While Novak Djokovic struggles with injury and Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have fears over their form, Andy Murray has the luxury of arriving for the US Open on the back of confidence-boosting victory at the Cincinnati Masters.The world No. 4 triumphed at the Western & Southern Open when Djokovic retired with a shoulder injury while trailing 6-4 3-0 to claim his second title of the season.
The first, of course, came at Queen' Club - like Cincinnati the final warm-up event before a Grand Slam - only on that occasion Murray reached the Wimbledon semi-finals before falling to another defeat to Nadal.
This time, there is a difference, though. Nadal and Federer have both looked out of sorts on the North American hardcourts - neither have got beyond the quarter-finals in either Montreal or Cincinnati - and, perhaps more significantly, Djokovic looks vulnerable.
Murray's victory over him was only the Serb's second defeat in 2011 and it is bound to have had a pyschological impact on both the Scot and the Serb, who also faces a race against time to get himself fit.
Factor in this is arguably Murray's strongest surface - he won this Grand Slam as a junior - and that when he last won in Ohio in 2008 he went on to produce his best US Open performance, reaching the final only to lose to Federer, then the prospects of Murray ending his Grand Slam duck look more promising than ever.
"It was good," Murray said. "I thought the standard towards the end of the first set was very good, a lot of long rallies. He started off a little bit slow, made quite a few mistakes early on but the way I ended it was the perfect preparation for the US Open.
"This court is very similar to the one in New York and it's good to know I am playing well here in similar conditions and I hope I am going to have a good one."
"I would have obviously liked to have won by finishing the match, but it happens sometimes. I have to look at the week as a whole. It's been a very good week. Coming in here I had played badly in Montreal, so I needed to have a good week.
"Regardless of the match against Djokovic, I was happy with the way that it had gone. Glad I managed to win, but unfortunate the way it happened.
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