Murray plays down title chances

Andy Murray dampened expectations about a successful US Open campaign despite booking his place in the third round in New York with a four-set victory over Michael Llodra.

The British number one dispatched France's Llodra 6-4 1-6 7-5 7-6 (9-7) in a tense, exciting match at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre to set up a third-round clash with world number 48 Jurgen Melzer of Austria.

It is the third year in a row the 21-year-old has reached this stage of the championship in the last grand slam of the year.

Yet having defeated world number 38 Llodra, the Scottish world number six urged caution against talk of a favourable draw to a possible quarter-final against number four David Ferrer and a potential semi-final against world number one Rafael Nadal.

"It doesn't work out particularly well for you and also the guys that I'm playing are not guys that I'm 100 percent expected to beat if there's a chance I can lose the match," Murray said.

"I take it very seriously and the guy out there today has won two tour events this year. They're really top players so there's no point in looking ahead."

"You understand what's going on in the draw, you know which half of the draw you're in and who the top seeds are but it doesn't make me start looking into semis or quarter-finals."

"I've only made the quarter-finals of a grand slam once and, you know, I'm not good enough to do that."

Murray was pleased to progress to the third-round with a hard fought victory.

"It was a good win," Murray said. "He's a tough guy to play against and he's had his best year ever on tour."

"So I knew it was going to be difficult, I served really well, didn't get too much rhythm but I did well from the baseline, was hitting the ball really well and I'm happy to have come through a tough match."