Andy Murray may be relieved after his US Open triumph but this new status means that the pressure is on to continue his world-class form before the ATP World Tour Finals in London this November.
Rightly taking a brief break from the sport after his historic five-set victory over Novak Djokovic in New York, Murray is set for some testing tournaments before meeting the world’s greatest tennis players in London. Ahead of him lies Tokyo and Shanghai, tournaments he won just last year.
One thing harder than winning a Grand Slam is maintaining your form after it, and Murray will be tested to the max in these tour events.
He went into Japan a year ago driven by his 2011 US Open semi-final defeat and certainly had a point to prove. He was impervious on the hard courts and raced to the final, where he outclassed Rafael Nadal in three sets.
The next week, Murray was in Shanghai, once more powering through the hard courts en route to a final victory over David Ferrer.
Last autumn, Murray was fantastic; he played with a real hunger to better his game and prove that he has the ability to be a Grand Slam champion. Now, with the US Open trophy locked safely away, that same desire needs testing.
Japan offers an interesting insight to next season’s fortunes as Murray begins a new part of his tennis career. There is still plenty to play for and the third-ranked player in the world is still 2,000 points off second-place Djokovic, yet he must not take opponents for granted.
Murray still has a lot to do to narrow that gap, and hopefully he will take Japan and Shanghai as seriously as he did 12 months ago. If he does, the Scot could prime himself to take London by storm and stage another Grand Slam onslaught in Australia in January.
Of course, the Thailand Open will be many players’ focus, this week. The lethal-serving Raonic is currently the man to beat, according to many bookmakers. Click here for Betfair Tennis Odds.
