Pilates training keeps Andy Murray going

By ALIX RAMSAY
Published on 31/10/2012 00:00

Four years ago it was Bikram Yoga, last summer it was a wheat-free diet and now, as Andy Murray tries to summon his last reserves of energy before the final two tournaments of the season, it is Pilates that the Scot hopes will see him through.

Murray has always had an open mind when it comes to training techniques and after a long and exhausting – if highly profitable – year, he was more than willing to try something new. By the end of last season, his back was feeling the strain and he had to pull out of the ATP World Tour Finals, the showcase event for the top eight men in the world, after just one match. Returning this year as the US Open and Olympic champion, he wants to give a good account of himself in front of his home crowd. Hence the Pilates.

“I started doing Pilates a few weeks ago which I think has already helped,” he said. “I did three or four Pilates sessions and my body feels good compared to the last few years when I’ve come here so hopefully I’ll be good to go for the next two weeks. Right now I feel good, I’ve practised well the last few days and not been waking up with soreness or stiffness.

“For myself I would like to think I would give everything this week. I know how last year finished, when you’ve worked the whole year to get into a competition like the 02, and I’d like to think I was in the best shape possible, 100 per cent ready.”

Before he gets to London, he has the small matter of the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris to contend with. He will open his challenge today against Paul-Henri Mathieu, a man he has beaten four times out of four in the past. And even if Mathieu reached the semi-finals in Basel last week (he lost to Roger Federer), the Frenchman is under no illusion that he will stand much of a chance against the world 
No 3. The Scot’s ultimate goal may be victory at the O2 Arena next week, but Mathieu reckons that the Paris Masters trophy is in his sights, too.

“I think if he’s here, if he’s going to play, he’s going to be 100 per cent,” Mathieu said. “For sure, one side of his head he’s going to think of next week. But I think Roger is not playing here and Nadal is not playing here, so I think if he’s playing here, he wants to win the tournament. It’s a Masters Series, too. For him, it’s pretty important.”

By winning the US Open, Murray finally rid himself of the pressure that has weighed him down for years – finally, he was a grand slam champion. That, he thought, would free him to focus on the other tournaments, the ones he needs to win on a regular basis if he is to get to the No 1 spot in the rankings. He has not won a trophy since that historic night in New York in September but, even so, he felt the difference when he played in Japan and China earlier this month and he hopes that the feeling will stay with him for a while yet.

“I spoke to Ivan a wee bit about it and it is nice to know that that’s something [being a grand slam champion] no-one can take away from you,” Murray said. “The Olympics was, for me, really, really important. We get four chances at the slams each year and only get one shot at the Olympics. It’s obviously nice when they announce you as the US Open champion and maybe you feel a bit more responsibility to make sure you perform well and fight really hard in the matches. I did that in Asia, even when I was struggling, so I was happy with that.”