Andy Murray ‘feeling good’ ahead of Open final

Andy Murray practices ahead of the men's singles final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne. Picture: AP

The Scot faces Novak Djokovic in what will be the third meeting between the men for the trophy.

The former Wimbledon and US Open champion appeared relaxed in the build up to the match as he took part in a press conference in Melbourne yesterday.

“Yeah, I feel good,” he said.

“I felt good after all of the matches and recovered fairly well from the two fairly long matches.

FOLLOW US

Twitter | Facebook | Google+

Subscribe to our DAILY NEWSLETTER (requires registration)

SCOTSMAN TABLET AND MOBILE APPS

iPhone | iPad | Android | Kindle

“I know it’s going to be extremely difficult to win the match. I know if I want to win, it will probably be very, very tough and challenging physically. So I need to prepare myself mentally for that.

“But he has a fantastic record here. He obviously loves the court and the conditions. And, yeah, it would be a big upset if I manage to win.”

The 27-year-old has reached the Australian Open final three times before, losing twice to Djokovic in 2011 and 2013 and once to Roger Federer in 2010.

After falling down the world rankings in 2014, Murray has returned to form this year and has been quick to praise coach Amelie Mauresmo.

The match will be Murray’s eighth grand slam final.

•Live blog: Andy Murray in the Australian Open final

His mother Judy, usually present at big matches, will not be in his box as she returned to the UK after the semi-final to prepare for Britain’s female Fed Cup match with Hungary this week.

But he will have the support of fiancee Kim Sears in the final, who hit headlines earlier this week when TV cameras caught what appeared to be an expletive-laden rant towards his semi-final opponent Tomas Berdych.

Murray has said too much has been made of the incident and is concentrating solely on today’s match.

The Scot can also rely on home support with fans in his home town of Dunblane and across Scotland waking up early to cheer him on.

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “All the best to Andy Murray as he bids to win his third grand slam title.

“I, and most of Scotland, will be up early on Sunday to watch Andy serve up a top match with Novak Djokovic and I hope we’re all celebrating and watching Andy lift that famous trophy, joining an illustrious group of Australian Open winners.”