Andy Murray: Relaxed & no longer 'obsessed' with Grand Slams [Sport 360, 26 Dec]
World No3 Andy Murray wants to be more consistent in the tournaments outside the Grand Slams and admits that will be his main focus this year rather than remain “obsessed” with winning Majors.
The 25-year-old Scot won his maiden Grand Slam title at the US Open last September and explained that while his immediate goal is to try and win the Australian Open next month, he plans on preparing well for the smaller tournaments throughout the year – something he says he somewhat lacked in recent years.
Speaking ahead of his opening match in Abu Dhabi, when asked what his goals for the new season will be, Murray said: “It’s something we spoke at length in December about what I wanted to try and achieve this year and my focus is short-term.
“Three, four years ago I was always quite consistent in tournaments, normally getting to the quarter-finals, semi-finals stages in events, the last couple of years I’ve been very consistent in the Slams, but in the other tournaments I’ve struggled for consistency.
“I think because I was almost starting to become obsessed with the Grand Slams that as soon as one was over I was looking four, five months ahead to the next one and not necessarily paying enough attention to the rest of the Tour which does help because you gain confidence from winning matches so I think that’s something that I definitely look to improve.”
Murray spent his off season training in Miami with his coach Ivan Lendl and the rest of his team and the reigning Olympic champion admits he was worried that he might be low on motivation after achieving one of his biggest goals, which was winning a Grand Slam.
Fortunately, for the Scot, that was far from the case when he took to the practice courts earlier this month and that he's relishing the preparation more than ever.
“I thought maybe after I’d won a Slam, it may have the other effect on me, because it took me so long to do it, I had so many tough losses, have come close a lot of times that maybe when I’ve done it, I might have lost a bit of drive," said Murray.
“But that wasn’t really the case. I was actually enjoying practising more, going to the gym more because I felt that I was finally being rewarded for putting that work in. It became more enjoyable after that. I trained really hard in the off season in December and hope that I can keep improving.”
Murray, however, admits that he is still unsure on how becoming a Grand Slam champion will affect his nerves when he heads to the Australian Open in January.
“In my mind I feel more relaxed and I felt very relieved after I won the US Open, so I think from my side I will hopefully be taking some pressure off myself and will be able to play a little bit more relaxed I hope,” says the Dunblane-native.
“But again I haven’t competed in a Grand Slam since the US Open and I don’t know exactly how I’ll feel going into the Australian Open playing my first round match there, I don’t know. It’ll be a new feeling for me and I’ll just have to see how I deal with it.”
http://www.sport360.com/article/andy-murray-relaxed-no-longer-obsessed-grand-slams
