Season takes on a new, fresh shape for Murray

Saturday 9 March 2013

No-one can ever accuse Andy Murray of not thinking about the big picture.

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Simon Cambers in Indian Wells

Even as he fine-tuned his preparations for tomorrow's opening match against Russia's Evgeny Donskoy at the BNP Paribas Open, the Scot was thinking ahead, to the lush green grass of home.

Wimbledon, of course, was where it all began for Murray last summer, his near miss in the Championships, followed by tears, followed by Olympic gold back on the grass and then US Open glory.

Having trained hard in December, Murray reached the final at the Australian Open and then decided to skip the entire month of February, eschewing match practice for more training.The idea is that he will be fresher here in Indian Wells and next week in Miami, but the 25-year-old also feels the solid two months of training he has done in the past three months will hold him in good stead later in the year."I was kind of viewing every grand slam as the same over the last few years because I hadn't won one and I was desperate to try to win one," said Murray, who has lost his opening match here in each of the past two years. "I think now I'll still approach every grand slam the same way, prepare properly and stuff, but what happened at Wimbledon last year and then at the Olympics, and everything I've experienced there over the last few years, I think over time it will mean more and more to me."Murray and his coach Ivan Lendl were back at work within a week of his defeat by the world No.1 Novak Djokovic in Melbourne and the US Open champion believes it will only pay off in the long run."In terms of not playing matches, that's a disadvantage but I value my fitness blocks a lot," Murray said. "I think they make a big difference throughout the course of the year and in the grand slams. "My mind tells me that if you train for three-and-a-half weeks when no-one else is training then physically you should be in better shape. I worked hard, spent a decent amount of time on the court and, at the beginning of the block, in the gym so I trained for about four weeks in December, played a couple of tournaments and then obviously trained for another three weeks so obviously I should be in good shape."Having reached the final in 2009, Murray has struggled here in the past two years, his post-Australia slump resulting in defeats in his opening match. This time, he seems content and in a far better state of mind, ready to do well as he closes in on Roger Federer's No.2 spot."I want to do well," he said. "I want to do well at every tournament this year which, I think, I would have always said [was the case] before but I wouldn't necessarily have given myself the best chance."A couple of years ago, I played Rotterdam and Dubai and then came over here. This is the first time I've done it like this so I'm obviously training and preparing as best I can for this stretch. "Also, building up to the clay-court season, which is obviously an extremely physical part of the year, getting that training block done now will, hopefully, help me during the clay as well. So I have put some added significance on it."With Lendl not here this time, Murray said he would be relying on Dani Vallverdu for even more assistance than usual. "When Ivan's not there, he obviously steps up his input," Murray said. "I talk through tactics with him before all of the matches and I hit with him. It works well."

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Season takes on a new, fresh shape for Murray

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