Murray Fights the Heat, and Lopez

The Scot needed three tiebreak sets in order to overcome his Spanish opponent in the heat of Flushing Meadows.

By Joe McDonald

NEW YORK, NY (September 1, 2012) --  Andy Murray knows he can’t control the weather. Only Roger Federer can do that.

The late New York summer can be very un-Scotland like, so he may have a problem or two adjusting to the U.S. Open.

So Murray goes to Miami for some Florida weather boot camp every August, but this year he couldn’t since he was busy winning gold for the Queen.

So it stands to reason he had a tough time against No. 30 seed Feliciano Lopez in the 90-degree weather, eventually pulling out the match, 7-6, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6 to advance to the fourth round.

"It was physically challenging," he said. "I actually felt better towards the end of the match than I did maybe halfway through it. I think it was probably down to a combination of things, you know, having not played that much in these conditions. It's just taking a while to get used to it.

"Normally we get that three week training block in Miami before we come over to the States. Because of the Olympics, obviously missed that. So it's been tough."

Murray is the enigma at this Open. He has been playing better, going to the Wimbledon final and then winning gold on the same court a month later, but with performances like this, sometimes you have to wonder if he has what it takes to beat either Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic next week -- or even get there for that matter.

In the past Murray crushed F-Lo in all six of their past encounters, but the Spaniard seemed to have a chance today. One or two good bounces and everyone would be wondering what happened with Murray -- particularly over in Britain.

But Murray does credit F-Lo for his service today.

"I think he served well. He went for big second serves," he said. "That was maybe the difference. You know, I wasn't getting as much depth on my returns because of that.

"You know, conditions can play a part in it as well. It was lively, quick conditions. His serve was bouncing off the court a lot. It can be tough to control the returns.

"I always say you never take matches or any players for granted because on any given day, you know, things can change. If you don't play your best, they play a great match, you know, you can lose. Sometimes you just have to find a way to get through. I did that today."

To keep up his strength after playing the grueling 3-hour-and-53-minute clash, Murray will be eating a lot of protein. He says sushi is on the menu for tonight and then may look at a steak tomorrow. "We actually had steak a couple nights ago," he said. "Maybe tomorrow I'll do that. I try and eat for dinner I'll have fish one night, chicken the next, then steak. Try not to have the same thing every day. Probably be good to get some steak tomorrow."

Well that's good. There are plenty of steakhouses in the city. And then he can also hope the weather can break next week to be more like Scotland this time of year.

There is a possibility of that four letter word that may push the Open back, but no one wants that. Or he can talk to Federer. Since he can do everything else, why not see if he can make it 10 degrees cooler in New York.

Eight million people would thank him.

(File Photo: Andy Murray plays at the 2012 Wimbledon Championships; Credit: Getty Images)