Andy Murray believes the focus of Serena Williams’s final matches should be on a celebration of her career and legacy rather than dwelling on her current form after a year of not competing at the top level of the sport.
“She has hardly played in the last few years,” said Murray. “Expectations on her run should be very low. The celebrations of her career should be really, really high. When I first found out, I was sad about it, but at the same time, she will probably want this week to be about everything she has achieved, having a really nice send-off – more of a celebration than being really upset that it is the end.”
Williams, 40, announced her imminent retirement this month in Vogue and the US Open is expected to be the final tournament of her career. As Williams says farewell, Emma Raducanu will return to the US Open for her title defence. After her wins over Williams and Victoria Azarenka at the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati, Murray believes that Raducanu will perform well.
“I saw most of the match against Serena and then the one against [Jessica] Pegula; even though she lost that one she is playing much better. The balls they use over here help a lot, they are a lot lighter, the women’s ball. That allows her to get more on her shots, on her serves, she seems like she enjoyed the conditions last week. I’d imagine it with it being quick here in New York she will enjoy them. I’d expect her to play well next week,” he said.
For Murray this period has been frustrating as he tries to find a solution to his recent cramping issues in order to give himself the best chance of competing at a high level more consistently.
Since the US summer hard-court swing began, without any prior warning, Murray has suffered from cramping in the majority of his matches. After struggling with cramp in Newport and then Washington, at the Western and Southern Open last week Murray managed the problem in winning his opening match against Stan Wawrinka before being escorted off the court by the trainer after his second-round loss to Cameron Norrie.
Although he has suffered from cramp occasionally, particularly at the beginning of his career, Murray says that he has never had such regular cramping in his career and he is now undergoing sweat testing.
“I have had cramps before but not consistently, so I am just trying to understand that and get to the bottom of it. From the tennis side of things this year, I have had some good wins, some tough losses,” said Murray.
“If I could have got through the match against Cam last week, I certainly had enough chances and broke a string on a second serve return in the third set, maybe that opens the week up and I could get a good run going. But it has not quite happened at one of the big events yet so that has been disappointing.”
His frustration is particularly pronounced considering he believes he is otherwise in the best physical shape he has been in for some time. Murray says he has finally been happy with how his body has recovered after gruelling matches and he is no longer taking anti-inflammatory medication for his hip and groin ailments, something he had been doing for much of the past few years since he underwent hip resurfacing surgery. Now he must find a solution to another ailment.
Andy Murray is wearing The Drive Collection from his signature AMC range during this year’s US Open, created to deliver a new standard in tennis performance clothing. View the kit at www.castore.com/collections/amc