At 35, Andy Murray Has More Belief in His Body than at “Any Stage in My Career”

By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Monday February 20, 2023

After his newest cliff-hanging victory, a three-set thriller in Doha in opposition to Lorenzo Sonego, Andy Murray says that he has extra religion in his physique than he has had at any stage of profession.

That’s fairly a press release from a person that’s enjoying with a titanium-infused hip, after one reasonably profitable hip surgical procedure in January of 2018 and one other full-on resurfacing in January of 2019. Throw in the truth that Murray is 35 occurring 36 and it’s downright exceptional – however true.

Right here’s what Murray stated on Monday after saving three match factors within the third set to defeat Italy’s Sonego.

“I’ve educated very well since Melbourne,” he stated. “I pushed myself bodily actually laborious because the finish of final season. Clearly I noticed the advantages of that in Australia and the matches that I performed, making an attempt to hold on that path as a lot as I can.”

Murray stated the expertise of enjoying three grueling matches in succession in Australia (his second-round victory over Thanasi Kokkinakis was a 5 hour and 45-minute affair that ended at 4:05 AM) has left him feeling stronger than he ever has been.

That have, he says, made Monday’s two hour and 30-minute battle really feel like a breeze.

“Although tonight’s match was 7-6 within the third and it was two-and-a-half hours, the truth that I used to be capable of play for almost 5 hours in opposition to Berrettini after which bodily was capable of handle one other actually lengthy match afterwards has given me much more perception in my physique, possibly greater than I’ve had at any stage in my profession, to be sincere.

“It is as a result of I’ve not had a lot of these experiences of enjoying 4 hours and 50 minutes after which enjoying one other actually lengthy match afterwards. In order that was actually constructive for me. I knew bodily I used to be going to be okay.”

Murray will face Alexander Zverev in second-round motion at Doha.