Training | 2010.01.29
A world away from home Andy Murray keeps hopes of a nation at arm's length
Australian Open finalist plays down the pressure of a chance to be the first British man to win a Grand Slam in 74 years
If destiny is bearing down on Andy Murray, he shows little sign of it disturbing his calm demeanour 48 hours away from reaching for a prize that has eluded everyone from these islands since Fred Perry held the Wimbledon trophy aloft 74 years ago.
That was the last time a British man won a tennis major, a statistic that has weighed heavily not only on some talented players but on the game itself.
However, when Murray beat the talented young Croat Marin Cilic in four sets at the Rod Laver Arena today to reach Sunday\'s final of the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam event of the year, he would not allow the hopes of a nation to cloud his sense of perspective.
He saw how Tim Henman carried the burden alone throughout a career that continually fell short of the ultimate achievement, and he is determined not to be similarly distracted by what he regards as extraneous pressure.
"Obviously," he said, "I\'d love to do it [for Britain]. It\'s not the only reason that I want to win a slam. I want to win it for the people that I work with, for my parents, who helped me when I was growing up. Then, doing it for British tennis and British sport would be excellent as well.
"The pressure I feel doesn\'t come from the people that are around me. They obviously are happy with anything that I do. I want to win for them first."
He says, at 22, that this feels like his time. As for faraway expectations, he said: "You don\'t really feel it that much. Wimbledon is a little bit different, especially in the lead-up to the tournament. But, when you\'re away, I don\'t take any notice of it. There are no newspapers that I would read over here. It\'s not really on the TV [here] that much. So I just kind of avoid it."
There is no avoiding it now. More than 40 UK sports writers are in Melbourne covering his every word and gesture, but he is determined to stick to his regimented preparation.
In the moments immediately after a slightly disjointed victory, Murray\'s thoughts turned to the ultimate challenge: Roger Federer. He does not only want to make tennis history; he wants to do it against the player widely regarded as the best there has ever been. It is a measure of his ambition.
And, while Federer must yet beat the exciting Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the second semi-final today, most informed observers would back the world No1 to be the man standing across the net from Murray on Sunday evening.
"Well, it would be the best way ever," Murray said of the prospect of beating Federer to not only win his first Grand Slam, but securing Britain\'s first such title since 1936. "If you win against him, if you beat him in a slam final, it\'s an unbelievable achievement."
He is in good shape to deliver, he said. "This is the best I\'ve played at a slam. I feel good. Physically, I am going to be fresh for the final."
Murray moved to No 3 in the world when he beat the Spaniard Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals here and will move into second place if he wins on Sunday.
He dropped a set for the first time in the tournament in a poor start to his match against Cilic, but regained his composure to win 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 in three hours and two minutes, his longest match of the tournament.
His tennis has been near flawless since the first day, though, and he allowed himself the indulgence of agreeing that one shot he played in the final game of his semi-final was very special.
Murray raced 15 feet outside the tramlines to retrieve a lost cause, then whipped a forehand shot between the net post and the umpire\'s chair for a winner that left Cilic and the crowd stunned. "[That] doesn\'t happen that often in matches," he said. "But honestly, I actually practise this shot quite a lot in training."
Murray has already come close to breaking the Perry jinx, reaching the finals of the US Open against Federer two years ago, before losing in straight sets after a rain-marred weekend in which he ended up playing on three consecutive days.
This time, his progress has been relatively serene. "Last year," he said, "I had a few tough losses in the Grand Slams. At Wimbledon, I had a chance to make the final and lost a really tight match against Andy Roddick. [This] is nice. It\'s what you work for."
For more information, please visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/jan[...]y-australian-open-tennis-final
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