Playing Nadal is getting harder, says Murray

Published on Monday 23 March 2009 22:09

ANDY Murray has high hopes for the Miami Masters but thinks his conqueror in Indian Wells, Rafael Nadal, is getting increasingly difficult to play against.

The world No 4 comes into this week's event in Florida in fine form, having defeated Roger Federer on the way to the final of the BNP Paribas Open in California despite claiming he viewed it simply as a warm-up for Miami following the virus which forced him out of Britain's Davis Cup tie against Ukraine.

But he came unstuck 6-1, 6-2 in the final against a rampant Nadal to end a two-match winning sequence against the Spaniard, who picked up his 13th Masters title.

And Murray thinks the world No 1 is still improving, posing a greater obstacle than ever to his title aspirations.

"When I played him in the past, he's always been incredibly tough, but the thing I felt when I played him was you have a chance to play," said the Scot.

"He moves around so well and he has improved his game by using more slice, coming to the net better, and his backhand is better. He's doing everything better."

Despite the defeat, Murray's appearance in the final represents another achievement in what has been a successful 2009 so far, with victories in the Qatar and Rotterdam Opens already to his name.

Beyond Miami, another major target for the 22-year-old is the Aegon Championships at London's Queen's Club in June where he will attempt to win his first title on grass to give himself the perfect preparation for Wimbledon.

"Grass is a good surface for me and obviously it would mean a lot to me to win a tournament at home," said Murray, announcing his participation on the official Aegon Championships website.

"All the guys that have played well at Queen's tend to have gone on to do well at Wimbledon so it's a good marker to see where your game is at.

"The tournament has got an unbelievable history and all the guys use it as pretty much the perfect preparation for Wimbledon. I think this year I've got a good chance of doing well."

Murray made his debut at the event four years ago, marking his appearance with victories over Santiago Ventura and Taylor Dent in only the second and third ATP matches of his career. He then pushed former Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson all the way before losing 7-6 (7-1), 6-7 (5-7), 7-5.

"I really enjoy playing on grass – it's a different sort of challenge to the rest of the year. We play so much on hard courts and clay that it's nice to have a change of scenery on the tennis court," added Murray.

Last year, Murray was forced to withdraw ahead of his quarter-final clash with Andy Roddick because of a thumb injury, but he credits his performances in earlier rounds as the launchpad for a run of form which took him to the Wimbledon quarter-finals, the ATP 1000 title in Cincinnati, and the US Open final in September.

"It was actually pretty much from Queen's onwards that I started to play really well (last year)," said Murray.