McEnroe says time for Murray to 'step up and prove' he is still a Grand Slam contender

Former tennis great John McEnroe believes that next week's US Open is time for Andy Murray to step up and prove that he is still a Grand Slam contender.

The British number one has toppled down to world number nine after failing to go past the semifinal in any Major since his Wimbledon triumph last year. Murray has lost in the quarterfinals in his last three tournaments, including his miserable defeat to Grigor Dimitrov in the last eight at SW19.

Now the 2012 champion will return to New York with Amelie Mauresmo confirmed as his fulltime coach and his back injury behind him, The Mirror reported.

And McEnroe, who won the US Open four times, said that Murray has no excuses not to re-find his old winning form. He added that it is difficult to say what is happening with Murray.

McEnroe added that it seems like the physical issues are behind Murray. He said that it has been a process for Murray to come back from those issues so that takes its toll on the confidence.

And, McEnroe also said that Murray made a big change, adding that he thought Murray and his former coach Ivan Lendl worked well together. McEnroe said that to change course, when Murray did is tricky so it remains to be seen what happens there.

The tennis great also said that one needs to give it more time to judge, but one sort of feels like the US Open would be a time Murray needs to step up because it's been a struggle compared to what it's been the last couple of years.