Andy Murray has spent a week adjusting to hardcourts ahead of the Washington Open, his earliest arrival to any event this year paying off with confident strokes.
The 28-year-old Scotsman is seeking his 35th career ATP title and fourth of the year in his first tour event since reaching the Wimbledon semi-finals, where he lost to Roger Federer.
Top seed Murray makes his first Washington appearance since 2006, when he lost to France’s Arnaud Clement in the final. He arrived last Tuesday, cutting short his rest to begin his training push to the US Open that starts in four weeks.
“I haven’t actually hit a ball on a hardcourt since Miami. That has been four or five months,” Murray said. “It takes quite a lot of time to get used to the conditions.”
The field also features eighth-ranked Marin Cilic, the first reigning US Open champion in the US capital since Andre Agassi in 2000, and 2014 US Open runner-up Kei Nishikori.
Murray, who faces Russia’s Teymuraz Gabashvili in the round of 32, is 48-7 this year with titles at Queen’s, Madrid and Munich. He also reached the finals at Miami and the Australian Open and the semi-finals at Wimbledon and the French Open.
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“One of the things I spoke about at the beginning of the year was consistency. That has been a positive,” he said. “The year as a whole, there has been some progress. Hopefully I get on a good run on the hardcourts to the end of the year.”
After Wimbledon, Murray was the hero as Britain beat France 3-1 in the Davis Cup, advancing to a home September semi-final against Australia.
“It’s a good opportunity,” Murray said. “France was a huge win for us, one I wasn’t probably expecting.
"We’re in a good position but Australia for us is a very difficult match with the depth they have. It would be amazing if we could make the final. I certainly didn’t expect that at the beginning of the year.”
