Andy Murray believes his new-found determination has been the key behind his recent return to form as he continues his quest for a place in the ATP Tour World Finals.
Wins in Shenzhen, Vienna and Valencia have seen the Scot move up to fifth in the Race to London and a quarter-final place at this week’s BNP Paribas Masters will be enough to see him book his place in next month’s event at the O2 Arena.
The 2014 campaign has been fairly inconsistent year for Murray, as after back surgery in September 2013, he has struggled to truly find his rhythm, with arguably his biggest disappointment coming as he was knocked out in the quarter-finals of his Wimbledon defence by Grigor Dimitrov.
However, he has appeared much more determined in recent weeks and will be confident of getting his campaign in Paris off the a winning start when he takes on home favourite Julien Benneteau on Wednesday, a clash he is 1.32 to triumph in ahead of his rival who is priced at 3.43.
The 27-year-old says he now feels as if all his hard work on his way back from injury is starting to pay off and has credited his improved mentality as the main reason for his recent form.
“The mental side of the game is obviously very important,” he told Sky Sports. “Most of the players I think would agree with that and over the last few weeks, the finals that I’ve won, the tournaments that I’ve won, I’ve saved 10 match points in Shenzhen and the final in Valencia.
“And then the other one (in Vienna) Ferrer was serving for the match. I just tried to keep going and keep playing right through to the last point every time and got the rewards for it.”
Leave a comment
Link Dafabet