Andy Murray’s US Open hopes over as Matteo Berrettini finds power and touch

At the beginning of this long and unpredictable summer Andy Murray and Matteo Berrettini stared each other down in the final of Stuttgart. For two sets they went blow for blow as equals and both players looked promising.

But those hopeful early days of the grass season made way for gloom. Out of nowhere Murray pulled his abdominal muscle and was lame throughout the third set. After following up Stuttgart by winning Queen’s, on the eve of Wimbledon Berrettini contracted Covid and withdrew.

Neither has recovered his mid-June form; they won one ATP match between each other on the North American hard courts and they arrived for their US Open third round just searching for a win to build momentum anew.

It was Berrettini who found it, withstanding a late surge from an otherwise sub-par Murray. He paired his nuclear serve and forehand with sweet, delicate touches around the court, breaking down Murray to reach the fourth round with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (1), 6-3 win.

Throughout this week Murray has expressed deep satisfaction about how his body, beyond his recent cramping issues, is dealing with the constant strain of professional tennis. Three years ago his five-set first-round win over Yoshihito Nishiooka ruined him and it took months for his body to recover. His sounder physical base now was reflected in his movement, which he demonstrated early on by flicking a one-handed on-the-run backhand passing shot, then a sweet forehand lob at full stretch. He generated an early break point at 3-2.

But then Berrettini took over. He possesses one of the biggest serve-and-forehand combinations in the world, which he combines with a sweet drop shot, hand skills and particularly great backhand slice. In these big moments, at the grand slam