Andy Murray: Scot's second thoughts over decision not to play US Open singles

Andy Murray says he has had some second thoughts about his decision not to play singles at the US Open.

Murray lost in straight sets to Richard Gasquet in Cincinnati on Monday in his first singles match for seven months.

Murray had earlier turned down a wildcard for the main draw in New York because he was not convinced his body would be ready for five-set matches.

But the qualifying matches - which begin in New York on Monday - are played over the best of three sets.

"I don't know why we didn't really think of it, but it just never crossed my mind until this morning," Murray told BBC Sport.

"When I woke up, I was like - I want to play three-set matches. I could maybe test myself there, and if I got through qualifying that might show that I'm ready to play there. But too late, unfortunately."

The US Tennis Association has already announced the names of the nine American men who have received wildcards into the qualifying draw.

The Scot, 32, will now decide, in conjunction with his team, whether to enter next week's ATP singles event in Winston-Salem.

He is then planning to play doubles and mixed doubles at the US Open, although he is yet to find a partner for either. He will not be able to play with this year's regular sidekick Feliciano Lopez, as he has agreed to play with Pablo Carreno Busta at the request of Spain's Davis Cup captain.

"Unfortunately he's taken, and a lot of the players have partners now," Murray said.

"It's not easy to find anyone at this late notice, but I'm sure we'll get someone."

In Cincinnati, Murray and Lopez have a second-round doubles match against Ryan Harrison and Jack Sock to look forward to. On Tuesday they beat the fourth seeds Dutchman Jean-Julien Rojer and Romania's Horia Tecau 3-6 6-3 10-3.

Murray was pleased with the way he played just 24 hours after contesting his first singles match since January's hip surgery.

"I felt pretty good today," he said.

"I was a little bit tired, I felt a bit drained - but more mentally rather than physically. I felt fine, so that was positive thing - maybe it showed that I wasn't running enough!

"I learnt quite a lot from yesterday - about how tough this process is probably going to be, and how long a process it will be until I'm feeling really good on the court again."

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Britain's three-time Grand Slam winner ready to be considered a singles player again - Andy Murray

Andy Murray does not tend to sugar coat his answers.

He accepts there are reasons to be cheerful after his 6-4 6-4 defeat by Richard Gasquet in Cincinnati, but admits he is "quite far away from where I would like to be".

That is to be expected after just two weeks of dedicated practice before his first singles match for seven months.

Murray will only play doubles in New York, when the US Open gets under way in a fortnight. But you can now consider him a singles player above all else once again.

A singles player who expects to be back in his peak physical condition in January: 12 months after the second operation on his right hip.

"I think nine to 12 months after the operation is when I would expect to be getting close to the best that I can be physically - and speed wise I should be fully recovered by 12 months," Murray told BBC Sport.

The 32-year-old regularly measures his speed around the court. Those numbers are improving, he says, but they only tell you so much.

"They have improved, but they are quite linear speeds, and repeatable tests, whereas on a match court you are changing direction and having to react to balls and anticipate.

"The way to get that back is by playing matches. You can hit as many speed targets as you like, but once you get out on court it's very different. I don't feel I was very slow out on the court today, but I was not as quick as I would have liked."

Murray will decide over the next few days whether to play singles in Winston-Salem, in North Carolina next week. He will then have plenty of opportunity to practise his singles during the US Open before he heads in September to China, where he tends to play well.

Appearances in Zhuhai and Beijing are already in the diary, with the possibility of adding Shanghai to his schedule the week after. There are then three further weeks of tournaments in Europe before the regular season comes to an end.

"I'm certainly not going to go backwards from here," Murray says.

"Every time I've practised singles so far, it's all just been practice sets because I was trying to get back on the match court.

"But once you actually get out there and start playing you realise, 'Wow,' my return needs to get better; I need to improve my serve. I need to get myself on the practice court and work on those things specifically."

It will take Murray some time. It is not just that he has missed seven months this year.

He was only able to play six events in the preceding 18 months (on a hip that was still not fit for purpose), and even the very best need a considerable period to regain that match sharpness after such an age away from the tour.

Even if they are not playing with a resurfaced metal hip.

"It will be exciting and interesting to see how I get on," Murray concluded.

"It's not something that's been tried or done before in tennis. Hopefully if it goes well it will be an option for more athletes down the line."

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Serena Williams to face Naomi Osaka for first time since US Open final

Serena Williams will take on Naomi Osaka for the first time since the controversial 2018 US Open final in the quarter-finals of the Rogers Cup.

Oskaka won her first Grand Slam in New York in September but the match was marred by an on-court argument between Williams and the chair umpire.

The American beat Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-5 6-4 in Toronto, while Japan's Osaka won 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 against Iga Swiatek.

"I've actually been looking forward to playing her," said Williams.

Of 21-year-old world number two Osaka, who also won the Australian Open in January, she added: "She has had a great year early in the season and she's still doing pretty good."

World number 10 Williams - a three-time Rogers Cup winner - went a double break down early on against Russian Alexandrova, and dropped the first three games before battling back with two breaks of her own.

The 37-year-old 23-time Grand Slam champion went on to wrap up the opening set, though was forced to wait until her fourth set point after spurning her opportunities at 5-4 up.

She once again got off to a poor start in the second set by being broken in the first game but levelled at 3-3 and went on to seal with another break as Alexandrova was made to pay for her 11 double faults in the match.

"She hit really, really hard and she was hitting a lot of winners," said Williams. "So I was just happy that I was able to fight through that."

Meanwhile, defending champion Simona Halep also progressed to the quarter-finals, beating Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2 6-1 in one hour seven minutes.

Romanian fourth seed Halep, who won her second Grand Slam at Wimbledon in July, will play Czech Marie Bouzkova.

Elsewhere, Czech third seed Karolina Pliskovabeat Estonia's Anett Kontaveit 6-3 7-5 to set up a last-eight meeting with Canadian Bianca Andreescu, while Ukraine's Elina Svitolinaand American Sofia Kenin also progressed.

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Breaking News: Andy Murray and Jamie Murray lose in quarter-finals

Andy and Jamie Murray lost in three sets to Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus in the quarter-finals of the Washington Open.

The British pair took the first set on a tie-break but lost a second as all 24 games followed serve.

South African Klaasen and New Zealand's Venus, seeded third, trailed 5-7 in the final tie-break but won five points in a row to win 6-7 (3-7) 7-6 (8-6) 10-7.

Andy Murray, 32, is playing his fourth event since hip surgery in January.

The former world number one feared his career might be over before having the hip resurfacing operation, but returned to the doubles court five months later when he won the Queen's title alongside Spain's Feliciano Lopez.

The three-time Grand Slam winner says he could make a singles return at the Cincinnati Masters later this month - two weeks before the start of the US Open in New York - and has been practising singles play this week.

"I feel fine, just disappointed," Murray said of his fitness after the defeat. "Practices have been fine.

"Just keep pressing next 10 days. If I feel ready, I'll give it [singles in Cincinnati] a go. If not, I'll probably wait until after New York."

The Murray brothers, who were playing in doubles competition together for the first time since 2016, reached the Washington quarters after a gutsy three-set win over experienced French pair Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin in their opening match.

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Japan's Osaka has 'no regrets' over chaotic US Open final by Ukpono Etuk

Japan’s Naomi Osaka, the US Open women’s singles tennis tournament champion, attends a press conference at a hotel in Yokohama on September 13, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / Martin BUREAU

Japan’s Naomi Osaka has refused to criticise Serena Williams after her historic US Open victory was overshadowed by the American’s furious row with the chair umpire.

The 20-year-old melted hearts when she broke down sobbing after thrashing her idol 6-2, 6-4 to become Japan’s first Grand Slam singles champion in New York last weekend.

Japanese tennis legend Kimiko Date told AFP it made her “heart ache” to see Osaka reduced to tears and unable to savour her moment of glory.

But after returning to Japan on Thursday, Osaka insisted there were no hard feelings towards Williams, who branded umpire Carlos Ramos a “thief” in an astonishing tantrum triggered by a code violation for coaching that culminated in a docked game.

“For me I don’t feel sad because I wouldn’t even know what I’m expected to feel,” said Osaka, who has climbed from 19th to seventh in the new world rankings.

“I don’t think I even thought about feeling sad because there’s no experience for me to draw on in any other Grand Slam final,” she added.

“I just thought I shouldn’t have any regrets. Overall I felt really happy and know I accomplished a lot.”

Osaka, who competes at next week’s Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, also revealed her plans to break into the top five this year — and win a shiny gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

“I think for this year my immediate goal would be to get to Singapore,” said Osaka after putting herself firmly in contention to reach the season-ending WTA Finals.

“I want to do well at the Pan Pacific Open and maybe year-end top five — but I’m not putting pressure on myself. For now I’m just sort of riding the wave.”

“Of course I’m very excited the Olympics are going to be held in Tokyo,” added Osaka, who is of Haitian-Japanese descent and was raised in the United States.

“It’s every athlete’s dream to play in the Olympics, so of course it would be my goal to win gold.”

Date, a former world number four, has tipped Osaka to become Japan’s first tennis number one.

But for now Osaka is itching to do normal stuff — like catch up with big sister Mari, who is also a professional tennis player, go shopping and eat her favourite matcha ice cream.

“I guess I’d like to hang out with my sister — I haven’t seen her since Wimbledon,” said Osaka, who has become an unlikely hero in a country still reeling after a summer of deadly typhoons and earthquakes.

“The Pan Pacific is so close and I have to be on a diet for my matches, so maybe afterwards for the ice cream.”

Asked how she felt about being a role model for young children, Osaka gave mixed signals.

“I’ve always thought Kei (Nishikori) was a super good role model and hopefully I can be that too,” she said. “But don’t look up to me, because I don’t want that responsibility!”

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