Andy Murray believes the future is bright for Johanna Konta as the pair bid to reach the quarter-finals at the US Open.
Many expected British number one Murray to reach the latter stages at Flushing Meadows and the Scot will take on Kevin Anderson for a spot in the last eight of the men’s draw.
Murray has reached at least the quarter-final stage of the last 18 Grand Slams – winning the US Open in 2012 – but few would have predicted Konta would be such a hit across the pond as she had never previously reached the second round.
But Konta is currently on a 16-match winning run and Murray can’t help but be impressed ahead of her clash with Petra Kvitova.
"She's obviously been on an excellent run lately," Murray said of Konta. "She's very close to being the number one in Britain.
"It suggests she has the potential to go very high if she continues on the right path."
Murray leads the head-to-head battle 5-1 against Anderson but the South African big server is at his career-high ranking of 14.
"Getting a lot of returns in play is something that throughout most of my career I've been good at," added Murray.
"Often the big servers come into matches used to getting a lot of free points. It changes their mindset a little bit in the way they play the match and play the points."
Konta saw off the challenge of Wimbledon runner-up Garbine Muguruza to continue her US Open bid and the 24-year-old can’t wait to challenge herself against two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova.
"A two-time Grand Slam champion, I'm feeling pretty lucky that I get an opportunity to play against such a player," said Konta.
© Sportsbeat 2015