Andy Murray says beating Djokovic would be ‘upset’

ANDY Murray has said he is “feeling good” as he prepares to take to court in his attempt to win a third Grand Slam title.

Andy Murray speaks at a press conference in Melbourne ahead of tomorrow's final with Novak Djokovic. Picture: Getty

The Scot faces Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open final tomorrow 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.

“Yeah, I feel good,” he said.

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

“I know it’s going to be extremely difficult to win the match tomorrow. 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.

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 tomorrow’s match.

The Scot can also rely on home support with fans in his home town of Dunblane and across Scotland sure to wake up early to cheer him on, and good luck messages have been sent to Australia.

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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.”

The match against Djokovic will be Murray’s eighth Grand Slam final and as he continues to make British tennis history, he was asked where he rates himself in the “pantheon of British sport” and who he thinks is the best of all time.

He said: “Well, yeah, I definitely wouldn’t say that would be me. I wouldn’t say that would be the case at all. But, I mean, in terms of the sports I follow a lot, sports that I have a lot of respect for, I mean, someone like a Joe Calzaghe, what he did in boxing is incredible and extremely rare.

“I don’t know, like a Rory McIlroy is an incredible talent and will probably go on to do amazing things for the rest of his career. I don’t know how far exactly you want to go back. But Lewis Hamilton, what he’s done has also been amazing.

“I just know like for myself that the time I’m competing in just now is extremely challenging. Yeah, anything I achieve, I’m very proud of because of the players that I’m competing against currently. So, yeah, that’s how I feel about it.”