Andy Murray had plenty of thinking to do early in his second-round clash against #NextGenATP American Emilio Nava at the US Open on Wednesday, but the former World No. 1 raised his level to prevail 5-7, 6-3, 6-1, 6-0 and reach the third round in New York.

The 20-year-old Nava clinched a lung-busting 84-minute opening set with a stunning forehand pass to heap pressure on his experienced opponent, but Murray bided his time and began to unpick the Nava game with some consistent baseline hitting on Arthur Ashe Stadium. The 2012 champion won 14 of the final 15 games to reach the third round in New York for the first time in six years.

“I think I started to take the ball on a little bit more,” said Murray in his on-court interview when asked how he had turned the match around. “He was dictating a lot of the points in the first set. Once I started to hit the ball a little bit bigger, a little bit deeper, I was then able to control the points more.

“He (Nava) also played a really long first-round match, a five-setter against John Millman. I think that’s the first five-setter that he’s played, so it’s not always that easy to recover and I think his level dropped a little bit in the third and fourth sets. But he’s a brilliant young player and he’s going to have a very bright future.”

Murray had won just one of four matches in the North American hard-court swing coming into the US Open, but he downed 24th seed Francisco Cerundolo in straight sets in the opening round and Wednesday’s win against Nava improved the 35-year-old’s record at Flushing Meadows to 48-14. Murray struck 11 fewer winners than World No. 203 Nava (22 to 33), but the Briton believes his trademark defence is just as much of a weapon as his ability to hit winners this fortnight in New York.

“Physcially this is the best I’ve felt in the last few years. My movement is by far the best it has been in a long time. That’s always been a really important part of my game, and nowadays especially with a lot of the guys now hitting a huge ball, you need to be able to defend well. I feel like I’m doing that just now, I’m getting closer to where I want to be and hopefully I can have a deep run here.”

With the win Murray rises to No. 43 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, his highest mark since May 2018. The Briton will next face 13th seed Matteo Berrettini, who also recovered from dropping the opening set in his second-round match, holding firm for a 2-6, 6-1, 7-6(4), 7-6(7) win against Frenchman Hugo Grenier.

The 2019 semi-finalist Berrettini struck 74 winners to Grenier’s 30 in his three-hour, 25-minute triumph on Grandstand, and Murray is more than aware of the Italian’s power, having fallen to the seven-time Tour titlist on the grass in Stuttgart in June.

“He’s had a bit of an unlucky year, to be honest,” said Murray of Berrettini. “I know he got Covid at the beginning of Wimbledon having just won Stuttgart and Queens back-to-back… I think it was a wrist injury he had so he missed pretty much the whole of the clay season as well this year, but when he has been on the court he’s done really, really well.

“We played in the Stuttgart final, a tough three-set match, so I’m expecting it to be really difficult, but if I play well and my return is on point then I’ve got a good chance.”

After seeing fellow Top-10 seeds Stefanos Tsitsipas and Taylor Fritz crash out of the top half on Day 1, top seed Daniil Medvedev and sixth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime won’t take anything for granted when they suit up for battle in the US Open second round Wednesday.

ATPTour.com looks at five things to watch on Day Three at Flushing Meadows, where Medvedev continues his title defense and Felix faces dangerous young Brit Jack Draper.

1) Felix Meets Draper For First Encounter:
Felix Auger-Aliassime, semi-finalist at the US Open last season, is at a career-high No. 8 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. The Canadian should expect a fierce challenge in his first meeting with fast-rising 20-year-old Jack Draper.

Felix, who boasts 37 wins this season including his maiden ATP Tour title in Rotterdam, has had success in New York dating back to his junior days. The Montreal native claimed the boys’ singles title at Flushing Meadows in 2016 and the boys’ doubles title with countryman Denis Shapovalov in 2015. Last year, the 22-year-old became the first Canadian men’s singles semi-finalist in tournament history.

#NextGenATP lefty Draper, who is making his US Open debut, is hungry for his second Top 10 win. After earning his first win over a Top 10 player earlier this month when he ousted Tsitsipas in Montreal, the Brit looks to strengthen his hold on a spot at the eight-player Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals with an upset over Auger-Aliassime Wednesday. The 2018 Wimbledon boys’ singles finalist has won four ATP Challenger Tour titles this year, a season record he shares with Argentine Pedro Cachin.

2) Defending Champ Medvedev Continues Quest For Second Slam:
After winning in convincing fashion on Monday, Medvedev, who boasts a 19-2 record in his last 21 matches at the Open, looks to carry his momentum into the second round against Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech.

Rinderknech, a former Texas A&M University standout, reached his maiden Tour-level final earlier this season in Adelaide (l. Kokkinakis). The 27-year-old now looks to earn the biggest win of his career on Arthur Ashe Stadium Wednesday night.

3) Paul-Korda Clash Leads Home Favourites:
World No. 34 Tommy Paul is the highest-ranked American in action Wednesday. The 25-year-old seeks his first victory over countryman Sebastian Korda, who leads their ATP Head2Head 3-0.

Other home hopes in action Wednesday include J.J. Wolf, who cruised past 16th seed Roberto Bautista Agut on day one and now looks to return to the third round, which he reached in 2020. First, he has to get through Chilean Alejandro Tabilo. Brandon Holt and Emilio Nava also aim to advance in New York Wednesday.

4) #NextGenATP Star Nava Battles Former Champion Murray:
Wild card Nava, 20, aims to back up his maiden Grand Slam victory from Monday when he meets the 2012 champion Andy Murray, 15 years his senior, to open play on Arthur Ashe Stadium. Murray looks to claim back-to-back hard-court wins for the first time since January in Sydney. Should Nava advance, he would rise to 12th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Milan.

The four qualifiers still alive in the top half of the draw also look to build upon their success. Daniel Elahi Galan, who stunned Tsitsipas Monday, faces Australian Jordan Thompson. Holt, who upset Taylor Fritz, faces Argentine Pedro Cachin. In a matchup of two qualifiers, Portugal’s Nuno Borges and China’s Wu Yibing look to reach the third round of a major for the first time. On Monday, Wu became the first Chinese man to win a singles main-draw match at a Grand Slam in the Open Era.

5) 2022 Slam Finalists Ruud, Kyrgios In Action:
Roland Garros finalist Casper Ruud and Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios look to continue their success this season. Ruud, seeded fifth, meets Dutchman Tim van Rijthoven, who narrowly escaped Monday’s first-round contest against Zhang Zhizhen, against whom he saved seven match points.

Kyrgios, 12-2 in his past 14 matches, faces Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi, who survived in five sets in his opening match against countryman Ugo Humbert. Bonzi was a dominant force on the ATP Challenger Tour in 2021, when he collected a season-leading 50 wins. Kyrgios is seeded to meet Medvedev in the fourth round.