Andy Murray is sure he will handle the heat after going the extra mile

 
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10 January 2014

Andy Murray believes his punishing Miami training sessions will give him an edge over his rivals at the Australian Open, which starts on Monday.

The Wimbledon champion is fighting to regain his best form after back surgery in the autumn and has been doing all he can to prepare for the debilitating Melbourne heat with temperatures expected to pass the 100°F mark.

Murray bases himself in Miami at the end of each year, which is why he did not return to Britain to receive the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award last month.

He said: “I think I prepare well. I train very hard in Miami during the off season to get ready for it and the hard conditions.

“A lot of players don’t do that, especially the Europeans who prefer to stay at home. Training in the heat gives me a little bit of an edge but also the conditions there suit me well. I like the hard courts, I like the balls and the experience. They have great courts to play on.”

Murray lost his final warm-up game before the Open when he took on Lleyton Hewitt in an exhibition match at Kooyong today. Murray served well but went down 7-6, 7-6 and he admitted he is still getting back to the level of fitness which made him a double Grand Slam champion.

“I’m trying to get 100 per cent healthy first,” Murray told Eurosport magazine Mats Point. “I feel good just now but playing matches is very different. But if I can get myself healthy, the Australian Open is the first major goal for all of the players, it’s the first Grand Slam, I have lost the final there three times so, hopefully, I can do well there.”

Murray has been paired with Japan’s Go Soeda, ranked 112th, in the first round of the Open but assuming results go with seedings, he would have to beat Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in his final three matches to take the title.

Meanwhile, Heather Watson must beat American Irina Falconi, ranked No141, tomorrow to reach the main draw. The world No120 earned the tie after defeating Stephanie Foretz Gacon 6-0, 2-0 today when the French woman retired.

However, British No1 Johanna Konta lost her second-round qualifier 6‑1, 6-2 to Ukraine’s Olga Savchuk.

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