Murray who was two sets down, rallied from behind to stage a resolute fightback and clinch a 5-set marathon battle against World's 48th ranked Nishioka with a scoreline reading 4-6, 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/4), 6-4. It took the 3 time Grand Slam champion 4 hour and 39 min to overcome his spirited Japanese opponent in his first singles Grand Slam match in 18 months following a major injury and the coronavirus pandemic.
The Scotsman will now lock horns against 15th seed Canadian Felix Auger-Allassime in the second round. Murray seemed to be starring at a upset defeat in the opening round of the US Open after losing the opening two sets and was in real trouble when he went 1-3 down in the third set.
The 3-time Grand slam champion, whose last grand slam singles match was at the 2019 Australian Open before pulling out of the season to undergo a career-saving hip surgery, was a bit shaky and slow off the blocks in the early part of the match.
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However, the gritty Scotsman should tremendous resilience to pull back things and help him take a 5-4 lead before taking the set on a tie-break. By then, Murray was playing more aggressively, forcing Nishioka on back foot and to err of his own.
The first four games of set four went to serve until a Murray double fault put him a break down. Murray immediately broke back though, a delicate back-handed lob from deep making the score 3-3, before breaking again for game, set, match.
"I'm tired. My toes are the worst part I think," said Murray, who had treatment on his toes at the start of the fifth set. "The big toes on both sides are pretty beat up. I did alright physically.
Murray skipped last year's US Open to prepare for his comeback on a singles return on tour but got ruled out of January's Australian Open with a pelvic injury. His chances to return to the Grand Slam singles stage were then lost because of the coronavirus pandemic.