Murray eyes further glory

US Open winner Andy Murray (5/4 to win one Grand Slam in 2013 with bet365) has revealed his delight at winning a first Grand Slam but has admitted there are already plans in place on how he can go about getting his second major title.

The Scot has enjoyed a fine summer which saw him reach the final of Wimbledon, before claiming gold in the men’s singles event at the Olympic Games in London, followed by his 7-6 (12/10) 7-5 2-6 3-6 6-2 victory over Novak Djokovic on Monday.

Murray landed back in the UK on Wednesday following his exploits in New York and the 25-year-old has been speaking about where he plans to go from here.

He said: “I spoke to (coach) Ivan (Lendl) very briefly after the match and we’re going to have a chat on Friday or Saturday, I’m going to have the next two or three days to let things sink in a bit from the last few months.

“I want to keep improving. I know how it feels to win a grand slam, and winning the Olympics. I know how hard it was losing in the Wimbledon final. You want to try to win those big matches and big tournaments and I’ll keep working hard to try to do that.”

Murray’s next opportunity to claim Grand Slam glory will come early next year, when he will be looking to use his winning momentum at major tournaments to claim the Australian Open (11/4 Australian Open outright with bet365).

Azarenka targets Williams scalp

Victoria Azarenka (4/1 US Open outright – bet365) is adamant she will be paying no attention to her poor record against Serena Williams ahead of their showdown in the 2012 Women’s US Open final on Sunday.

The 23-year-old star from Belarus booked her place in the final in the last Grand Slam of the year, after a gutsy 3-6 6-2 6-4 victory over the Russian Maria Sharapova.

Azarenka is now preparing to take on the tournament favourite Williams (1/6 US Open outright – bet365), who stormed past Sara Errani 6-1 6-2 to secure her place in the final, as she goes in search of her 15th Grand Slam title of her career.

Having only beaten the 30-year-old once in their previous 10 meetings, Azarenka is up against it in the Queens showpiece but she is confident she can cause an upset in New York City on Saturday.

She said: “Of course I’m not going to go on court thinking ‘I wish I could win more games than last time’.

“I always go to win a match and do the best I can. The result will depend on how I play and how my opponent plays.”

Murray taking nothing for granted

Andy Murray may be the 2/5 favourite with bet365 to win his semi-final but he insists he is taking nothing for granted against Tomas Berdych (15/8), who of course knocked out world number one Roger Federer.

Murray made a slow start against Marin Cilic in his quarter-final clash but managed to recover to book his place in the last four, where many expected a rematch of the Wimbledon and Olympic finals against Swiss ace Federer.

However, Berdych showed both power and poise to send the five-time champion packing – not for the first time in a Grand Slam event, having ousted him in the Wimbledon quarter-finals in 2008 before beating Novak Djokovic.

Berdych also boasts the superior head to head record against Murray, leading 4-2 and winning their latest encounter on the clay of Monte Carlo earlier this year.

Murray said: “He’s a huge, huge hitter of the ball. Even if you want to dictate points and be aggressive, he can take that away from you because he’s such a powerful guy.

“You need to be smart against him. You need to use good variation and try not to give him the same ball over and over, because he likes that.”

Murray is now 12/5 with bet365 to go on and win his first Grand Slam at this year’s US open, although Djokovic has been cut to 4/9 after booking his last-four spot with a straight-sets win over Juan Martin del Potro to set up a clash with David Ferrer (28/1).

Murray feeling good for Cilic challenge

Andy Murray feels he is in great shape to take on Marin Cilic in the US Open quarter-finals on Wednesday after an excellent last-16 work-out against Milos Raonic (Murray 1/12, Cilic 7/1 Match Prices with bet365).

The British number one looked a bit sluggish in the early rounds of the year’s final Grand Slam and struggled in the searing heat when labouring to a four-set victory over Feliciano Lopez in the third round at Flushing Meadows.

But he was in imperious form against highly-rated Canadian Raonic last time out and dismantled the big-serving youngster in straight sets.

The Olympic gold medallist admitted that he was not at his best at the start of the event but feels he is now peaking when it matters most with his display against Raonic.

“Physically I’m feeling better than I did at the beginning of the tournament,” he said. “It’s good to play a match like that at this stage of the tournament.

“It gives me some confidence going into the next round for sure because I didn’t feel great after the last round.”

The Scot owns a 6-1 winning head-to-head record against Wednesday’s opponent but his only loss did come in the US Open back in 2009.

The Croatian won in straight sets on that occasion but it should be pointed out that Murray was hampered by a wrist injury and, with his body currently in decent shape, the third seed should be too hot for the big-serving 23-year-old (Murray 4/7 3-0 Winner Set Betting with bet365).

Djokovic outlines NYC blueprint

Defending champion and 6/5 favourite Novak Djokovic (Men’s 2012 US Open outright betting – bet365) believes he is reaping the rewards of a self-imposed break and revealed his approach to winning in New York City will be to attack.

The Serbia superstar needed just one hour and 37 minutes to send Julien Benneteau packing from Queens and has yet to be extended past three games in nine sets so far at Flushing Meadows.

Victory over the Frenchman means second seed Djokovic will next face Stanislas Wawrinka, who is aiming to reach the quarter-finals of the competition for the second time and will be buoyed by his run to the semi-finals in Cincinnati recently.

Djokovic is bidding to win his second Grand Slam of 2012 and the 25-year-old said key to his sublime form was the break he took to refocus following his defeat by 9/4 second favourite Roger Federer (Men’s 2012 US Open outright betting – bet365) at the Western & Southern Open.

He said: “My goal was, in these seven, eight days I had off after the Cincinnati final, to really try to recover, charge my batteries, work on some things in my game, and come out strong from the start. That’s what I’ve done. I feel great on the court. I’m really trying to keep that up.”

No holding back from Stosur

Defending champion Sam Stosur – quoted 9/2 by bet365 to reach the final – admitted she would have to raise her game against top seed Victoria Azarenka in the quarter-finals of the women’s 2012 US Open.

The Australian seventh seed was given a stiff workout by British teenager Laura Robson to make the last eight at Flushing Meadows and will now prepare for her most difficult assignment yet in Queens.

Azarenka has lost just 10 games en route to the quarter-finals, although this is the first time she had made it this far in New York City, and has beaten Stosur in all six of their previous meetings – all in straight sets.

Stosur can count on previous wins against number one seeds – Serena Williams at the French Open and Caroline Wozniacki at the WTA Championships – but both were back in 2010.

It is a big ask for last year’s winner but Stosur insisted she would not be holding back against the world number one and 4/1 second favourite Azarenka

“I have not done well against her in the past,” she said. “I think there’s a few things I’ve learnt over those last few matches.

“Hopefully I can put all those into play and have a better match. I look forward to that opportunity again – I think quarter-finals of another Slam, you’ve got to give it everything you’ve got.”

Raonic ready to upset Murray

Milos Raonic has warned Andy Murray he feels he is ready to claim the scalp of a top-four player ahead of their meeting in the fourth round of the US Open (Murray 2/7, Raonic 11/4 – match betting with bet365).

The Canadian has been labelled as one to watch out for in the future and is quickly climbing the rankings as he looks to break into the top 10.

Raonic has enjoyed a remarkable rise to prominence having been a qualifier when he reached the fourth round of the Australian Open in 2011.

Raonic has only faced Murray once in the past but managed to get the better of him when they did battle on clay at the Barcelona Open earlier this year.

Raonic is now looking to dump Murray out of the US Open, claiming the time for him to claim a big-name scalp at a grand slam is now upon him.

Asked if he was ready to beat a top-four player at a grand slam, he said without hesitation: “Yes.

“I wouldn’t feel comfortable being here if I wasn’t. I’ve done my work.

“In the end my job is to go out there and make my opponents adjust to me. I feel like I have the ability to be more dangerous than most players when I have the ball on my racquet, especially out of my hand on a serve.”

Fifteenth seed Raonic (40/1 US Open outright with bet365) made quick work of home favourite James Blake in the last round, while Murray (3/1) blamed the heat for a lacklustre performance against Feliciano Lopez in his third-round contest.

Heat won’t be an issue on Monday night, though, as the duo are last on Arthur Ashe Stadium, after Serena Williams’ and Roger Federer’s respective matches.

Robson out to make history

Laura Robson will be looking for the biggest win of her career when she faces Li Na in the third round of the US Open on Friday (Na 1/9, Robson 11/2 – match betting with bet365).

The 18-year-old caused a big stir in getting past the second round after she eliminated three-time champion Kim Clijsters.

Having dumped out one big name, Robson will now be looking to repeat the trick against ninth seed Li, who has already claimed the scalp of one British player after she beat Heather Watson in round one.

Li is in fine form as well and if Robson is to become the first British player to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam in 14 years she will need to be at her very best.

Robson says she hopes compatriot Watson can pass on some tips after facing Li but admits she could be in for a difficult afternoon on Louis Armstrong Stadium.

“I’m going to have a little chat to Heather and see what her thoughts were seeing as they played each other first round,” Robson said.

“She’s playing extremely well at the moment. She just won Cincinnati. I have a really tough match.”

Also in action on Friday is top seed Victoria Azarenka, who faces China’s Jie Zheng in a match she is 1/14 to win, with Jie 8/1.

Maria Sharapova, Petra Kvictova and defending champion Sam Stosur will also be confident of making it through to the fourth round given their opposition at Flushing Meadows.

Better movement key for Robson

Laura Robson enjoyed the biggest win of her career by sensationally knocking Kim Clijsters out of the US Open to set up a meeting with Li Na (Li 1/12, Robson 7/1 – Match Betting with bet365), and she put her performance down to improved mobility on court.

Clijsters was hoping to go out on a high after announcing that this tournament would be her last before retirement and started well, forcing an early break to go 5-2 up.

However, that appeared to be the catalyst for more aggressive play from Britain’s Robson as she broke back when the three-time champion was serving for the set to force a tie-break.

Robson proved the stronger from then on, winning the tie-break, and although she suffered a wobble in the third game of the second set, serving two double faults to be broken, she hit back straight away before securing a famous win in a second tie-break.

“Almost every day I’m doing some speed work. I’ve been working a little bit with Jez,” said Robson. “I’ve had some tough matches against some top players where it’s been a tough first set and I just haven’t been able to keep up the level throughout a whole match.

“It’s something that I’ve been working on, it’s something that’s getting better with more experience so it’s great to be able to pull through.”

Robson now takes on 2011 French Open champion Li (Robson 5/1 to win first set with bet365, Li 1/8), who has been in fantastic form of late, reaching the final in Montreal before winning in Cincinnati earlier this month.

Murray has a plan for Dodig

Andy Murray says he has a plan to take care of Ivan Dodig as he gears up to face the Croatian in the second round of the US Open (Murray 1/50, Dodig 18/1 – match betting with bet365).

After his Olympic success earlier this summer, the British number one is expected to be one of the main contenders for the last Grand Slam of the year.

However, the 25-year-old admitted his first-round contest against Russia’s Alex Bogomolov Jr had a been “tricky” after it took him two hours and 15 minutes to claim victory.

Murray is likely to be tested again by the big-hitting Dodig in the next round at Flushing Meadows, despite the 27-year-old’s current ranking standing at 118.

Dodig has beaten Rafael Nadal and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the past and  made light work of Japan’s Hiroki Moriya in the first round.

Murray has never faced Dodig before but hopes he has a plan which will make sure he enjoys a comfortable passage into the third round of the tournament.

“He serves and volleys a bit, which is unusual, and he moves really well,” said the Olympic champion.

“But I think he tends to play a long way back in the court and you can push him about a bit. One plan will be to keep him on the move.”

As well as Murray’s match there will be British interest in the third match of the day on the Arthur Ashe court as 18-year-old Laura Robson gets set to face three time US Open champion Kim Clijsters.

Robson is 8/1 to cause what would be a huge upset against Clijsters, who is 1/14 for the win in what will be her last major tournament before retiring later this year.