Murray’s golden glow in Brisbane
AFTER a Brisbane International triumph sparked his greatest season yet, Andy Murray sees no need to change a successful schedule.
The world No. 4 and Olympic champion will return to Queensland to defend his title, starting on December 30.
‘‘I played some of my best tennis in Australia this year after winning in Brisbane and hopefully I can have another good run,’’ said Murray.
‘‘Tennis players tend to enjoy the place they do well at and I had a good week there. It was a fun place . . . people were into the tennis.’’
The announcement comes after Bernard Tomic, who lost to Murray in this year’s semi-finals, opted to skip his home event next time around and play the Hopman Cup in Perth instead.
Murray defeated Ukraine’s Alexandr Dolgopolov to claim the title at Tennyson, then made the last four at the Australian Open, losing a tough five-set match to eventual champion Novak Djokovic.
Murray went on to reach the Wimbledon final, where he lost to Roger Federer before turning the tables on the Swiss star to Olympic gold on home soil.
Brisbane International tournament director Cameron Pearson hoped Murray’s signing would lure other top-10 players.
‘‘I’m thrilled he’s coming back. He was my target because he won the tournament and we wanted to see our defending champion back here,’’ Pearson said. ‘‘The players certainly
claim talk out there and they want to go to tournaments that are friendly and hospitable, where the fans enjoy watching them play, and Brisbane has all those attributes.
‘‘That will hopefully mean we’re going to see more of the better players coming to Brisbane because it’s a quality event and it’s great preparation for the Australian Open.’’
– The Courier-Mail