Relaxed but focused is the Murray plan

Don’t worry about his build-up. Andy Murray is primed and ready for the defence of his US Open crown.

That is the view of Murray’s former coach and Sky Sports commentator, Mark Petchey.

Murray’s two Masters Series events in Montreal and Cincinnati were a disappointing return to action after his Wimbledon triumph.

But little should be read into those early exits according to Petchey, who spent time with Murray in Miami ahead of the summer hard-court swing.

And he expects to see a relaxed but focused Murray at Flushing Meadows when he opens his tournament against Frenchman Michael Llodra.

“Mentally, Andy is in a fantastic place right now,” he says.

“What’s happened in the last 12 months with the Olympics, the US Open and Wimbledon has taken a massive weight off his shoulders.

“He now has a greater sense of calm. That feeling of anxiety to win a Grand Slam has gone.

“I was with him in Miami and it was inspirational to see him work so hard so soon after the pinnacle of his career.

“The intensity, desire and hunger are all still there. Andy is phenomenally committed to his job and wants to win as many Majors as he can.

“That’s the goal, but it’s still a big challenge to do it.

“The lead-up results are fairly irrelevant. He’s won Cincinnati in the past and then not done so well at the US Open.

“Then last year, he didn’t have a great hard-court summer, but won in New York.”

From a British perspective, Murray’s win at Wimbledon is the highlight of the year, ending the 77-year wait for a male champion.

However, the wider tennis world has been astonished by the efforts of Rafael Nadal since returning from his serious knee injury in February.

Of the 12 tournaments he has played, the Spaniard has won nine and been runner-up in two others.

The only blip was his shock first round exit at Wimbledon to unheralded Belgian Steve Darcis.

The quality of Nadal’s comeback has even taken Petchey by surprise, and the former British Davis Cup player makes Nadal slight favourite for the US Open.

“Rafa is such a phenomenal player and his achievements make a strong case for him to be considered the best ever,” he argues.

“We all expected Rafa to do well on the clay. He’s admitted that he doesn’t have to play his best to win on that surface.

“But he’s rightly proud of how he played to win in Montreal and Cincinnati.

“He had slightly altered his game to cope with the big servers and was hitting the ball flatter.

“It was pretty inspiring to see someone that good still looking to improve.”

Petchey has also welcomed the announcement that the USTA plan to build a roof over the 22,500-seat Arthur Ashe Stadium, which will be ready for 2018.

The Men’s Final has been moved to Monday for the last five years because of rain and has already been moved in advance this year.

“It’s great news, although it will be a huge engineering feat to build one over Ashe,” he adds.

“It’s easy to criticise but the USTA are being proactive and it’ll be fantastic when it’s done.”