Andy Murray not feeling pressure ahead of US Open defence

Andy Murray says he feels at ease ahead of next week’s US Open.

The Scottish player says his Wimbledon success has taken the pressure off of defending his US Open title and that he’s ready to achieve as much as he can on the court.

Murray won his first Grand Slam at Flushing Meadows last year and believes he has been able to prepare better for his title defence as he no longer has to answer questions about whether he’ll ever win Wimbledon.

“It’s good because I was asked about Wimbledon literally every single time I went into a press conference,” said the Scot.

“It gets a bit tiring after a while so it’s nice to not have to worry about that anymore. I can just concentrate on trying to achieve as much as I can on the court.”

Murray says last year’s US Open final win over Novak Djokovic has given him greater belief heading into Grand Slam events.

“Coming into the US Open last year, I didn’t know if I’d ever win a Grand Slam,” said the 26-year-old.

“I’d lost in the final quite a few times and was doubting myself. To finally get over that hurdle helps a lot going into Slams. I feel more comfortable in the latter stages of tournaments.”

Murray will be seeded third at the US Open after being overtaken by Rafa Nadal in the world rankings, and he believes the tournament is wide open.

“I don’t think there is a favourite,” he said.

“In a sport like tennis, with the skill that’s involved from one day to the next; you can play great tennis one day and wake up a couple of days later feeling horrible.

“Novak (Djokovic) has played great tennis on the hard courts for the last year, and Rafa would be the form player at the moment. He’s lost very few matches this year and has recovered really well from his knee injury.”