Andy Murray, former world No.1 down to 52nd place and winner of the tournament in 2012, qualified for the second round of the US Open by beating Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo (27th) 7-5, 6-3 , 6-3, Monday in New York.
The 35-year-old Scotsman, also a finalist in 2008 at Flushing Meadows, will face an opponent more within his reach in the second round: the Australian John Millman (103rd) or the American Emilio Nava (203rd), beneficiary of an invitation . The three-time Grand Slam winner – he also triumphed at Wimbledon in 2013 and 2016 – was particularly solid in offering himself the scalp of Cerundolo, seeded N.24 whom he met for the first time. Excellent in return (74% of the points won on the second ball of the opponent), he also took advantage of the many unforced errors of the Argentinian (48 against 32), breaking eight times in fourteen opportunities. Murray, who is coming out of four seasons marred by the Covid-19 and above all by repeated injuries, including a hip injury which almost cost him his career in 2019, persists in his attempt to return to his best level.
Finalist in Sydney at the start of the year, then in Stuttgart at the start of the summer, he plays with a metal prosthesis at the level of one of his hips, placed in early 2019.
