Andy Murray involved in US Open row with Fernando Verdasco after accusing opponent of having illegal coaching

The former world No 1 was knocked out of the US Open in four sets, but was unhappy with Verdasco allegedly speaking to his coach during a 10-minute heat break

Andy Murray admitted that he still had doubts as to whether he would ever recapture his best form but was encouraged by his performance against Fernando Verdasco here on Wednesday at the US Open, despite a row developing after the Briton accused his opponent of illegally speaking to his coach during heat break.

Murray was beaten 7-5, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 after more than three and a quarter hours, but the 31-year-old Scot fought to the end of a tight contest played in sweltering conditions. The temperature reached 36 degrees Celsius and the humidity rose above 40 per cent.

Under the tournament’s new heat rule the two players were allowed to take a 10-minute break before the fourth set. However, Murray was concerned about the lack of guidance about the protocol for the breaks.

Players must not talk to their entourage during them, but Murray said he saw Verdasco chatting with his coach in the locker room. Murray said he informed the supervisor, who, according to the Scot, told Verdasco that was not allowed.

“You’ve got to do better than that,” Murray said. “This is one of the biggest events in the world. If you have rules like that, you need to stick with them, because one player getting to speak to the coach and the other not is not fair.”

He added: “I’m not blaming Fernando and his team. They probably weren’t aware that those were the rules. They certainly weren’t trying to break any rules. It shouldn’t be for the player that’s competing against him to have to go to the supervisor.

“If I hadn’t said anything, they would have been chatting, chatting about the match, giving tactics and stuff. I shouldn’t be in that position in the middle of a match at a Slam, having to make sure they're doing their job.”

Verdasco, nevertheless, denied that he had talked to his coach and insisted that he had not been admonished by any tournament official.

Murray was unhappy with Verdasco speaking to his coach during a heat break (AP)

Asked whether he had any doubts about his ability to return to the top, Murray said: “You just don’t know. When I got the injury, I was ranked No 1 in the world. Twelve months later things had completely changed.

“You just don’t know exactly what’s round the corner. If things keep going smoothly and physically I continue to improve, I believe that I will get back to competing for the biggest competitions, because there’s no reason why I couldn’t, but you don’t know.

“When you continue to build up and start playing more tournaments, you don’t know how you’re going to respond. If that’s the case, that makes things a little bit more tricky.

“Because of the path that I’ve been on the last year with many, many ups and downs, trying to come back, it not quite working, then ending up having the surgery, I think it’s completely normal to have those doubts.”

Fernando Verdasco denied Murray's accusations of speaking to his coach (AP)

However, Murray was pleased at the way he had fought to the end of his second-round match. In the fourth set he retrieved one of two breaks of serve and then forced five break points when Verdasco served for the match. The Spaniard eventually converted his third match point.

“It was extremely hot and the conditions were pretty challenging, certainly some of the toughest you’ll play in during the year,” Murray said. “To be doing as well as I was at the end of the match, considering the lack of practice and matches that I’ve had, was positive.”

He added: “I think some of the tennis I played today was some of the best I’ve played since I had the surgery, but there were also periods in the match, especially in the first set, where I really didn’t play particularly well. I made a lot of mistakes when I was up in that set. I feel like I should have won the first set and didn’t.

Murray was able to take some positives but was still unhappy with defeat (Getty)

“At the end, when my back was against the wall, I came up with some good tennis to make it close and interesting and almost got myself back into it.”

Murray, who had hip surgery in January and played his first comeback tournament in June, was pleased with the way his body had held up, especially as his first match on Monday had also taken more than three hours.

“This is still quite early in the process for me,” he said. “I did all right. I chased balls down right to the end of the match. I wasn’t giving up on points. It wasn’t the most comfortable I felt on a tennis court, but I got through it and fought right to the end.”

Verdasco was accused of being coached during a 10-minute heat break (Getty)

Murray was frustrated at his failure to win the first set, in which he led 4-2 and had a set point at 5-4. “I didn’t have any expectations to win this event, but I made some mistakes in the first set, which potentially could have made the match very different if I had won it 6-3 in 35 or 40 minutes,” he said. “The set ended up being about an hour. It can change things.

“I get frustrated at that. I was trying to play more offensively and I made more mistakes than I usually would. It’s difficult sometimes to get the balance when you haven’t played as many matches, haven’t practised as much as you would like. It’s difficult to always make the right decisions when you’re on the court, playing more offensively.

“It’s something I did a lot more when I was younger. It’s something that is going to take a bit of time getting used to again. It certainly cost me a few points today.”

Temperatures exceeded 36 degrees Celsius during the second-round encounter in New York (AP)

With Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin del Potro having all made successful comebacks after long-term injuries, Murray was asked whether their examples were helping him.

“All injuries are different,” he said. “Some are a lot more serious than others. Some parts of the body are even more difficult to come back from.

“I prefer to look at my own situation and try to make the best of that. Juan in particular has had a number of issues with his wrist and found ways around that and came back, though it obviously took him a very long time.

“The other guys have had some issues, but it’s impossible to know how serious they are. A lot of them have come back. I want to be part of that.”