Murray eyes Grand Slam title breakthrough

With an impressive year and strong hardcourt season, Britain's Andy Murray begins the US Open well positioned for his first Grand Slam title - even against five-time defending champion Roger Federer.

After reaching his first Slam final in last year's US Open, Murray reached a career-best second in the world rankings after winning the Montreal Masters earlier this month, beating Argentina's Juan Martin Del Potro in the final.

Now comes a hardcourt showdown which the Wimbledon semi-finalist says is his best chance to capture that elusive first Grand Slam crown.

"The US Open, I've always said, is my best surface, my best chance to win a Slam," Murray said. "I'll give it my best shot."

The 22-year-old Scotsman is 53-8 this season and even with a semi-final loss to Swiss world number one Federer spoiling his Cincinnati title defense in his last US Open tuneup, Murray enters the year's last Grand Slam event confident.

"It has been perfect preparation for the US Open," Murray said. "I will rest up for a couple days and train hard before it starts."

Federer captured a record 15th career Grand Slam title at Wimbledon and now seeks an unprecedented sixth US Open title after having defeated Murray 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 in last year's championship match.

But Murray owns a 6-3 career record against Federer, including four wins in a row between the US Open final loss and a Cincinnati Masters semi-final loss, and sees a chance to perhaps climb past Federer before the year is over.

"I think there could be a battle for number one in the world," Murray said. "This year the tour is very tough and it's tight at the top."

By pushing past Rafael Nadal into second, Murray became the first British player ever ranked so high and the first man other than Federer or Nadal to crack the top two in four years.

Murray has won five titles in 2009, his Montreal crown following earlier finals victories at Doha, Rotterdam, Miami and Queen's.

A run to the Wimbledon semi-finals was ended by US star Andy Roddick but served notice that Murray could become the first British man since 1936 to claim the All-England grasscourt title.

Murray refused to surrender his composure to the disappointment over his near-miss run, living up to his vow to quickly put the defeat behind him.

"It's a pathetic attitude to have if you lose one match and you go away and let it ruin your year," Murray said.

Murray said that had he been able to dispatch Roddick and deepen his run to the round of 16 at the Australian Open, he might have closed the gap to Federer already.

"It's not that far. It's a matter of a couple of the matches," Murray said. "If I had had a slightly better run at the Australian Open or instead of losing a tight one to Roddick in the semis at Wimbledon, who knows?

"I know it's a long way from losing the semi-finals to winning, but that would have made a huge difference."