ANDY Murray has been warned that winning the US Open would become more difficult than ever if he has a successful Olympic Games. The message came from his mother Judy, who fears the Olympic medallists are likely to struggle in New York after competing in Beijing.
The Olympic tennis event begins on Sunday and lasts until 17 August. Players will then have eight days until the US Open begins at Flushing Meadows, and Murray could have a hectic schedule in China after being named in the singles and doubles, in whi
ch he will partner brother Jamie.
Britain's No1 player won the Cincinnati Masters Series title to take his career to a new level, and he is now eager to make his mark at a grand slam event. Murray's run to the Wimbledon quarter-finals represented his best grand slam performance to date, but he is eager to reach semi-finals and finals in the future.
The world's best players will line up at the Olympics, but Judy Murray observed: "It pops in at a difficult time in the tennis calendar, right after two Masters Series events and right before the last grand slam of the year. So it's really tough and it's a long way to travel as well, so I think it's going to be really difficult for the players.
"I think anybody who does well at the Olympics is unlikely to do well at the US Open. But Andy will be going over there and really looking forward to being part of the British team and supporting the other athletes, and playing doubles with his brother.
"He'll be aiming to bring something home in some shape or form and if he plays well he has a good chance of doing that."
She added: "I think if you asked any tennis player they would probably say that grand slams are the most important thing. But the Olympic Games only comes around every four years. All of the top guys are playing it. It's going to be a terrific field."
Murray missed his Sunday evening flight out of Cincinnati after his Masters Series victory, having been kept busy by the media. "I spoke to him last night (Sunday], and he didn't manage to make the flight," Judy Murray said.
"He got so caught up with doing the press afterwards they decided to give it a miss and leave this morning (Monday] instead. He's pretty happy, pretty tired, it's been pretty tough conditions out there.
"It was really tough, really humid, but good preparation for going to Beijing as it's going to be like that next week at the Olympics." Murray climbed to a career-high sixth place in the world rankings with his Cincinnati run. Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski both got to fourth in the world during their careers, and Murray's sights are now set on catching up with the top three – Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
"I know he would love to win a grand slam and he'd love to push himself closer to the top three," said Judy Murray.
"I think he sees Federer, Nadal and Djokovic as being a bit apart from the rest of the pack.
"They're quite a bit ahead of everybody else. Winning yesterday could push him closer to that pack and that will make him happy."
The full article contains 567 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
