set to chose a new face.

Darren Cahill was favourite but cannot commit to a full-time role.

However, Murray may try to involve the man who helped Andre Agassi and Lleyton Hewitt to Grand Slam success for just 20 weeks a year.

Todd Martin, also an experienced former tour professional, is another option, while an expanded role for Corretja is not out of the question.

Murray added: “I am obviously going to look for a coach and people are going to help me to do that.

“But I am happy with the guys that I work with just now and they are all very good at what they do. So I'm not going to start changing everything.

“I was getting asked five, six days ago: You're playing great tennis; will you think about going without a coach?' It's based on one match. I am not going to panic and hire someone to try to make things better.

“It has been a long, long trip for me and I have been away a long time. I am looking forward to getting home, resting and thinking about what I am going to need to do to improve.”

While Murray has failed in his latest attempt to claim a first Grand Slam title, Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal was an impressive 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 winner over Gilles Simon, of France, and will be relieved that the British No1 is no longer a potential semi-final opponent. Nadal said: “I think I am playing better, a little bit better, every day.

“Today was a solid match, I think. The serve is still good, so that's a very important thing. From the baseline I think my movements and my shots start to improve, to be better, every day.”

Defending women's champion Kim Clijsters eased into the quarter-finals by demolishing Ana Ivanovic 6-2, 6-1 while Venus Williams was given a scare in the first set by Israeli 16th seed Shahar Peer before winning 7-6, 6-3. Clijsters and Williams are due to meet in the semi-finals.

There was some good news for Britain, as Twickenham's Oliver Golding made the junior US Open second round with a battling 7-6, 6-3 victory over Andres Martinavarr, of Spain.