Murray overcomes cramps to beat Haase and avoid shock first-round exit at US Open

British number one Andy Murray avoided a shock first-round exit at the US Open by overcoming a disturbing bout of cramp to beat Dutchman Robin Haase in four sets.

Murray, seeded eighth, won 6-3, 7-6 (8-6), 1-6, 7-5 in three hours and eight minutes inside a sweltering Louis Armstrong Stadium. Haase, the world number 70, had looked capable of handing the Scot his first opening-round defeat at a Grand Slam since 2008 when he won nine straight games.

But despite cramping, and choosing not to sit down at the changeovers, Murray twice recovered from a break down in a wildly unpredictable fourth set that saw both men ailing in the New York heat, THE BBC reported.

Murray will now face German qualifier Matthias Bachinger, who beat Radek Stepanek 6-3 6-2 6-2.

Murray said that he started cramping at the beginning of the third set, at the front of his quad and then in his forearm, and added that it was not particularly comfortable and he just tried to hang around as long as possible and managed to get through.

The Scot said that he was in a good position at 2-0 up but didn't know whether to go for it at the beginning of the third set or conserve energy and go for it in the fourth. He added that it wasn't easy for Haase either.

Murray had come back from two sets down to beat Haase at Flushing Meadows in 2011, a year after he had lost to Stanislas Wawrinka on the same court in what was his last Grand-Slam defeat before the quarter-final stage, the report added.