Three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray's health seems to be improving just in time for the US Open Tennis Championships as the Scot hit a practice session on Sunday in New York.
@andy_murray is the first player to have a hit in Ashe. Always nice to have the former champ back! #Usopen2017 pic.twitter.com/4eQg1WkbSi
— Eric Butorac (@ebutorac) August 20, 2017
In addition, Murray himself posted a photo of him practicing on the stadium on his Instagram story.
Murray, who is plagued by an elbow injury, remains hopeful that he won't be forced to withdraw from the last Grand Slam event of the season.
The 30-year-old got through qualifying in 2005 to make his debut appearance at Flushing Meadows. He has been featured at the tournament ever since, winning it all five years ago.
Murray hasn't played since a disappointing Wimbledon quarter-final loss suffered to American Sam Querrey. World No. 20 Querrey took the most out of the fact that Murray was clearly injured and struggling heavily during their clash, creating a comeback to reach the semi-final as the Scot had a 2-1 set lead.
Murray still has a week to prepare and get ready to give a shot the US Open as the tournament has been scheduled to take place 28 August - 10 September.
Murray lacks matches
Should Murray decide to continue his playing streak at the US Open, he would be entering the tournament lacking matches.
The two-time Olympics champion pulled out of the Montreal Masters and Cincinnati Masters -- the two biggest hard-court events leading up to the last Grand Slam of the year. However, Murray would be hoping that he will receive a favorable draw, which would give him a chance to make it past few early rounds and catch some rhythm as the US Major enters its latter stages.
Nadal makes it past Murray
Meanwhile, Murray has gotten dethroned from the top spot as Spain's Rafa Nadal is the new world No. 1 on this week's updated ATP rankings list. With 7,645 points collected to his name, Nadal leads the pack. The 31-year-old has ended a three-year rankings drought as he has made it to No. 1 for the first time since 2014 July.
12-time Major champion Novak Djokovic replaced Nadal at the top spot in the summer of 2014 and held onto that ranking for more than two years. The Serb's run ended after the Paris Masters last November when Murray became the world No. 1 for the first time in his career.
Murray remains just ahead of Federer
Murray, who has had his streak of 41 consecutive weeks as the world No. 1 concluded this Monday, barely avoided further rankings drop. The list says the second-ranked Scot has 7,150 points earned while the great Roger Federer follows him closely at No. 3 with 7,145 points. Last year's US Open quarter-finalist Murray is due to continue his rankings drop as Swiss Federer has no points to defend at Flushing Meadows since he didn't play at the event last year.