Murray Has Nightmares Over Winning And Losing

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 6th November 2012

Murray Has Nightmares Over Winning And Losing

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 31: Andy Murray of Great Britain addresses the crowd during the trophy presentation after the men's final match against Roger Federer of Switzerland during day fourteen of the 2010 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 31, 2010 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Mark Dadswell/Getty Images) |

Andy Murray revealed he is still experiencing nightmares that he didn’t win the US Open title after all and waking with panic attacks that he still has to prove himself to the British sporting public.

For this week’s Barclays ATP World Tour Finals at the London 02 Arena, Murray is staying in the official Players Hotel just across Westminster Bridge from the Houses of Parliament in a bid to put himself in a more competitive environment rather than experiencing the comforts of his home.

The 25 year-old Scot, who beat Djokovic in the five sets final in New York eight weeks ago said: “I’ve had a few confusing dreams this year – a couple of days after Wimbledon I dreamt that I’d actually won it, and was gutted to open my eyes and realize I hadn’t.

“And on the Thursday after I got back from the US Open, I was sleeping on the couch at home and this time I dreamt I’d lost the final. When I woke up I had to ask myself, “did that actually happen?”

Murray expects most of the doubts to disappear when he finally takes delivery of the replica trophy, gifted by the United States Tennis Association. “It hasn’t arrived yet but I guess there will be no room for doubts when I finally get my replica of the US Open trophy.

“The day after winning the tournament you do lots of media with the real one and then they take it away. When the replica finally arrives, I might need to clear a bit of space at home.”

After allowing match points to slip through his hands in his three previous tournaments in Tokyo, Shanghai and Paris last week, Murray looked anxious as he served for victory in his opening World Tour Finals match against Tomas Berdych before finally winning 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in front of 17,000 of his compatriots.

Murray admitted afterwards that the three defeats to Milos Raonic, Novak Djokovic and Jerzy Janowicz had been on his mind as he tried to finish his opponent off: “I was thinking about the reasons why they had happened. I didn’t feel I did loads wrong against Djokovic in Shanghai (when five went begging) but the one last week I was disappointed with, I rushed and didn’t concentrate. Today I focused on every point, got myself pumped up and served it out well.’