Murray credits Spartan Florida prep for AO victory

Andy Murray says doing hard-time training under the eagle eye of advisor Ivan Lendl was part of the key to his inspiring five-set defeat of Matteo Berrettini which sent him into the Australian Open second round on Tuesday.

The 35-year-old with multiple surgeries in his bionic hips, outlasted the former Wimbledon finalist nearly a decade his junior in a 6-3, 6-3, 5-6, 6-7 (9), 7-6(10-6) spectacle which lasted for almost five hours.

“I was there for three weeks. We were in Boca Raton at a country club there,” the five-time Melbourne finalist said.

“I stayed in a house, which was a maximum two-minute drive from the court.

“We trained there, but not every day; we had some days off.”

The three-time Grand Slam winner and former No. 1 was still revelling in his first defeat of a top-20 opponent at a Grand Slam tournament since 2017.

“We put a lot of work in on the court. I did a lot of cardio work on the bike and on the Versaclimber.

“I just lived a pretty sort of basic life for those weeks. I would get up at the same time most mornings, go grab a coffee, get down to the practice
courts, spend two-and-a-half, three hours on the court, have lunch, then head to the gym in the afternoon, or sometimes go back on the court again.

“I had very few distractions. I was totally focused on my training and on my tennis, the things I needed to do to get better.”

The veteran said that after the success of the training block he will look to repeat it occasionally as needed.

“It’s something that I’ll definitely look to do at times during the rest of this year to make sure I dedicate enough time to the hard work of improving my game.”

Main photo:- Australian Open 2023 Andy Murray (GBR) celebrates as he wins first round match – by Roger Parker International Sports Fotos Ltd