As Andy Murray emerged blinking into the brilliant sunlight of Arthur Ashe Stadium, his first thought was to cast a glance skywards. The gesture would prove prescient.
No one would deny that the retractable roof installed above Arthur Ashe Stadium six years ago was a needful addition at a tournament where rain once caused the postponement of the men’s final for five consecutive years. Yet the solution has not come without problems, and one of those is the awkward expanse of shade that envelops one end of the court between late morning and early afternoon, making it difficult to pick up the ball as it comes out of the shadows.
Against a player possessed of a service like Matteo Berrettini’s, that is quite a problem, as Murray discovered. Barely visible at the best of times, the 6ft 5in Italian’s delivery regularly hurtles down at speeds in excess of 130mph; allowing it to pass through a change of light is a bit like equipping Sonic the Hedgehog with a turbocharged engine. For two sets, that must have been pretty much how it felt to Murray. Five games in, the former world No 1 was already chuntering to his box about being unable to track his returns in the shadows.
Curiously, though, Murray’s 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (1-7), 6-3 defeat was ultimately determined as much by his own serve as Berrettini’s – and more by the blinding glare at one end of the court than the veil of darkness at the other. Time and again, the Scot sped through his service games in the shade, only to falter in the sun. The tone was set early, a trio of forehand winners gifting Berrettini a first break point. Murray fended off the danger to hold, but he would go on to drop serve three times in two sets from the sunny end, double faults costing him dearly on each occasion.
“I served pretty poorly for a large part of the match, which hurt me a lot,” said Murray, who made just 53% of his first serves. “It’s always tough down one end at that time of day. So from one end probably understandable, but, you know, I just couldn’t find any rhythm on serve.
“I hung in really well in the third set, and could see from the stats and stuff that were coming up that when I was getting into rallies, I was getting comfortably the better of those exchanges when I got past the first few shots. He served extremely well, got loads of free points on his serve. I didn’t. That was the difference.”
Yet for all Murray’s deficiencies on serve, his stubborn fighting spirit remains boundless, and it is a reflection of his enduring resilience that he survived eight break points in the third set to establish a foothold in the contest. A break at the start of the fourth offered hope of more, but Murray promptly lost his serve to love, and from there Berrettini did not look back.
“Had I got through that game, maybe that changes things, but I didn’t play a good game,” said Murray.
“I’ve not been in loads of those matches recently, and, you know, maybe that showed a little bit in those moments. But I’m surprised that I was able to compete as well as I did with someone that’s as good as him, with the situation that I’m in.
“I’ve got a metal hip. It’s not easy playing with that. It’s really difficult.
“Matches like this, I’m really proud that I have worked myself into a position where I’m able to do that.”
For Berretini, who also defeated Murray on the grass courts of Stuttgart earlier this summer, the victory continues a welcome return to form after a season blighted by injury and illness. The 26-year-old, a semi-finalist at Flushing Meadows three years ago, will face Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the next round after the Spaniard came through 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 against Colombian qualifier Daniel Galan.
On a disappointing day for British tennis, Murray was followed out of the tournament by Jack Draper, who was forced to retire with a hamstring injury while trailing Russia’s Karen Khachanov 3-6, 6-4, 6-5. Draper, who defeated sixth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in the previous round, led 5-3 in the third set.
“It’s been a really positive week for me,” said Draper. “This is my second slam on merit. It’s very different playing the five-set matches. I beata couple of really good players, and I felt like today I was coming back. I would have had a chance to win that match if I was injury free.
“I think in terms of reflecting, I can be very positive about the year I’ve had so far as well. When I look back, in 2020 I was thinking about stopping tennis during Covid. So to think I’m here now and I’ve broken the top 50 this week, I’m very proud of myself.”