The meeting has come earlier than either player would have liked - today's third-round match at Flushing Meadows between Fernando Gonzalez and Andy Murray, the second- and third-ranked players in the US Open Series points table.Apart from Andy Roddick, the winner in Cincinnati, no one has been more impressive on North American hard courts this summer than this pair, who might have been playing under each other's coach.
Not everyone credits Gilbert with humility. But Agassi does that to people. Now Murray, who idolised Agassi growing up, stands to benefit from him one step removed. It may surprise him to know that he already does some things better than Agassi did at 19 - such as taking extra time to sign autographs.'On my days off I do it as much as possible,' Murray says, adding with his deadpan humour: 'If they stick it in your face and you just walk past them, they are not going to like you as much.'
Hurricane Andy, who has brought a depression over some of his opponents in recent weeks, will be hoping to hang around a little longer. Andy Murray says he is playing the best tennis of his life and victory in his next match could open up his quarter of the draw in his favourite Grand Slam tournament.
Murray has never doubted his own ability and the win over Federer has strengthened his self-confidence. "Before I probably thought I could beat everybody except him," Murray said. "Until you win against a guy like that there's always a bit of doubt in the back of your mind whether you can win against him. I always believed I could, but until you actually do it you never know if it's quite possible.
I've wanted to call him but either I've lost his right number or he has changed it.
I'm with him every day but that's one of those decisions he has to make for himself. I don't want to tell him, 'Go risk it'. We have another 10 days and we're just going to take it one day at a time.
I don't know all the details but I've heard that if he's at 90% then he's still going to play.If you're 90% then you shouldn't play because the difference between being top 10 like Andy is and top 80 or top 100 is maybe 5%.So if you're playing at 90% you won't win very many matches. I know from experience that it's dangerous to play with a small injury.I've done it and know what it's like. You're so competitive and the adrenaline starts so that no matter how careful you want to be, you're not.You're never careful because you want to win so badly. The adrenaline is pumping so much that you don't know when to stop and you can possibly end up making the injury worse.
Andy Murray's rush up the rankings - and this week he rose to a career-high No8, only four places below the peak achieved by both Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski - is no more or less than the 20-year-old Scot ever expected, although many are still out of breath at his rate of achievement since he left the junior ranks two years ago. "Andy doesn't look at it that way," said Brad Gilbert. "He's been a great player since he was a kid. For him he's simply doing what's in his capabilities."These are tough days for player and coach, or so it would appear from the outside with Murray slowly recovering from a right wrist injury that makes him a doubt for Wimbledon. However, Gilbert, the Lawn Tennis Association's performance coach, remains the epitome of calm. "Anytime anybody is injured you always feel for them. But it's part of being an athlete, part of the job. Everybody gets hurt. It's important to stay motivated and keep a positive attitude. The medical advice is more important than anything. You can't be pushing somebody if something is wrong. The experts will say when it's time to do this or that. If not, you can't."
