A Fresh Start For Murray

If the likes of Manchester United and Louis Van Gaal are allowed to have a season of “transition” then surely it’s only fair that the face of British tennis, Andy Murray, is entitled to a similar allowance.

A straight sets win for Andy Murray in round one

By the high standards of the British number one 2014 was a difficult year, that’s if you can call reaching the quarter final stage of all four Grand Slams and qualifying for the season ending Championships in London a difficult year.

If nothing else it was twelve months of change for Murray who parted company with coach Ivan Lendel in March before going separate ways from fitness trainer Jezz Green and hitting partner Daniel Vallverdu later in the year.

Nevertheless Murray arrives in Melbourne for the first Grand Slam of 2015 in great shape and since his crushing 6-0 6-1 defeat at the hands of Roger Federer in November, Murray has recorded an equally emphatic 6-2 6-0 victory over Rafael Nadal in an exhibition event in Abu Dhabi before winning all three of his singles matches at this year’s Hopman Cup.

His regular stop at his winter training camp in Miami has allowed Murray to regroup and reassess  his goals with current coach Amélie Mauresmo as the Brit looks to rediscover the sort of form which earned him two Grand Slam titles and an Olympic gold medal.

However if Murray is to add a first Australian Open title to his growing list of titles, the Brit will have to be on the  top of his game over the next fortnight. In the fourth round Murray could come up against the fast rising star Grigor Dimitrov who beat him at Wimbledon last year,  that could be followed by a rematch with Federer in the quarter finals.     

For now they will be at the back of Murray’s mind and he will be fully focused on his second round opponent Marinko Matosevic after beating Indian qualifier Yuki Bhambri 6-3 6-4 7-6(3) in his  opening match on Monday.

Murray may have been the clear favourite against Bhambri, a man who had to win three matches just to reach the first round and was the lowest ranked player in the men’s draw. Nevertheless the world 317 managed to muster up an intriguing match.

A graduate from Nick Bollettieri’s academy Bhambri wasn’t afraid to strike the ball early from the back of the court or approach the net on numerous occasions where he showed some creative touch.

After losing the first two sets by a single break the Indian lead 4-1 in the third, however his lead was short lived as Murray’s more consistent game allowed him back into the match, which he closed out in 2 hours 12 minutes after a third set breaker.

Elsewhere in the men’s draw there were straight set victories for Federer, Dimitrov and Nadal.  On the Women’s side there were first round victories for Maria Sharapova and Simona Halep, however fifth seed Anna Ivanovic and ninth seed Angelique Kerber crashed out.