Abu Dhabi: Andy Murray believes he is playing with more “clarity” and has a better idea of how he needs to compete against the top players as he approaches the new season with renewed purpose and confidence.
The former world No.1, down to 134 in the rankings, had a positive weekend in Abu Dhabi, where he claimed two victories over Dan Evans and Rafael Nadal before losing to Andrey Rublev in the final of an exhibition tournament.
The 34-year-old Murray, who is attempting a comeback no player with a metal hip has ever dared to embark on, struggled to find his best form against the top players last season, but finished 2021 with some promising results, including two top-10 triumphs over Hubert Hurkacz and Jannik Sinner.
“I feel like now I’m a lot clearer in my mind about how I’m going to play and the way I’m going to go about my matches in the next year,” Murray told reporters in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.
“Decision-making comes from having a clear mind and clarity about the way you want to play and right now I’m quite sure on that and I believe that will help me in the important moments.”
Murray missed last February’s Australian Open after contracting Covid-19 and with the current surge in cases in the UK, the Scot is wary of suffering a similar fate ahead of next month’s action in Melbourne.
“Obviously it’s a concern,” he said. “I want to try and stay safe. When I get home, I’m going to do all of my physical training at home in my house and avoid going to the national tennis centre; there’s been a number of cases there the last week to 10 days.”
Murray is expecting to receive a wildcard into the main draw of the Australian Open – a tournament where he has reached, and lost, five finals.
The Brit owns a strong 48-13 win-loss record at Melbourne Park but has also experienced so many near-misses Down Under.
“I kind of feel like I maybe deserve to have an Australian Open, but I never got it done in the big matches there,” he conceded.
“Got close and was in good position a couple of times, but couldn’t convert it, so that’s something I obviously have to deal with. But my memories from Australia, in terms of how I feel about the place, I love it there.” — AFP
