MOST Olympic champions get at least one night to enjoy their success but for Andy Murray the focus immediately turned to the next chapter of an incredible season.

The world number two made history as the first singles player ever to win two Olympic gold medals just five weeks after celebrating his second Wimbledon title.

Murray's 18-match winning streak, which also includes an unprecedented fifth Queen's crown, is the longest of his career, while he has made the final of the first three grand slam tournaments of the year.

In two weeks' time he will begin his US Open campaign and in order to best prepare for Flushing Meadows he flew straight from Rio to America for the Masters tournament in Cincinnati.

He is the top seed in the absence of Djokovic, who is resting a troublesome wrist, and the tournament offers a chance to close the ranking gap further to the world number one.

Murray has lost just one of his last 30 matches, and said: "The last few months since Monte Carlo I've been competing for the biggest events in every tournament. I haven't won every one but I've been close and had some good wins against the top players.

"Novak the last two years really has played amazing tennis, his consistency - what I've done for the last four months, he's been doing for the whole year. I need to try and find a way to keep that going.

"The US Open is obviously the next big goal. I had a disappointing US Open last year and I'll try and have a good run there."

Murray played in his first slam final at the US Open eight years ago and followed Olympic gold in 2012 by winning his maiden major title there.

But since then he has struggled in New York, failing to make it past the quarter-finals, and last year's fourth-round loss to Kevin Anderson was the only time in his last 22 slams where he has not reached the last eight.

Murray attributed the loss to tiredness after Britain's unprecedented Davis Cup run meant he did not get a break after Wimbledon.

This year he opted not to play in the quarter-final, although he did travel to Serbia to support his team-mates, and then skipped the Masters event in Toronto in favour of a training block.

So, although he will have had an intensive three weeks leading up to the US Open, he should be in better shape.

Murray said: "I did well in Montreal and Cincy but I just didn't have enough time off. Then potentially when I was at the US Open that caught up with me a bit. I struggled that whole tournament. I learnt a lot from that period."

Murray was very emotional at the end of his epic win over Juan Martin Del Potro on Sunday.

It capped an up and down 10-day period that also saw him carry the Great Britain flag at the opening ceremony but lose in the opening round of the doubles with brother Jamie in an event where they had hoped to win a medal.

Murray said: "It's been very different from London for me in terms of staying in the village and stuff. I've enjoyed that a lot.

"I spent time around the team and just chatting to some of the other athletes and feeling part of something bigger than your event. That's nice. And it's worked out really well to finish with the gold.

"The loss with Jamie was hard. I was pretty upset after being on a bit of a high after carrying the flag a few days before.

"It was a quite up and down few weeks emotionally but I've obviously enjoyed the experience again. Hopefully I get another chance in Tokyo to play in another Olympics."

Murray's was one of five British gold medals on Sunday. He was able to watch the climax of Justin Rose's golf triumph and was left in awe by Max Whitlock's gymnastics success.

So is the 29-year-old ever amazed by his own achievements?

"No, I worked hard for it," he said. "It's emotional at the end and I never expected to be competing in these events when I first started playing on the tour. I'm very proud to have got the chance to do it again."