[DUlrich1227]

MURRAY SHOULDERS INJURY WORRIES

British number three Andy Murray is nursing a shoulder injury going into the US Open at Flushing Meadows.

The 18-year-old, who won this event at junior level last year, was visibly struggling when his qualifying match against Ecuador's Giovanni Lapentti went to a tie-break on Friday.

Having breezed through the opening set, Murray had to hang on to win 6-0 7-6 (7-5), becoming the youngest Brit ever to qualify for a Grand Slam. He has been drawn against Romania's Andrei Pavel in the first round.

Despite the problem with his shoulder, Murray told the Lawn Tennis Association website he was determined to play in the event.

"The shoulder has got worse as the week has gone on but it was something that I had to put to the real back of my mind," he said.

"The US Open is a tournament I have always dreamed of playing the main draw, it's my favourite tournament. So if I was feeling sore, it was not going to make a difference."

Murray will be joined in New York by Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski. Henman, seeded 12th, has been suffering from injury problems of his own in the lead up to the tournament, having sustained a stomach strain a week ago which forced him to pull out of a warm-up event in New Haven.

Henman will face Spain's Fernando Verdasco in his first match, but has been drawn in the same quarter as Marat Safin and Lleyton Hewitt. Greg Rusedski, seeded 28th, opens against James Blake, the American who has a British mother.

Switzerland's Roger Federer is the top seed among the men, ahead of Spain's Rafael Nadal and Australian Hewitt.

In the women's tournament, Russian Maria Sharapova is the top seed, despite losing the world number one ranking to American Lindsay Davenport - the number two seed - after only a week at the top.

Davenport has the momentum behind her having moved back to the top of the world standings with victory in the Pilot Pen tournament at New Haven.

Davenport beat France's Amelie Mauresmo 6-4 6-4 in the final to confirm her return from two months out with a back injury. She did not lose a single set during the tournament.

"I'm happy and amazed that I'm sitting here winning," Davenport said after the final.

"You never know what to expect when you come back. I'm really happy I got the matches in, (but) I still think there's a lot of things I would like to improve on before the US Open, but to sit here with a title is pretty rewarding."

Mauresmo, seeded third, is hoping for a change of fortunes in New York.

"Every week you have new challenges to face," she said.

"I am now focusing on the US Open and things are going be different there. That's the way it is."

Sharapova opens against Eleni Daniilidou of Greece, but has Kim Clijsters, and both Serena and Venus Williams blocking her path to the later stages.

The Williams' sisters, both former winners of this tournament, are among the top 10 seeds, with Serena eighth and Venus 10th.

Davenport opens against China's Na Li while Mauresmo faces Roberta Vinci of Italy, and the pair could potentially meet in the semi-finals.

On offer at Flushing Meadows this week is the highest annual purse in sport, totalling more than US$20.6million.

Both the men's and the women's singles champions will collect US$1.1million.