If practice makes perfect, then Andy Murray will begin his Australian Open campaign tomorrow full of confidence.
Just as double Olympic decathlon champion Daley Thompson used to train on Christmas Day to keep one step ahead of his rivals, Murray spent his off-season putting in the hours in the gym and on the court in Florida. The gruelling work has left Murray looking tanned and lean, with perhaps a little less muscle than at the start of previous years.
It has all been aimed at restoring his speed - the base of his athleticism - and if his training sessions in Melbourne are anything to go by, it looks to have worked.
"I feel in good shape," Murray said yesterday. "I trained well in December. We changed some of the things I was doing in my training, which was fun. Fresh ideas were good. My body feels good. Practice this week's been good. So I'm looking forward to getting started."
That start will come tomorrow when he plays Yuki Bhambri of India, the world No 314 who came through qualifying to make the main draw. Things will soon get more difficult with Grigor Dimitrov and then 17-times Grand Slam champion Roger Federer in his quarter. But like the wise old campaigner he is, at the age of 27, Murray knows that what is on paper rarely pans out exactly as planned.
"It's obviously a very tough draw, but it's hard to comment on it," he said. "If you have to play all of those players, obviously it's going to be extremely difficult to come through that. I'm aware of that. That's fine. But often in these events, there are upsets and then you just have to wait to see who you play in each round."
Nadal yesterday insisted that he would be lying if he said he was ready to win the title. Having missed much of the last few months of last year through a combination of injuries and an appendix operation, his expectations are lower than usual.
"I'm sure if you offered Rafa a semi-final spot right now, he'd be very happy with that, especially coming off a tough injury," Murray said.
Murray has reached the final in Melbourne three times, twice losing to the world No 1 Novak Djokovic and once to Federer. Something in the air obviously agrees with the Scot and he admitted that conditions were in his favour.
"Obviously hard courts is the surface I feel very comfortable on," he said. "I like the balls they use here. They are a little bit slower than the ones at the US Open, and I like that. Normally if you put in good work in the off-season and work hard, you're going to get good rewards at the beginning of the year. I feel like the effort and work that I put in in December has helped me here."
This will be the first Grand Slam for Murray since he parted ways with his assistance coach, Dani Vallverdu, and his conditioning coach, Jez Green. With Amelie Mauresmo firmly entrenched as his coach, the sense of excitement in the Murray camp is noticeable.
"It hasn't been weird [without Vallverdu]," he said. "It's been, in my opinion, positive. When things aren't working well, there's not a positive atmosphere, it's not good for anybody. So when that changes and everyone's working together, that makes things better. So the last two months for me have been very, very good."
For the first time since 2002, Britain will have three men in the main draw of a slam outside of Wimbledon after Kyle Edmund came through qualifying. The 20-year-old spent time with Murray in Florida and the former Wimbledon and US Open champion said he was delighted to see Edmund's hard work rewarded.
"He has a good attitude," Murray said. "He's very calm and has always got his feet on the ground. For me the last five, six months he's made some big improvements. Qualifying for his first slam, you saw the way he reacted at the end. It means a lot to him. It's a big step in the right direction for him."
Liam Broady's bid to make it four Britons came to an end in the final qualifying round as he was beaten by veteran American Michael Russell.
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