MURRAY VOWS NOT TO FLOP IN LONDON AGAIN

Andy Murray admits there have been times when he has felt ‘fried’ coming into the last event of the tennis season. His record at the Barclays aTP World Tour Finals backs that up, but then he has never entered with the buoyancy of the world no 1 status that was officially given to him yesterday.

Murray awoke at his Surrey home atop the world rankings, but by mid-afternoon was given a stiff reminder that his new position is no guarantee of receiving a preferable draw.

Instead, the four-man John McEnroe Group he finds himself in could hardly have worked out more difficult. Meanwhile, novak djokovic — heading the inappropriately named Ivan Lendl Group — could not have asked for a more benign trio of opponents.

at least the Scot feels readier for the challenge at an event where he has never got past the semi-finals in seven attempts.

‘For the last couple of years the circumstances have been a bit trickier,’ said Murray, who plans to rest until resuming practice on Thursday.

‘Last year I was getting ready for the davis Cup final and preparing on clay. It’s not the right way to prepare if you’re trying to win against the best players.

‘So this year maybe will be different to the last one. I’ve always gone into London trying to do well, and it’s never quite happened for me. I’ve had a couple of tough losses, rafa (nadal) in the semis once, and one year (2014) I was really trying to chase the points to get in there and I played probably too much — by the time I got there I was a bit fried.

‘I’ve never really played well there so the first part is to try to play good tennis. Being no 1 doesn’t guarantee wins against the best players.’

In the past two years at the O2 arena Murray, 29, has lost to two of his group opponents, Stan Wawrinka and Kei nishikori. Third man Marin Cilic — against whom he kicks off on Monday night — is at a career-high ranking of no 7. djokovic, who has a 23-0 aggregate record against his three opponents, can take back the no 1 ranking if he goes further in the tournament than Murray. One of djokovic’s group rivals, Milos raonic, may not be fit to play and could be replaced by Tomas Berdych, while the other two, Gael Monfils and dominic Thiem, are first-time qualifiers.

Jamie Murray and Brazilian partner Bruno Soares have long been nailed on to make the field in the doubles, armed with two Grand Slam titles this year.

However, their form has tailed off since winning the uS Open, with their best result since Flushing Meadows a semifinal in Vienna. They start on Sunday night, and have drawn the multiple world champion Bryan brothers in their group, although the americans are not the force they once were.