Andy Murray is confident the injury which interrupted his US Open preparations has cleared up just in time for the main event.
The three-time grand slam winner, champion at Flushing Meadows in 2012, had to withdraw from this year’s warm-up tournaments in Toronto and Cincinnati.
Murray, 36, was unable to serve in practice until this week due to what he revealed turned out to be a torn abdominal muscle.
“The first five or six days were a bit complicated. There were lots of different opinions,” said the Scot.
“It is quite a difficult place to scan, the ab, so we weren’t really sure the first few days. And then I came to New York pretty early and went to one of the hospitals here and had the radiologist from back home who looks at my scans check them.
“I had a small tear, which is healing. And the last five or six days of practice have been really good. I have not had any issues serving.
“It is just obviously that you don’t take a week off from serving then go full into it. You need to build up a little bit. It has not been perfect in that sense but my ab has been OK.”
Murray begins his latest New York campaign against Corentin Moutet, the world number 71 from France, on Tuesday.
If he comes through that, a tasty second-round meeting with Bulgaria’s 19th seed Grigor Dimitrov is on the cards.
There will be seven Brits in the main draw after Lily Miyazaki came through qualifying.
The 27-year-old, who was born in Tokyo, beat Viktoria Hruncakova of Slovakia in three sets, 6-3 4-6 6-4.
It will be Miyazaki second appearance at a grand slam after she received a wild card for last year’s Wimbledon.
But Liam Broady was unable to join Murray, Miyazaki, Cameron Norrie, Dan Evans, Jack Draper, Katie Boulter and Jodie Burrage in the main draw after losing in the final round of qualifying to Sho Shimabukuro of Japan, 6-4 3-6 6-3.
Novak Djokovic, back after missing last year’s US Open due to his vaccination status, is in action on Monday night against France’s Alexander Muller on Arthur Ashe.
The 23-time grand slam winner can take over from US Open and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz at the top of the men’s rankings just by winning his first-round match.
Women’s world number one Iga Swiatek, the reigning champion, opens proceedings on Ashe against Rebecca Peterson of Sweden.
Meanwhile Canadian Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 winner, has withdrawn from the tournament due to an injury.
Zverev sees off Jarry to claim second Italian Open crown
Alexander Zverev claimed his second Italian Open title following a 6-4 7-5 victory over Nicolas Jarry in the final.
The German, who also triumphed in Rome seven years ago, captured his first silverware of the season - and sixth of his career in an ATP Masters event.
Having dropped just a single set on the way to his 11th Masters final, Zverev continued his impressive form by winning 95 per cent of his first-serve points (37 out of 39) and committing just eight unforced errors.
Jarry had enjoyed an impressive fortnight in Rome, defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas and Tommy Paul on the way to becoming the first Masters finalist from Chile since Fernando Gonzalez (also at the Italian Open) in 2007.
However, just two break points were enough to deny the 21st seed a fourth career ATP title, with Zverev eventually converting his fourth championship point to ensure a return to the winner's circle.
Data debrief
Zverev joins Rafael Nadal (10) and Novak Djokovic (six) as one of only three players since 2000 to win the Italian Open on multiple occasions.
Landing his second crown in Rome seven years after his first, it marks the longest gap in seasons between two men's singles titles at the event in the Open Era.
Meanwhile, Zverev became the most successful German male in ATP Masters events since the format's introduction in 1990, with his sixth such success seeing him eclipse Boris Becker's total of five.
Raducanu withdraws from French Open qualifying
Emma Raducanu has withdrawn from French Open qualifying, which starts on Monday.
Having endured an injury-hit few years since her 2021 US Open triumph, Raducanu was able to enter the year's second grand slam with a protected ranking of 103rd.
However, that was not enough to put her on the automatic entry list and she was not awarded a wildcard, making her third alternate for the women's draw.
No reason has been given for Raducanu's withdrawal from next week's qualifying tournament, and she can now only feature at Roland-Garros if three players drop out.
Raducanu was beaten 6-2 6-2 by Argentine qualifier Maria Lourdes Carle in the first round of the Madrid Open last month, subsequently saying she was "mentally and emotionally exhausted".
A host of withdrawals meant she did not have to go through qualifying for the Australian Open earlier this year, though she was beaten by China's Wang Yafan in the second round.
Raducanu has not made it past the second round in six major appearances since her triumph at Flushing Meadows, and she missed the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open last year after undergoing wrist and ankle surgeries.
Swiatek seals Italian Open hat-trick after soaring past Sabalenka
Iga Swiatek stormed to her third Italian Open title following a dominant 6-2 6-3 victory over Aryna Sabalenka.
The world number one took just under an hour-and-a-half to deny the world number two, and complete a hat-trick of triumphs in Rome.
The pair were contesting a second final in as many events, with Swiatek saving three championship points before eventually prevailing in the Madrid Open showpiece a fortnight ago.
However, it was one-way traffic this time around. The Pole converted two out of three break points as she controlled the opening set.
Sabalenka was the last player to deny Swiatek in a WTA final, that coming at last year's Madrid Open.
Although, the second seed was helpless as her opponent broke again in game seven of the second set, before wrapping up a fourth title of the season ahead of the French Open later this month.
Data debrief
Landing her third Italian Open title before turning 23, Swiatek is only the second player to achieve that feat after Gabriela Sabatini.
In fact, at 22 years and 352 days old, she is the youngest player to win 10 WTA 1000 titles since the introduction of the format in 2009.
The Pole also became the third player to triumph in Madrid and Rome during the same season, after Dinara Safina (2009) and Serena Williams (2013).
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