Andy Murray inspired by British improvement
| US Open fourth round: Grigor Dimitrov v Andy Murray |
|---|
| Date: Monday, 5 September Time: Approximately 00:00 BST |
| Venue: Flushing Meadows, New York |
| Coverage: Live BBC Radio 5 live sports extra and text commentary on the BBC Sport website, app and connected TVs. |
Andy Murray says that the emergence of a generation of younger British players has helped push him to further heights.
Like Murray, Kyle Edmund and Johanna Konta reached this year’s US Open fourth round, while Dan Evans came within a point of joining them before losing to third seed Stan Wawrinka.
“What I like most about practising with them is I have a responsibility to work hard and push myself,” Murray said.
Murray takes on Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov in the fourth round on Monday.
| Top British players | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Men | World ranking | Women | World ranking |
| Andy Murray | 2 | Johanna Konta | 14 |
| Daniel Evans | 64 | Heather Watson | 73 |
| Aljaz Bedene | 77 | Naomi Broady | 82 |
| Kyle Edmund | 84 | Tara Moore | 171 |
The progress of Murray, Edmund and Konta to the fourth round marked the first time that three British singles players have advanced that far at a Grand Slam since 1964.
Since the end of August 2015, Evans has climbed 269 ranking spots, Konta – knocked out in round four by Anastasija Sevastova on Sunday – is up 84 places, while Edmund has risen 19.
Murray practises alongside Evans and Edmund at tournaments as well as during his January training block, and as part of Great Britain’s Davis Cup-winning team.
“I feel like when I’m on the court with them, I really want to work hard and show that this is what you have to do,” the world number two added.
“Maybe if it was someone from another country, I wouldn’t feel the same. I train better probably with them than I do with others, I think.”
Vallverdu reunion
Murray will come up against former coach Dani Vallverdu when he takes on world number 24 Dimitrov.
Murray and Vallverdu – who met as teenagers at the Sanchez-Casal Academy in Spain – parted ways in November 2014 shortly after Murray added Amelie Mauresmo to his team.
Since then, Vallverdu has worked with Tomas Berdych for 18 months until May 2016 and Juan Martin Del Potro for a short stint at Wimbledon, before pairing up with Dimitrov.
“We’re still getting to know each other,” Dimitrov said of Vallverdu. “First of all he’s a great guy.
“I know how to play tennis. Now it’s more the strategic way, how you’re going to prepare for big matches, big tournaments.”
Dimitrov comes into his meeting with Murray on the back of a run to the semi-finals in Cincinnati that included a straight-sets win over world number three Stan Wawrinka.
“The last few weeks he has been playing very well, getting back to a level that he’s capable of playing at,” said Murray, who laboured to a four-set win over Italy’s Paolo Lorenzi in the third round.
“I expect it to be very hard. I’ll be ready for that. I’ll need to play better than Saturday if I want to win.”