After a rather shaky season, Murray was really looking forward to the US Open as this year's last opportunity to shut down the criticism. After a painful straight sets defeat to Djokovic in the final of the Australian Open, his third loss in a Grand Slam championship match, the Briton suffered a sort of a meltdown. Fueled with severe doubts and excruciating frustrations, Murray struggled to find the motivation and self belief to challenge the leading trio of Djokovic, Nadal and Federer. Through his trials and tribulations, he still managed to achieve decent performances at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon, falling in the semifinals to Nadal in both instances. Nevertheless, he never really looked like he was ready to take that ultimate step and win his much awaited maiden Grand Slam crown.
With Djokovic so utterly convincing as the new world number 1, Murray's New York ambitions might seem a bit farfetched. And even more so after his second round encounter with Dutchman Robin Haase. He might have benefited from an injured Djokovic to win the Cincinatti Masters, recording the Serbs second defeat of the year, but after barely scrapping past Haase, Andy can consider himself a hell of a lucky fella just to still be in the competition. At two sets down, his clock finally ticked. As his opponent experienced a severe lack of focus, the Briton quickly turned thing around, setting up a 4-0 advantage in the decider. It was the point Haase woke up, finding his magical touch once more. He leveled at 4 all, but was unable to take advantage of the change in momentum, allowing Murray to step up in front again. With Andy serving for the match, Robin threw away a break point, after which he successfully challenged a wide call to get back to deuce. Another easy miss and Murray took his chance and closed out the highly disputed clash.
Since winning his first title in Kitzbühel, Haase has had the time of his life. He might been underrated coming into this dispute, but he gave the number fourth seed a run for his money. With only a few points making the difference, Murray should thanks divine providence for barely scrapping through to the third round. He needs to upper his game if he wants to stand a chance of fulfilling his objective.
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