Andy Murray does not tend to sugar coat his answers.
He accepts there are reasons to be cheerful after his 6-4 6-4 defeat by Richard Gasquet in Cincinnati, but admits he is "quite far away from where I would like to be".
That is to be expected after just two weeks of dedicated practice before his first singles match for seven months.
Murray will only play doubles in New York, when the US Open gets under way in a fortnight. But you can now consider him a singles player above all else once again.
A singles player who expects to be back in his peak physical condition in January: 12 months after the second operation on his right hip.