Resilient Murray aiming to keep up winning run
IN-FORM Andy Murray has shrugged off fears of burn-out in favour of attempting to capitalise on his new-found success on clay at this week’s Italian Open.
Murray waited until yesterday before deciding whether to go for a third title in as many weeks but opted against a rest and is due to play Frenchman Jeremy Chardy today.
No Briton had won a clay event since 1976 when Murray triumphed at the Munich Open earlier this month. He flew straight to Spain where he won the Madrid Masters by beating surface specialist Rafael Nadal in Sunday’s one-sided final.
Murray, who is seeded third in Rome, is using the tournament to prepare for next week’s French Open, the only grand slam at which he has never reached the final.
The world No3 has also confirmed that Swede Jonas Bjorkman, who joined his coaching team earlier this year, may take over from pregnant Amelie Mauresmo as Murray’s main mentor for the rest of the year.
“Jonas is going to be with me after Wimbledon, just me and him through potentially right until the end of the year,” he said. “I think both of us are quite motivated to do that. I didn’t get to spend too much time with Jonas so far but it’s been a good start and I’ll try to keep it up.”