Andy Murray made his return to Grand Slam tennis with a four-set win against Australia’s James Duckworth in the US Open first round on Monday. In his regular BBC Sport column, the 31-year-old Scot talks about post-match pain in his hip, fuelling his body in the heat and humidity of New York and eating sushi at 8:30am.

Being back playing at a Slam tournament for the first time in 14 months was a great feeling and I’m very happy I managed to mark it with a win.

I played some good stuff, although spending three hours and 17 minutes on court was more than I would have liked.

In the fourth set I made things a bit harder than I needed to and I also had a chance to close out the first set.

But I got through it – that’s good news.

And the other positive thing is I felt better than I expected to at the end of the match.

When I’m going into the match I’m trying to prepare myself mentally that I’m not going to feel great physically after the match, or that my hip will feel painful, so I think about how I’m going to handle that.

Hopefully not feeling too bad at the end of the match continues and that my body adapts to the load I’m putting it through.

This is the first time I have played four sets in 14 months, so I just have to wait and see how I pull up.

• Murray wins on Grand Slam comeback
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‘Sushi, bacon and porridge’

After a match, and around my media interviews, I refuel by eating three boxes of sushi. I had two of them before I spoke to the press and then I save one for afterwards.

This time I chose spicy tuna sushi from the players’ restaurant at Flushing Meadows – it’s pretty good.

Sushi is something I eat regularly and I actually had sushi at 8:30am on Monday – that was odd.

That’s because I eat whatever is recommended to me. I have a nutrionist at home who will tell me to eat chicken, or rice, or pasta.

The morning before my match against James I also ate a bowl of porridge, and then I ate eggs, bacon, some gluten free toast.

When the weather is like it was in New York on Monday – hot and humid – I try to drink two litres of fluid an hour.

Then I have these energy gels which I eat every 20 minutes.

My team make up a sports drink before the match and as it goes longer I have saltier drinks to help with cramp or to prevent it.

The team study the humidity and the temperature and it all helps inform what and how much I drink.

• Wawrinka beats Dimitrov in straight sets
• Nadal through after injury ruins Ferrer’s Grand Slam farewell

‘Flushing Meadows can be noisy but I don’t mind it’

I really liked playing on the new Louis Armstrong Stadium – I think it’s a bit easier to play on than the old one.

It’s a little bit more sheltered from the wind, although you can get a breeze in there. Before it used to swirl a lot in the old Armstrong. Now it blows but tends to go in one direction.

Also, it’s shaded from quite early on in the day, which is nice for the players and also, I think, for the people watching.

There is still a constant hum of noise from the spectators when you’re on court here and it takes a while to get used to it.

At Wimbledon and a lot of the other tournaments the etiquette is you’re quiet during play but here it is not really the case.

It takes a bit of getting used to but five or six games into it becomes normal and you get over it.

I don’t mind noise during points – it doesn’t just happen here, it happens at most of the tournaments.

People arriving late to their seats happens quite a lot here too and that can be a problem if they’re behind the court.

When you’re having to track a moving object and people behind the court are wearing different colours or moving around it makes it very difficult to pick up the ball.

I wouldn’t say it is more of a problem at Flushing Meadows than anywhere else, maybe it was just because it was the first day of the tournament and the ushers were letting people in when it’s not an end change.

‘I’m still taking it one match at a time’

Fernando Verdasco is my opponent in the second round – he will certainly test my movement, that’s for sure.

He has got a huge forehand and can do whatever he wants with that shot. He can hit angles, he can flatten out, higher balls.

He is never an easy guy to play against if he’s on his game.

It’s my job in that match to stop him dictating and hopefully I can be a bit more offensive and keep him on the back foot.

Before the tournament I said I wasn’t expecting to go far and I don’t think anything changes after beating James.

I’m still taking it one match at a time, but it’s great being back playing.

Defending champion Rafael Nadal moved into the US Open second round after fellow Spaniard David Ferrer’s Grand Slam farewell was ruined by injury.

Nadal led 6-3 3-4 in Monday’s late tie on Arthur Ashe Stadium before Ferrer had to give up with a calf injury.

Ferrer, the 36-year-old former world number three, will retire after playing in Barcelona or Madrid next year, but says this will be his final Grand Slam.

“It is sad for me to see him finish like this,” said 32-year-old Nadal.

“I’m very very sorry for him, he is one of my closest friends on tour and we have shared amazing moments together, playing in French Open finals and playing together in the Davis Cup and Davis Cup finals.

“He is one of the greatest players we have had in our country.”

Top seed Nadal is among the favourites to retain his crown and has a seemingly favourable draw at Flushing Meadows, with two top 10 players – Kevin Anderson and Dominic Thiem – in his quarter.

Anderson lost to Nadal in last year’s final and has never beaten him in five attempts, while Thiem has only won four matches since finishing runner-up to the Spaniard at the French Open in June.

Before looking that far ahead, Nadal must focus on beating Canada’s Vasek Pospisil, ranked 88th, in the second round on Wednesday.

Swiss wildcard Stan Wawrinka beat eighth seed Grigor Dimitrov 6-3 6-2 7-5 in the first round of the US Open at Flushing Meadows in New York.

2016 champion Wawrinka had two knee operations last year and was unable to defend his title in 2017.

It is the second consecutive Grand Slam in which Wawrinka, 33, has beaten Dimitrov in round one, having come from a set down to win at Wimbledon in July.

Dimitrov converted only one of eight break points on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

• Murray wins on Grand Slam return
• World number one Halep knocked out in first round

“The last time I played on this great court I won the title, so it was great to be able to come back and play again,” said Wawrinka.

I hope he recovers quick. I told him at the net we will play a lot of times and we’ll play in the final one day

“The level was really high. There were lots of emotions out there. It’s always tough to play your best in the first round.”

Three-time Grand Slam champion Wawrinka – ranked 101st in the world – will face Frenchman Ugo Humbert in the second round.

Elsewhere, 31st seed Fernando Verdasco beat fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 6-2 7-5 6-4 to set up a second-round meeting with Britain’s Andy Murray, who defeated Australian James Duckworth 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 7-5 6-3.

Britain’s Andy Murray enjoyed a winning return to Grand Slam tennis as he fought back to beat Australia’s James Duckworth in the US Open first round.

The 31-year-old won 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 7-5 6-3 on the new Louis Armstrong Stadium at Flushing Meadows.

It was Murray’s first best-of-five-set match in 14 months, having had surgery on a long-term hip injury in January.

The Scot will play Spanish 31st seed Fernando Verdasco in the second round in New York.

“I was pumped to be back playing in a Slam again,” Murray said.

“At points in the match I didn’t play amazing. I’m not expecting to play my best tennis right now.

“But I’m happy to get through the match.”

• GB’s Edmund beaten in round one at US Open
• Wawrinka beats Dimitrov in straight sets
• Watson suffers eighth straight US Open first-round exit
• Halep knocked out in US Open first round

‘I made some good moves’ – Murray

Murray, a three-time Grand Slam champion, has faced a long road to recovery after opting to have surgery, tentatively coming back during the grass-court season before deciding he still was not fit enough to play five sets at Wimbledon.

Although he had to pull out of his home Slam with a “heavy heart”, making his five-set comeback at Flushing Meadows – where he played in his first major final in 2008 and won his first Slam in 2012 – was the next best thing.

Walking out on the newly renovated court, Murray received a huge ovation – only bettered by the one which greeted the winning point.

Signs of tension were apparent as he closed in on his first Slam win since beating France’s Benoit Paire in the Wimbledon fourth round last year, a double fault at 30-15 in the final game briefly delaying his victory.

But a sharp scamper from the baseline to meet a drop volley ended in a stretching scoop over the net before a powerful first serve on match point that Duckworth could not return.

Murray raised both arms skywards in triumph and then clenched his fist towards his watching team, which included wife Kim.

“The positive was that actually towards the end of the match, I made some quite good moves,” he said.

“Like the second to the last point of the match, I moved pretty quickly up to the drop volley.

“I maintained my serving speeds throughout the match, as well.”

Murray ‘toughs it out’ as promised

Following his injury problems, Murray is ranked 382nd in the world and, although the former number one is able to play in the US Open because of his protected ranking, being unseeded left him open to a difficult draw.

However, he was handed an opening opponent in Duckworth who is ranked lower, at 448, after suffering a catalogue of injury problems himself.

Murray was far from his best in the opening set, saving two break points early on before steadying his service game as a tie-break loomed.

He was unable to convert two set points at 6-5 and rustiness was evident in the tie-break. A routine forehand volley planted into the tramlines gave Duckworth an early lead and then, after fighting back on serve, Murray allowed his opponent to win three straight points for the opening set.

In the build-up, Murray spoke about having to “tough it out” over five sets – and that is exactly what he did.

After recovering to take a two sets to one lead, he lost serve in the first and fifth games of the fourth set before instantly breaking again on both occasions.

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British number one Kyle Edmund exited the US Open in the first round after a surprise loss to Italy’s Paolo Lorenzi.

Lorenzi, the world number 94, beat the 16th seed 4-6 6-4 7-5 6-1 amid high humidity at Flushing Meadows.

After taking the opening set, Edmund, 23, was pegged back in the second before he cramped up in the third, affecting his movement on court.

The match, which lasted three hours and 12 minutes, was played in temperatures of 30C and with humidity above 60%.

• Halep knocked out in US Open first round
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Edmund struggled as his fitness problems took hold in the third set, and he had to stretch out his groin repeatedly.

A series of double faults from 36-year-old Lorenzi kept a wincing Edmund in the set, but the longer it went on, the more the momentum shifted towards the unseeded Italian.

Edmund, shaking his head, did not even attempt to play a shot as Lorenzi closed out the set in the 12th game with a backhand, before the Briton called on the trainer for treatment.

He was given salts in a bid to combat the problem, but his movement continued to be restricted.

Although the veteran Lorenzi does not have a powerful serve, his tally of 21 aces – including eight in the final set – is an indicator of how Edmund struggled to move as the match wore on.

• Watson suffers eighth straight US Open first-round exit
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Cramp problems return for Edmund

Cramping was an issue which Edmund struggled with earlier in his career, notably during the 2015 Davis Cup final and again a few months later during an opening-day exit at the 2016 Australian Open.

And the problem returned at the most inopportune time at Flushing Meadows.

British women’s number four Naomi Broady, commentating for BBC Radio 5 live sports extra, said she was “a bit lost” why cramp would return to affect Edmund.

“My only assumption is something wasn’t right with his hydration in the past 24-48 hours,” she said.

Edmund suffered from tonsillitis during the Croatia Open in Umag last month and struggled with a viral illness after the Australian Open and Wimbledon.

“It’s one of those things that indicates where you are at, physically,” Edmund told BBC Sport. “There’s a point where, physically, you’re not up to shape to play.

“You give your all, but I just wasn’t good enough today to give my best. After Wimbledon, I’ve really been put back. This trip, I was always trying to do my best to get physically fit again, so it’s a work in progress.

“Years and years of building up fitness and you get put back. It doesn’t just come back in a few weeks, you have to build it up again. It’s quite brutal. The calendar is so long you have to keep physically fit the whole year round.

“There’s no point sulking about it – it’s very much keep working hard to get it back.”

World number one Simona Halep became the first top-seeded woman to lose in the US Open first round, falling to a 6-2 6-4 defeat against Kaia Kanepi.

The 26-year-old Romanian’s serve was broken five times in the first match on the new Louis Armstrong Stadium.

She fought back from a double break down to 4-4 in the second set but the Estonian broke again before Halep sent a forehand long on match point.

Halep also lost her opening match at Flushing Meadows last year.

The French Open champion was beaten by Maria Sharapova in New York in 2017.

Before Monday’s defeat, no women’s top seed had lost in the opening round at the US Open since the professional era began in 1968, the same year that the tournament was given its current name, having previously been known as the US National Championships.

World number 44 Kanepi, 33, reached the quarter-finals at Flushing Meadows last year but has had a succession of injury problems in recent years.

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