Andy Murray is on track to play in the US Open at the end of August as he steps up his recovery from the injury that has sidelined him since Wimbledon.
His participation in the last grand slam event of the year at Flushing Meadow had looked in doubt when he pulled out of back-to-back Masters 1000 events in Montreal and Cincinnati in the past fortnight. But the Scot is due to travel to New York early next week and barring any last-minute problems he will take his place in the draw, with the tournament set to begin on 28 August.
The news is a major boost for Murray, who has not played since limping through to the quarter-finals at Wimbledon last month with a hip injury which severely hampered his movement throughout the fortnight. He has resumed practice after taking some time off to rest and the mood in the Murray camp is far more positive now than it was only a couple of weeks ago.
Murray will be the No2 seed in New York, with Rafael Nadal due to replace him as world No1 when the list is updated on Monday. With a stack of ranking points to defend over the last two months of the year after his stellar end to 2016, when he won five events in a row, including the ATP World Tour Finals, the US Open is the only place where Murray can gain points, having lost to Kei Nishikori in the quarter-finals at Flushing Meadow 12 months ago.
The Scot will doubtless have been keeping a close eye on events on the ATP Tour in the past few weeks and will have noted the growing list of players hit by injuries. Novak Djokovic, Stan Wawrinka and Nishikori have all called time on their seasons while the Wimbledon runner-up, Marin Cilic, is doubtful for the US Open.
Even Roger Federer, who is chasing his third grand slam title of a remarkable year, was suffering from a stiff back when he was beaten in the Montreal final by the in-form German Sascha Zverev, last weekend. The tournament in Montreal was the 36-year-old Swiss’s first outing since his victory at Wimbledon. He subsequently pulled out of Cincinnati due to the back problem.
Sam Stosur, the 2011 US Open champion has been forced to pull out of the tournament due to a stress fracture in her right hand. Annika Beck will replace her in the main draw.
