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Former champion Andy Murray produced an astonishing fightback to outlast Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka 4-6, 4-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(4), 6-4 in his long-awaited return to Grand Slam singles action in the U.S. Open first round in New York on Tuesday.
The 33-year-old Briton, contesting a singles match at a major for the first since the 2019 Australian Open, recovered from a break down in the third set and saved a match point late in the fourth after losing the first two sets.
At the start of the fifth set he required treatment on his battered toes and again slipped a break behind before dredging his tank to finally crush 49th-ranked Nishioka's spirit and claim victory in four hours 38 minutes.
"I'm tired, my toes are the worst part, my big toes are pretty beat up," Murray said, "At the beginning I was apprehensive about playing a long match because I've not played one for a while and I was sort of pacing myself. But when I was two sets down I managed to put the afterburners on and managed to get through."
On the women's court, 24-year-old Czech Karolina Muchova took advantage of an error-prone Venus Williams to advance 6-3, 7-5 into the second round and hand the two-time champion her first opening-round loss at the tournament.
The 40-year-old Williams was 21-0 in opening-round matches at the U.S. Open coming into Tuesday but the seven-time Grand Slam champion was undone by 34 unforced errors at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Meanwhile, Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin produced a dominant display to dispatch Belgian Yanina Wickmayer 6-2, 6-2 in the opening round of the U.S. Open on Tuesday.
(CGTN)
