Former champion Andy Murray has 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 Grand Slam singles return at the US Open.
The 33-year-old Briton, contesting a singles match at a major for the first time since the 2019 Australian Open, appeared doomed to an early exit, as a fearless Nishioka outplayed him for two sets on a virtually empty Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Yet as he has so often done in his career, Murray simply refused to accept defeat.
He recovered from a break down in the third set and saved a match-point late in the fourth, before finally crushing 49th-ranked Nishioka's spirit to claim victory in 4h 38m.
The comeback was Murray's 10th win from two sets down and showed that despite two hip surgeries, he remains one of the sport's great warriors.
Murray, who won the 2012 title on the same court, looked off the pace, as left-hander Nishioka dominated from the baseline to take the first set. He then fell away badly and was a point away from going 0-5 down in the second set, before clawing his way back into the set.
Nishioka held firm though to claim it and was 3-1 ahead in the third, before Murray's comeback began.
Murray needed treatment at the start of the fifth set on a sore toe, but would not be denied, claiming victory with a topspin lob that forced Nishioka to volley out.
Murray will have to recover quickly, as his next opponent could be Canadian 15th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime. He says his first job is to try and find an ice bath.
"They have one in the locker room, but that's supposed to be for an emergency," Murray says. "This is an emergency."
Austrian second seed Dominic Thiem has also advanced to the second round, after Spaniard Jaume Munar retired after dropping the first two sets.
Thiem, who reached his third Grand Slam final at this year's Australian Open, where he lost to Novak Djokovic, was leading 7-6(6) 6-3, when Munar ended the match.
Munar came back from 5-3 down in the opener to pull ahead, but Thiem held to love to force a tiebreak, which he went on to secure on his second set point, when he fired down an ace.
After Munar held serve to level the second set at 3-3, but Thiem stepped up his game and won 12 of the next 16 points to seize control, before the Spaniard retired after 1h 55m.
Up next for Thiem will be India's Sumit Nagal, who beat Bradley Klahn 6-1 6-3 3-6 6-1.
Russian Andrey Rublev, seeded 10th, made light work of Frenchman Jeremy Chardy in a 6-4 6-4 6-3 victory.
Meanwhile, Rublev's compatriot Karen Khachanov rallied from two sets down to beat Italian Jannik Sinner 3-6 6-7(7) 6-2 6-0 7-6(4).
Reuters
