Andy Murray used the experience of three title-winning Grand Slam campaigns to best use on Wednesday, overhauling wild card Emilio Nava 5-7, 6-3, 6-1, 6-0 to move into the US Open third round on Wednesday.
The 2012 champion here and holder of a pair of Wimbledon trophies needed a swt to get adjusted to his 21-year-old American opponent 48 hours after winning his first-round over John Millman in five draining sets.
As he continues to patiently rebuild his game after half a decade of hip injury dramas, the 35-year-old Murray is more and more pleased with his performances.
“This is the best I’ve felt in the last few years,” the veteran of two hip procedures said.
“I’m getting closer to where I want to be, Hopefully I can have a deep run here.”
Murray dropped the opening set to his 203rd-ranked opponent and slowly increased the pressure.
“I started to take the ball earlier and hit bigger,” Murray said of his reversal in form. “I didn’t allow him to dictate.
“His level dropped in the third and fourth sets, it’s not always easy to recover from a long five-setter.”
Murray is into the New York third round here for the first time since his 2016 quarter-final at Flushing Meadows.
Norway’s Casper Ruud also needed a comeback to defeat Tim van Rijthoven 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 as the fifth seed moved ahead in the final major of the season.
2021 Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini also needed a running start to oust French qualifying lucky loser Hugo Grenier 2-6, 6-1, 7-6(4), 7-6(7) in three and a half hours of battle.
The Italian who missed the spring season with a hand injury which required surgery sent over 17 aces and pounded 75 winners to move into a third-round showdown with Murray.
That match will be a repeat of June’s Stuttgart final which the Italian won over the Scot.
“He got COVID at Wimbledon when he was going in, having won the two lead-up tournaments,” Murray said of Berrettini.
“He had problems) with his hand or his wrist after starting the year pretty well.
“He’s been up at the top of the game for quite a number of years, and now he’s very consistent, a big server who puts down a pretty high percentage of serves.”
Nick Kyrgios finished off a love game to wrap up a 7-6(3), 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 of Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi, relying heavily on his 30 aces to get through for his 201st career victory.
The Australian Wimbledon finalist extended his stay in New York even as he yearns to return home and visit his family.
He next plays American JJ Wolf, a 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-3 over Chilean Alejandro Tabilo.
“I was hanging on by a thread,” the No. 25 winner said. “Benjamin was eating up my serve, I did not expect such an absolute war.
“It could have gone either way, I had to play some risky tennis.
“Me and my team have high expectations of going deep here. But being a Wimbledon finalist, I’m expected to play amazing tennis every time.
“But I’d rather have that, I’m feeling so much confidence.
“I’m playing some of the best tennis of my life.”
Australian Alex de Minaur ended a run of two straight first-round losses here as he beat Cristian Garin 6-3, 6-0, 4-6, 6-2, gaining revenge for a Wimbledon defeat by the Chilean.
“I’m very happy with my level, but more than that I’m probably the happiest with how I was mentally,” he said.
“That, for me, was very important coming into the match and how I dealt with the circumstances. I’m happy to get through another match.”
De Minaur had 22 winners to 26 for his losing opponent. But Garin was let down by nearly 50 unforced errors.
“I easily could have started thinking about what happened in Wimbledon, being two sets to love up and kind of letting that one escape away from me,” De Minaur said.
“But I knuckled down, stuck to my weapons and my tactics and to what I wanted to do.
“I was able to go on top on the third and play some great tennis to finish it off.”
Aussie Jason Kubler stopped Swede Mikael Ymer 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 in a match interrupted Tuesday night by rain.
Pablo Carreno Busta, the 12th seed with the Montreal title to his credit, defeated Kazakh Alexander Bublik 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(5) in three hours.
