Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
No. 1 Murray eyes first title Down Under
MELBOURNE, Australia — Andy Murray has become a father, gained the No. 1 ranking and received a knighthood since he left Melbourne Park 50 weeks ago after losing a fifth Australian Open final.
Stress weighed him down at the season-opening Grand Slam event of 2016, to the point where he thought about quitting the tournament to head back to Britain to be with his pregnant wife. But even that would have presented problems, considering his father-in-law was in a Melbourne hospital after collapsing with an illness while watching a match at the Australian Open.
Clearly, he’s in a better place this year as he seeks to end his Australian drought.
“I obviously feel pretty confident after the way that last season finished,” he said. “I do love it here. I love the conditions. I have played really well here over the years, and just haven’t managed to get over the final hurdle.
“But, yeah, I think I’m in a decent position, for sure, to do it. I think I have a chance to win here. I’m playing well. Practice has been good. I feel healthy. I’ll give it a good shot.”
Rumors circulated last year that Murray would go home before facing Djokovic, his Melbourne nemesis, in the final. As it was, he was on the first flight to Heathrow after losing in straight sets — his fourth Australian Open final defeat to Djokovic and fifth overall dating back to 2010. His wife, Kim Sears, gave birth to their first child, Sophia Olivia, the following week.
He confirmed Saturday (Australian time), two days before he opens the 2017 tournament against Illya Marchenko of Ukraine, that he really had thought about leaving early.
“It was a tough tournament, obviously the situation with Kim and the baby coming was tough,” he said. “Then with what happened with Nigel during the event made it really kind of awkward because there was times … it was like ‘I want to be home for the birth,’ but then I’m not just going to leave while my fatherin-law is also in hospital.
“It was tough, and certainly not a position I would want to put myself in again, or my wife, or any of my family really.”
Murray had a stunning end to 2016 after reuniting with Ivan Lendl as coach in June, winning his second Wimbledon title, defending his Olympic gold medal, and adding titles in Beijing, Shanghai, Vienna and Paris to end Djokovic’s 122-week stint at No. 1.
He then clinched the year-end No. 1 ranking by winning the ATP Finals, beating the players seeded second, third, fourth and fifth.