The seeds for the 2017 US Open were recently announced and Andy Murray is second seeded entering the tournament. Many are wondering if he will be able to live up to his billing at Flushing Meadows given his recent hip injury. Murray has not played a match since Wimbledon and that means that he has missed all of the warm-up events in the US Open hardcourt series, including both Montreal and Cincinnati. Certainly, the Scot has been better poised entering majors, but at least if his injury is not a factor in New York then there should not be any fatigue issues for him as he has had plenty of rest since the Wimbledon quarters.
Kyle Edmund not resting
The same can't be said about fellow British player Kyle Edmund. Edmund entered this week as the World No. 45. He earned a spot in the Winston-Salem draw, a 250-level event that's played on the hard-court surface in the American south. The 22-year old is certainly getting plenty of matches in ahead of Flushing Meadows. He is into the semifinals with a draw through Damir Dzumhur to get to the tournament final. Surviving his semi, Edmund may face Roberto Bautista-Agut, Winston-Salem's top seed and a player that should be tough to beat.
It's generally a bad idea to play in the week before a major. Players often pick up niggling injuries after playing tournaments, injuries that often require just a few days to recover from.
However, for those who make the final, Winston-Salem's championship match will be played on Saturday. With the US Open to start on Monday if either of the finalists should emerge with a small injury or even just fatigued after ATP Winston-Salem is complete, then it may be enough to cause that player to lose in the early rounds of Flushing Meadows.
However, Edmund isn't a top player so he has to take all the ranking points that he can get without being too picky about where he gets them. If he can get into the final of Winston-Salem that would entail at least 125 ranking points for him toward his year-end total. But tennis fans of Edmund's that are pulling for a Grand Slam run will have to watch his status updates once the event in Winston-Salem is over.
Certainly, the Brit is playing well as he beat Steve Johnson in the quarterfinals of the 250-level event. It could be that a healthy Edmund, with a nice draw, could get into the middle rounds of the US Open.
Murray getting court time in at Flushing Meadows
While Murray doesn't have any hard-court time in terms of match play in recent months, there's still something to be said about practicing at the venue where you are about to compete at. Murray was captured on the tennis courts on Thursday in New York. The US Open Tennis Championships' Youtube account published a video with him, Caroline Wozniacki, and Juan Martin del Potro as the focus.
