Andy Murray's destination to the final US Open's bad guy

Andy Murray in smiling face

Winning must be nedded that would put Andy Murray through to the fourth round and bring him up to speed with the rest of the field. If he is to reach the final again this year, it will be in spite of the people who organise the US Open and not because of them.The rouet to be passed by Andy Murray-

The first week of the Open is almost over and yet Murray has still only played two matches. Today he will play his third – against Taylor Dent – and begin a gruelling run-in towards the sharp end of the tournament. If he is to repeat his run of last year and reach the final, he must play five, best-of-five set matches in eight days. It is a mad schedule for a tournament that is run – officially – over 14 days.But yet has a potential to reach the final before Andy Murray.

ANDY MURRAY'S POTENTIAL ROUTE TO THE FINAL

THIRD ROUND: ANDY MURRAY VS TAYLOR DENT

The American wild card, ranked 195 in the world, beat Spain's Ivan Navarro in a fifth-set tie-break to make the third round. Murray has met the 28-year-old twice, and won on both occasions.

FOURTH ROUND:ANDY MURRAY VS MARIN CILIC

The 16th seed had to show his battling qualities in the second round to come from two sets down to overcome Jesse Levine 4-6, 2-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-0. Murray has faced the Croatian three times on three different surfaces and remains undefeated.

QUARTER-FINAL: ANDY MURRAY VS JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO

The Argentine sixth seed, pictured left, stayed on course for a quarter-final meeting with Murray after a three-set win over Jurgen Melzer, although his performance was inconsistent. The 20-year-old was pushed all the way in a first set lasting more than an hour before winning 8-6 on a tie-break.

Murray leads the Argentine 4-1 in head-to-heads.

SEMI-FINAL: ANDY MURRAY VS RAFAEL NADAL

Still on the road to full fitness after the knee problems that ruled him out of Wimbledon, Nadal held off a spirited challenge from world No.129 Nicolas Kiefer in the second round. Nadal will play 32nd seed Nicolas Almagro in the third round.

Although Murray trails 7-2 in head-to-heads, he will be buoyed by his US Open semi-final win over Nadal last year.

FINAL: ANDY MURRAY VS ROGER FEDERER

Murray lost out to the formidable Swiss here last year, but the world No.2 leads Federer 6-3 in head-to-heads, with all nine matches taking place on hard courts.