Beaten Murray says wrist injury is improving

CINCINNATI, Aug 15 (Reuters) Andy Murray emphasised the positives after his first-round defeat at the Cincinnati Masters, saying his wrist injury was improving all the time.

In just his second tournament back after 12 weeks out with torn tendons in his right wrist, Murray was beaten 6-1 6-2 by Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis yesterday.

The Scot, seeded 14, who reached the second round in Montreal last week, was nowhere near his best, but he was able to hit his forehand harder than in Montreal last week, when he often had to resort to chipping the ball back.

''I guess it's pretty much 100 percent now. It's a good sign,'' he told reporters.

''It was much better today. I decided after my matches last week and then a few days before the tournament here that I was going to try to hit some more and hopefully be pain-free, and I haven't had any bad reactions.'' Murray said he had struggled with his movement, usually one of the strengths of his game, while his serve was out of kilter.

''I wasn't moving fluidly, which is normally the one thing that I do really well. It was maybe more the anticipation. Just seeing balls and points again. Obviously he was hitting the ball at a pretty hard pace and flat.'' Murray won just 10 points in the first set and though he improved in the second set, he was outplayed by Baghdatis, a finalist at the Australian Open in 2006.

The Scot will play in the New Haven Open, which begins yesterday, before going to New York for the US Open, which starts on Aug 27.

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