Murray shrugs off injury fears with Brisbane win
BRITAIN’s Andy Murray insists he will be fit for this month’s Australian Open despite struggling with injury as he laboured to victory in his first match of 2012.
Murray lost the first set to Mikhail Kukushkin and needed more than two hours to complete a 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 comeback win over the world No91 at the Brisbane International.
Perhaps more worryingly, the Scot called for medical assistance twice in the first set due to pains in his knee, despite wearing heavy strapping.
But he said: “I’ve had a few little niggles over the past couple of weeks but they’ll be gone by the Australian Open.
“I just need to play through them now and hopefully feel better. I’ve always turned up for the first few matches a bit sore, so it’s nothing to worry about.”
Murray’s mobility problems raise concerns ahead of the first grand slam of the season, which begins in Melbourne on 16 January. The world No4, who faces Gilles Muller of Luxembourg today in Brisbane, has reached the final on his last two visits to the Australian Open, and last week bolstered his back-room team by signing up Ivan Lendl as coach.