Tennis/US Open Championships:It is a decade since Greg Rusedski defeated Jonas Bjorkman in the semi-finals of the US Open, yet the hugely likeable 35-year-old Swede continues to roll back the years and is relishing the challenge of playing Andy Murray in the second round tomorrow.
"It's always fun to play the upcoming stars of the game and Andy is one of them," he said. "So I'm looking forward to it. I haven't played him before and I like being the underdog."
Murray, having beaten the Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas in straight sets in the opening round, was like a dog with two tails. The most obvious reason was because his injured wrist held firm. More interestingly Murray said he was more relaxed and calm, giving off positive rather than negative vibes on court.
"The last year or so it has not been good. I know I can play great tennis and I should be enjoying it more," he admitted.
"I think the way I play should be fun for people to watch, as well as for myself, because I use different shots to a lot of players. I try to mix things up and I should be trying to annoy my opponents by the way I play rather than getting annoyed with myself. It got to the stage where I was trying to play almost too well."
Murray has always been a perfectionist and a hard task master, attributes that tended to fuel his Mr Angry persona. It was John McEnroe who suggested this year that he ought to be enjoying himself a little more. It was a fair point, which Murray has taken on board.
"I don't know exactly why I felt the way I did but it's not much fun playing a sport if you're not enjoying winning too much. I think it's pretty important for me to have got that back."
Bjorkman, asked what he most admired about Murray, was unequivocal. "His head, because he's so tactically aware. You see some players who just go out and hit the ball as hard as possible and there are no thoughts or plans on how to win the point.
"Andy and Novak Djokovic are the two youngsters I love to watch. If things are not working for them they are always trying to find a different way to beat their opponent. That's why I like to watch Roger [ Federer]. It's all about finesse and strategies, as it is with Andy."
Murray and Bjorkman have never played singles before but Murray knows that the veteran Swede will try to attack him at the net.
"The best parts of my game are my return and my passing shot so it will be interesting to see how he plays against me. I'm guessing he's not going to want to do too much running because he's getting on a bit," he said with a smile.
Tim Henman makes what could be his last appearance in a grand slam today when he takes on Dmitry Tursunov in the first round, having lost five of the previous six meeting against the Russian. This will be Henman's 49th appearance at this level, during which he has reached six semi-finals and four quarter-finals.
The US Open was the first of the overseas grand slams he played in 1995, with his finest hour at Flushing Meadows coming in 2004 when he reached the semi-finals, losing to Federer, who went on to claim the title which has not since relinquished.
Svetlana Kuznetsova began her bid to regain the women's title in impressive fashion with a quick victory over Klara Zakopalova. Russian Kuznetsova, seeded fourth, was the surprise champion in 2004 when she defeated compatriot Elena Dementieva but crashed out in the first round the following year.
Having made a run to the round of 16 last year, Kuznetsova showed she can improve further still this year, particularly having already reached the quarter-finals of the French Open and Wimbledon. And she took just 64 minutes to dispatch Zakopalova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 6-3.
Sixteenth seed Martina Hingis needed just 60 minutes to oust France's Mathilde Johansson 6-0, 6-3. The Swiss former world number one was a second-round casualty at Flushing Meadows last year as she came back from a three-year "retirement". But there are no signs she will make so early an exit this week despite an injury-plagued season so far.
Results
WOMEN'S SINGLES:First round: Virginie Razzano (Fra) bt Emilie Loit (Fra) 6-1 6-2, (4) Svetlana Kuznetsova (Rus) bt Klara Zakopalova (Cze) 6-2 6-3, (30) Agnieska Radwanska (Pol) bt Akiko Morigami (Jpn) 6-2 6-1, Laura Granville (USA) bt Olivia Sanchez (Fra) 6-2 6-2, Camille Pin (Fra) bt Tatiana Perebiynis (Ukr) 6-1 6-2, Victoria Azarenka (Blr) bt Emmanuelle Gagliardi (Swi) 6-1 6-1, (26) Sania Mirza (Ind) bt Kaia Kanepi (Est) 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 6-1, Dominika Cibulkova (Svk) bt (23) Tathiana Garbin (Ita) 6-4 6-3, (11) Patty Schnyder (Swi) bt Iveta Benesova (Cze) 6-3 6-0, Maria Kirilenko (Rus) bt Martina Muller (Ger) 6-3 6-1, (13) Nicole Vaidisova (Cze) bt Alla Kudryavtseva (Rus) 6-1 6-2, (16) Martina Hingis (Swi) bt Mathilde Johansson (Fra) 6-0 6-3, Pauline Parmentier (Fra) bt Tatjana Malek (Ger) 6-2 6-4.
MEN'S SINGLES:First round: (16) Lleyton Hewitt (Aus) bt Amer Delic (USA) 6-2 6-4 6-2, (20) Juan Ignacio Chela (Arg) bt Michael Mcclune (USA) 6-2 6-1 7-6 (7-0), Dudi Sela (Isr) bt Nicolas Lapentti (Ecu) 5-7 6-2 6-1 6-3, (23) Juan Monaco (Arg) bt Edouard Roger-Vasselin (Fra) 6-2 3-6 6-1 7-5, Juan Martin Del Potro (Arg) bt Nicolas Mahut (Fra) 6-0 6-4 6-2, Stefan Koubek (Aut) bt Samuel Querrey (USA) 7-6 (7-1) 6-1 6-1, Wayne Odesnik (USA) bt Danai Udomchoke (Tha) 6-7 (2-7) 6-3 6-1 3-6 7-6 (7-2), (31) Jurgen Melzer (Aut) bt Diego Hartfield (Arg) 6-4 7-5 7-5, Arnaud Clement (Fra) bt (32) Ivo Karlovic (Cro) 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 4-6 6-7 (6-8) 6-4, Thomas Johansson (Swe) bt Nicolas Massu (Chi) 2-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 6-3, (12) Ivan Ljubicic (Cro) bt Kristof Vliegen (Bel) 6-1 7-6 (7-1) 6-1, (3) Novak Djokovic (Ser) bt R Haase (Ned) 6-2 6-1 6-3.
