THERE is nothing like home comforts to get you over a loss and for Andy Murray, that will count double as he travels to Miami, where he will be reunited with his wife and newborn daughter.
Murray has already shrugged off the importance of his third-round defeat by Federico Delbonis of Argentina at the BNP Paribas Open on Monday, admitting he just can’t get to grips with the lively conditions in the California desert.
The Scot’s next on-court assignment will be at the Miami Open, starting next weekend, for the second of back-to-back Masters 1000 events.
Murray has had an apartment in Miami for 10 years but it will be a bit more crowded than normal when wife Kim and daughter Sophia, with mother-in-law in tow, arrive.
A couple of hours after his defeat by Delbonis, a proud Murray happily whipped out a photo of Sophia and said he could not wait to see her.
“It’s obviously different to normal, being away, that’s for sure,” Murray said.
“It’s been tough but at least now I know that the next five weeks, I’ll get to see her. That helps.
“Sometimes with Kim, I would see her, maybe not see her for three or four weeks, whereas now, I am just trying to make sure that throughout the course of the year there’s not big chunks of time we’re not seeing her [his daughter].”
Unlike Roger Federer, who has the help of a couple of nannies to help look after his four young children as he travels the world, Murray said he plans to rely on family alone.
“No, there’s no nanny,” he said, with just the hint of a smile.
“Kim’s mum has been helping her. When I’m away, I think it’s very difficult, obviously, at the beginning when they’re only sleeping every couple of hours, it’s not easy, so to have her mother around helps a lot.
“It’ll be nice and it’ll be interesting to see how it [travelling with the family] goes as well, but I’m looking forward to it.”
Murray’s father, Willie, was in Indian Wells and will accompany them to Miami together with his partner, meaning a pretty full house.
But the Scot says he will feel much more comfortable having everyone around as he looks to go one better than last year, when he lost to Novak Djokovic in the final.
“I'm not necessarily concerned about how I'm playing,” he said. “I do think I will play better tennis in Miami because I played some good stuff in the Davis Cup.
“I’ve spent loads of time there over the years and unlike here, where I feel like when I really want to go for my shots, I can’t or I make mistakes, there it’s much heavier conditions and you feel much free, more able to do that. The ball’s not bouncing up as high, either so I prefer the conditions there.
“I’ll take a couple of days rest – those days are actually important over the course of this year because of what it’s going to be like (crowded because of the Olympics).
“I’ll take a few days and then I’ll get a good week’s training before the tournament starts in Miami.”
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