Andy Murray has never been a person to hide behind an excuse. Some of his peers the US Open might have mentioned the problem he had been experiencing in his left wrist and cited it as a reason for his most lacklustre performance at a Grand Slam since losing to Rafal Nadal at Wimbledon 14 months ago. But not Murray … and rightly so.

The tournament’s second seed and pick for the title of such luminaries as John McEnroe and Andre Agassi, revealed he had been experiencing discomfort for a week. Yet his performance in the previous round against the colossal serving of Taylor Dent, and particularly his returning, was nothing short of exemplary. And never let it be forgotten that not once did he call for attention of the ATP...