Murray sets sights on Madrid

Madrid, May 5: Andy Murray was working on Tuesday to make a oneday turnaround from slow, heavy conditions in Munich to the high- altitude, faster- bouncing clay of the Spanish capital in order to be ready for an opening challenge at the Madrid Masters.

The third- ranked Scot arrived after winning his first clay title in Munich in a delayed Monday final, but was facing a race against time to adjust to the totally different courts of Madrid’s Caja Magica.

“Winning on Munich clay is obviously a positive for me, it was a goal that I had for this year,” said Murray, who can boast of only a trio of quarterfinal placings since Madrid changed to clay in 2009.

Murray beat German Philipp Kohlschreiber in the three- hour German final and could run into his opponent in the sec- ond round on Wednesday should Kohlschreiber defeat qualifier Alejandro Fall in the first round.

“It was an extremely tough match and a dramatic finish. That always makes it a little bit nicer,” Murray said of his success.

“This gives me a little bit more confidence obviously with the French Open just a few weeks to go.

“It’s nice to win events at any level. I hope I can have a good run at one of the next two events, either here or Rome, and get myself ready for the French,” he further added.

Murray’s Munich win also marked a standout first week with new coach Jonas Bjorkman, with the experienced Swede coming aboard to pick up the team slack due to the pregnancy of groundbreaking female coach Amelie Mauresmo.