NEW YORK (AP) – Before they stepped on court, there was nothing to suggest Andy Murray would have any trouble against Adrian Mannarino in the U.S. Open’s second round.
Murray, after all, is seeded No. 3, owns two major championships including at Flushing Meadows in 2012, and had reached at least the quarterfinals at the last 18 Grand Slam tournaments he’d entered. Mannarino, meanwhile, is ranked 35th, has never won a tour-level title, and only three times in his career has even managed to win more than one match at a major.
So it certainly came as a surprise when, in Thursday’s very first game in Arthur Ashe Stadium, Mannarino broke Murray. About an hour later, Mannarino slammed an overhead winner to grab the first set. And 45 minutes after that, a serve-and-volley winner gave the Frenchman the second set, too.
Murray is nothing if not resilient, though. Despite looking as if he might be ready to wilt on another steamy day at Flushing Meadows – two more mid-match retirements, including by 28th-seeded Jack Sock of the United States, raised the total to 12 in the men’s draw so far – Murray put together his eighth career comeback from a two-set deficit and beat Mannarino 5-7, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-1.
It gave Murray his 35th consecutive victory in a second-round Grand Slam match.