Andy Murray provides key injury update ahead of first US Open match

Andy Murray has provided an injury update ahead of his opening match at the 2023 US Open as he faces world No.72 Corentin Moutet on Tuesday.

The British tennis legend has been struggling with an abdominal problem which he picked up in Toronto in the build-up to Flushing Meadows.

It forced him to withdraw from the Cincinnati Open and Murray admits that his preparations for the final Grand Slam of the year have been far from perfect.

The 36-year-old former world No.1, who won the US Open 11 years ago, plays with a metal hip after surgery saved his career and the three-time major winner has been on a resurgence in 2023, winning three ATP Challenger titles.

Murray, speaking about his abdominal injury before his New York opener, said: ‘The first five or six days [after the withdrawal] were a bit complicated.

‘There were lots of different opinions. And then I came to New York pretty early and went to one of the hospitals here and spoke to the radiologist from back home. I had a small tear which is healing.

‘And the last five or six days of practice have been really good, I have not had any issues serving. It is just that you don’t take a week off from serving then go full into it.

‘You need to build up a little bit. It has not been perfect in that sense but my ab has been okay.’

Murray, currently ranked world No.37, has also slammed Grand Slam organisers over scheduling and took aim at those telling him to ‘shut up and get on with it’.

‘Generally it’s just not good for anyone,’ Murray responded to a question about late-night finishes at the major tournaments.

‘Often when the players complain about that stuff, you sort of hear ‘Oh, shut up and get on with it. Try working in a warehouse from nine to five’.

‘I do get that. I know I’m fortunate to be playing tennis. It’s just that tennis is also partly entertainment. I don’t think it helps the sport much when you’re playing at 4am.

‘Everyone’s leaving because they have to go and get public transport home and you finish a match like that in front of 10 per cent of the crowd. You don’t see it in other sports so it’s clearly wrong.

‘And the reason for it is purely financial. It’s not because the people that are running the events believe that it’s good for the sport.

‘They could solve it. If they want to start at 7.30pm, playing two women’s matches is fine.

‘Or if they want to play a men’s match, then you can only play one match unless you’re going to start sooner.

‘At Wimbledon, they obviously need to change the start times of the matches [from this year’s 1.30pm] and move it sooner.

‘Stop having the 20-minute breaks between the matches. It might still happen [that matches run late] from time to time but you’re doing the best that you can to avoid it.

‘And I think that then becomes fair on the players because you can’t really expect someone to recover if you finish your match at 4.30am.’

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