Andy Murray says he’s getting over his cold and will be ready to take on South African Kevin Anderson in the last 16.
Battling a flu that has caught up with several players in the US Open locker room, Murray had requested to get a later start against Thomaz Bellucci in the third round on Saturday in order to have enough time to recover both from his illness and his gruelling five-set comeback win over Adrian Mannarino in the previous round.
The Scot world No3 showed no signs of weakness against Bellucci in their night session match as he eased past the Brazilian lefty 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 to set up a fourth round with the huge-served Anderson.
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“Today I felt much better,” Murray said after his Bellucci drubbing.
“I slept during the day yesterday two or three times. Today I got up, and I slept again before coming out to the courts. Today I felt much, much better.
“My voice feels like normal again. Still dull obviously, but it feels more normal today and not blocked up or anything anymore, which is good.”
Anderson, the No15 seed made it into his eighth grand slam fourth round and first in New York by defeating Austrian 20th seed Dominic Thiem 6-3, 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/3).
“I’m feeling really good out there,” Anderson said. “I’m trying to keep things simple. I’m playing good tennis.”
The tall 29-year-old has never reached a grand slam quarter-final and is looking to snap his 0-8 losing record in last 16 clashes at majors.
“It would mean a lot,” said Anderson on the prospect of finally making a major quarter-final. “I’ve been in the fourth round a few times now. It’s my first time here. It’s a small step in the right direction.”
Murray is 5-1 lifetime against Anderson and the Brit has a very strong record against big servers in general.
“They’re always tricky matches. But getting a lot of returns in play is something that throughout most of my career I’ve been good at,” explained Murray, a champion in New York in 2012.
“Often the big servers, they come into matches used to getting a lot of free points. It changes their mindset a little bit in the way they play the match and play the points.
“That’s why I think I’ve had good success against them in the past. But they’re always tough matches because you don’t get loads of opportunities normally.”
Anderson, whose only win over Murray came in Montreal four years ago, will try to set aside past failures at the last 16 hurdle rather than use them as a motivational tool in quest of his long-sought breakthrough.
“I try to isolate it and separate it from the next match,” said Anderson. “Thinking about it is not going to do any good.”
