ATP Tour

Reframing his thoughts, Murray ready for Melbourne

The end of 2023 didn’t go according to plan for former World No. 1 Andy Murray. The Scot lost six of his final nine matches on the season, culminating in a frustrating defeat against Alex de Minaur at the end of October in Paris, where the Australian saved a match point.

Fast forward two and a half months and the 36-year-old is feeling revitalised ahead of his 16th appearance at the Australian Open.

“I feel like I'm enjoying [tennis] better,” Murray said in his pre-tournament press conference on Friday. “I think part of that is the mental side of it. Tennis is a difficult game in that respect. When you're struggling, you're out there on your own, it can be difficult at times. Part of it is that.

“The way you're playing, when you know you're capable of doing more than what you are, if you're not happy with the way you're hitting forehands and backhands and serving and those sorts of things, there's the technical aspect as well. Fixing some of those problems has helped me feel better on the court. Definitely some focus on the mental side, reframing the way you look at things helps.”

Murray, currently No. 44 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, split with coach Ivan Lendl in November. Working with Mark Hilton and Jonny O’Mara, he began his season in Brisbane, where he suffered an opening-round defeat to eventual champion Grigor Dimitrov.

Murray arrives in Melbourne holding fond memories at the hard-court major, having advanced to the final five times (2010, 11’, 13’, 15’, 16). Last year, the 36-year-old overcame Matteo Berrettini and Thanasi Kokkinakis in five-set thrillers en route to the third round.

The 46-time tour-level titlist starts this year’s Australian Open campaign against Tomas Martin Etcheverry, with Novak Djokovic a potential third-round opponent. Murray played the Argentine twice last season, with both matches tight three-setters. Split at 1-1 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series, the three-time major winner is expecting another physical battle.

“I made most of my matches quite physical last year,” Murray said cracking a smile. “I don't know if that was necessarily him. He has a game that can make the matches that way. We played in Basel, I don't know if it was over three hours, but it felt like it was. In Indian Wells, another long one.

“I know that last year when I wasn't serving well, you end up getting into lots more long rallies and everything. Because of the way I return, I put quite a lot of returns back in play, you can end up getting into lots of long points when that's the case. Matches will go on. Hopefully that's not the case in a couple of days.”