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U.S. Open: Down 2 sets to none, Andy Murray comes back to win

Andy Murray was relieved to defeat world No. 35 Adrian Mannarino of France on Thursday. (Associated Press)
Associated Press

NEW YORK – Before they stepped on court, there was nothing to suggest Andy Murray would have any trouble against Adrian Mannarino in the U.S. Open’s second round.

Murray, after all, is seeded No. 3, owns two major championships including at Flushing Meadows in 2012, and had reached at least the quarterfinals at the last 18 Grand Slam tournaments he’d entered. Mannarino, meanwhile, is ranked 35th, has never won a tour-level title, and only three times in his career has even managed to win more than one match at a major.

So it certainly came as a surprise when, in Thursday’s opening game, Mannarino broke Murray. About an hour later, Mannarino grabbed the opening set. And 45 minutes after that, the Frenchman took the second set, too.

“I just had to kind of tell myself that I would get there eventually,” Murray said. “I had time to get back into it.”

Despite a stuffy nose and scratchy throat, and generally looking as if he might be ready to wilt on another steamy day at Flushing Meadows – two more mid-match retirements, including by 28th-seeded Jack Sock of the United States, raised the total to 12 in the men’s draw so far – Murray put together his eighth career comeback from a two-set deficit and beat Mannarino 5-7, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-1.

“He was looking for his rhythm,” Mannarino said, “and then I think that finally he found it.”

Roger Federer had his rhythm from the start, compiling a 46-8 edge in winners while beating Steve Darcis of Belgium 6-1, 6-2, 6-1 at night, before 2014 runner-up Caroline Wozniacki was stunned by Petra Cetkovska 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (1) in the day’s last match.

Against Murray, Mannarino, a lefty, delivered 12 of the match’s first 14 forehand winners and repeatedly found success with drop shots.

But his play eventually dipped, while Murray really cleaned up his own act after the rough start: He went from making 21 unforced errors in the first two sets to only 14 the rest of the way.

“He has such an unorthodox game, I didn’t really feel that comfortable at many points,” Murray said. “But I was happy, very happy, with the way I fought through that, finished the match stronger than him.”

Hewitt goes out in five

Lleyton Hewitt couldn’t keep his last U.S. Open going a little longer.

The 2001 champ rallied from two sets down and had a pair of match points but wasn’t able to complete the comeback, losing to fellow Australian Bernard Tomic 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 5-7, 7-5 in near 3 1/2 hours.

With his 6-year-old son cheering from his box in a backward baseball cap just like Dad, Hewitt had two match points on Tomic’s serve at 5-3 in the fifth but couldn’t convert them.

Hewitt plans to retire after the Australian Open. He considers himself a mentor to Tomic, who is seeded 24th, and didn’t look forward to playing him.

“He’s a huge legend for me,” Tomic said in an on-court interview. “I’ve always looked up to him. It was difficult for me playing him tonight.”

American Young rallies

American Donald Young came from behind again, though this deficit wasn’t quite as daunting.

Young dropped the first set Thursday before rallying to beat Britain’s Aljaz Bedene 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. He advances to his first Grand Slam third round since last year’s French Open.

On Tuesday, the 68th-ranked Young fell behind by two sets and a break against 11th-seeded Gilles Simon before roaring back for the five-set victory.

Young had 18 unforced errors in the first set Thursday against the 57th-ranked Bedene, who has never been past the second round at a major. But Young looked sharper and sharper as the match wore on and broke Bedene’s serve eight times in the final three sets.

Isner breezes again

American John Isner keeps getting off the court quickly, a good thing considering the steamy weather.

The 13th-seeded Isner’s two matches have totaled 3 hours, 24 minutes – less than a single five-setter could take. He beat Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 on Thursday to reach the third round at Flushing Meadows for the seventh straight year.

Isner has held serve in all 83 of his games at the U.S. Open since the start of last year’s tournament.

Isner had been 0-2 against Youzhny, though both of those losses were at least five years ago. The Russian is a former top-10 player, but his ranking is down to 93rd at age 33.

Jansen out

Reigning NCAA women’s doubles champions Maya Jansen and Erin Routliffe of Alabama lost their first-round match to Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears 6-2, 6-1.

Jansen is a graduate of Freeman High School.