Andy Murray beat Yoshihito Nishioka 4-6, 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 in his opening match at the US Open 2020.
"That's by far the most tennis I've played since 2019," said Murray. "At the beginning of the match I was apprehensive about playing a long match because I hadn't played one in a while.
"I was sort of pacing myself. Once I got two sets down I had to start putting the after-burners on and managed to get through."
Murray will next play Felix Auger-Allassime.
Murray went 3-1 down in the third set but showed his grit and determination and turned it to a 5-4 lead before taking the set on a tie-break.
By then, Murray was playing more aggressively, forcing Nishioka onto the back foot and into errors of his own.
The first four games of set four went to serve until a Murray double fault put him a break down.
Murray immediately broke back though, a delicate back-handed lob from deep making the score 3-3, before breaking again for game, set, match.
The past three years of his career have been ravaged by injury and he has fallen to 115 in the ATP world rankings.
Murray said he "did all right physically" but felt "tired".
He added that his big toes were "pretty beat up" and that he hoped organizers would grant him special permission to have an ice bath, with access restricted due to strict coronavirus measures.
"They said it was for emergencies. For me this is an emergency right now. I'll ask and see if they'll allow me to use the ice bath. If not I'll try to get back to the hotel as quickly as I can," he said.
