Murray Wins First Round Match In Australian Heat

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 14th January 2014

Murray Wins First Round Match In Australian Heat

epa04020130 Andy Murray of Great Britain reacts after winning his round 1 match against Go Soeda of Japan on day two of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 14 January 2014. EPA/JOE CASTRO AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT |

Fears that Wimbledon champion Andy Murray might wither in the intense Melbourne heat after insufficient match practice in between his September 29 back surgery and the Australian Open proved ill-founded as the Scot required just 87 minutes to dispense of first round opponent Go Soeda.

Playing on Hisense Arena and starting when the heat was at its’ most intense, Murray won 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 but the fourth seed admitted the conditions were more than tough.

“You can’t prepare yourself for this, the air is so hot and I’m just pleased to get out of here,’ said Murray who had only played two ATP World Tour matches since his US Open title defence ended early in New York.

“I’m obviously more confident than I was a few years ago but I’ve been lacking a bit of match practice. I was taking nothing for granted. When you haven’t played for a while you are bit stressed out before matches but I felt pretty good today.

“I’ve played some of my best tennis here and hopefully I can give it a good go this year.”

Murray’s dedication to duty won him huge praise from former British Davis Cup team-mate Greg Rusedski who was commentating for British Eurosport. “I thought his movement was exceptional; he really did everything well from the start. The thing we question is the movement and the serve when you have a back problem but he showed lovely variety.

“We’re used to seeing those sliced backhands and what I liked was his patience to build the point; his positioning on the court was absolutely excellent. And then when he had the chance to hit it he really took on that forehand up the line very well today. Another key is being able to dictate play and his opponent was absolutely perfect for him in allowing him to do that. Overall it was an excellent day for Andy Murray.

“Things are working out nicely but let’s not get too excited and put everything into perspective. Yes he played brilliantly today but his opponent really didn’t trouble him out there. He wasn’t like Mayer in Doha who has a little bit more variety. But Murray looks like he’s improved from that match which was 10 days ago so there is optimism.

“As he said it’s going to take time to see how the body recovers and that’s going to be the true test. The test will be how do you beat Federer, Nadal or Djokovic back-to-back after coming back from surgery? If he gets to the quarter-finals or anything better than that it will be an exceptional Australian Open considering he had surgery only a few months ago.

“I think all the expectation and pressure has come off him and now he’s got to reset new goals and come back from this injury and all those other aspects. I think he just felt so much pressure and now that that’s been done and having won Wimbledon I think he’s enjoying his tennis much more as well.”

Topics: 10sballs, Andy Murray, Atp World Tour, Australian Open, Go Soeda, Melbourne, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Sports, Tennis, Tennis News, Wimbledon