It is not the US Open without a storm, on the court or in the air, and Andy Murray is a player who knows how to handle both better than most.
When he was on his way to winning the title here in 2012, his fellow Scots Alex Ferguson and Sean Connery famously invaded his press conference in celebratory mood after he had bamboozled Tomas Berdych in the semi-final, a match in which a fierce gale wrecked the Czech’s high ball-toss. “Scotland invented the world,” Ferguson declared. “Today we invented the wind.”
The air whipped less frenetically in the final but was still enough to disconcert Novak Djokovic, while Murray held his nerve for his breakthrough major.
“There’s certain winds that I like,” Murray laughed moments after moving smoothly through to the third round, where he will play the Italian Paolo Lorenzi, who beat Gilles Simon in four hours and 54 minutes late on Thursday, the longest match of the tournament so far. Murray spent less than half that time beating Marcel Granollers in straight sets earlier in the evening.
And he did it under the new roof, drawn across to protect the cavernous Arthur Ashe Court from the surrounding rain – and wind. New York has long suffered September storms, to the point where five finals in a row were postponed until the Monday. It would suit Murray, however, if the roof remained open and at least some of the elements intruded.
“When the wind is swirling everywhere, I personally don’t enjoy playing in that,” he acknowledged. “I don’t know any tennis players who do. But, when there’s a strong breeze and it’s consistent the whole time, I like that. I feel like it’s a lot easier to adjust to that. It doesn’t work against me.”
He welcomed the arrival of the roof, though. “It will help the quality of tennis, less wind. There’s not as much sun on the court either during the day, so the conditions are a little bit easier to play in. Should make for better tennis, I think.
“But it’s an outdoor event. The roof’s there obviously to have tennis going when it’s raining, for TV and stuff. But, if the rain stops, I’m happy with [the referee opening the roof]. Obviously, the timings need to be smart with that. The time to do it would be at the end of a set, probably.”
Murray pretty much made a lone British charge four years ago; this time he has Dan Evans and Kyle Edmund for company, and it is the first time since Wimbledon in 1999 that three British players have reached the third round of a slam.
Then it was Tim Henman, Greg Rusedski and Danny Sapsford. The last time it happened here, in 1968, the British trio were Peter Curtis, Paul Hutchins and Roger Taylor.
Evans was heroic in his four-sets win, completed around midnight, over the excellent young German Alexander Zverev. “It was probably the best win of my career,” Evans said at a press conference in the small hours of Friday morning. “The situation and circumstances, late, difficult mentally. To come back in the fourth and get on top was good.”
And he did it on the now notorious Court Four, small and rammed with passing traffic. No playing under a roof for Dan Evans. Yet.
“It was tough again,” he said of the constant noise and interruptions from the gangway that separated his playing area from Court Five. “I played on that court the other day, so I sort of knew it was going to happen.”
Evans plays Stan Wawrinka on Sunday and joked: “Hopefully that will be on Court Four”. It is a tough ask for the world No64 going up against a double slam champion ranked 61 places ahead of him, but Evans takes everything in his stride.
If he does end up under the roof on the main showcourt, it will not bother him. He had two good wins at Wimbledon, against Jan-Lennard Struff and the world No33 Alexandr Dolgopolov, before losing to Roger Federer in the third round.
“It’s going to be good fun, a bit like Wimbledon,” he said. “Had a good win there, and then played Federer. It will be on a good court. Look forward to it. Never hit with him, never played against him. It’s going to be interesting.
“I think everyone’s obviously doing pretty well at the minute. It could easily have been different. Kyle played [Richard] Gasquet. I played [Rajeev] Ram. We both could lose those matches, and you would have sat here with only Andy again.
“It just happens in certain tournaments, doesn’t it, where you get through? Other tournaments, none get through. Like this week, there’s a feelgood factor. Let’s see what we can do.”
Heather Watson put some of her earlier disappointment in singles behind her when she teamed up with Michaella Krajicek of Holland to win her opening doubles match 6-2, 7-5 against the Americans Raquel Atawo and Abigail Spears.
