MURRAY: “LAST YEAR WAS CHARACTER BUILDING”

Written by: Staff on 15th April 2012

MURRAY: "LAST YEAR WAS CHARACTER BUILDING"

Andy Murray of Great Britain reacts during his men's single semi final match against Novak Djokovic of Serbia at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 27 January 2012. EPA/MASTR IRHAM |

Monte-Carlo, Monaco

by ATP Staff

15.04.2012

Original Story: http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2012/04/16/Monte-Carlo-Preview-Murray.aspx

World No. 4 Andy Murray enters the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters on the back of a runner-up finish at the Sony Ericsson Open, far superior to his form coming into the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament last year, when he bowed out in his opening-round matches at Indian Wells and Miami.

The third seed put together his best results on clay in 2011, highlighted by his first semi-final appearance at Roland Garros, and final four showings in Monte-Carlo and the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome.

“Last year, throughout the clay-court season, I felt way better,” said Murray. “It started here. I had a good run. I probably shouldn’t have played the match against Rafa. I had the injection before we went out to play. It was tough, but it was character building in a way, as I started to play well again after struggling in Miami.”

Murray is yet to reach an ATP World Tour clay-court final, but showed signs of a breakthrough last year, pushing Nadal to three sets at the Monte-Carlo Country Club and narrowly losing to Novak Djokovic at the Foro Italico in a final set tie-break.

“All these tournaments are very important, with the French Open coming at the end,” Murray said. “Each week, you want to be playing a little better in preparation for that. It’s difficult here, as you can come up against tough players right off the bat. For me, it’s not a surface I grew up on, so it takes a little while for me to get comfortable. I’m sure someone like Rafa steps on a clay-court and feels good after a few days.”

The 24 year old opens his campaign against 27th-ranked Viktor Troicki. Murray overcame a two-sets-to-love deficit against the Serbian to win their fourth-round meeting on the red dirt in Paris a season ago. The Scot will take the court for the first time sporting his new buzz cut.

“I did it myself three days ago,” revealed Murray. “I just decided I wanted to cut my hair. It was my fitness trainer’s razor so I wasn’t sure how short it was going to be.”