REACHING BREAK POINT

THE timing of his shots provokes even the great to shake their heads in amazement. But Andy Murray would concede he could have chosen a better moment to try to become the best player in the world. "These two are going to go down as the two greatest rivals ever, " he says of Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer. But timing has suddenly swung in favour of the Scot. Nadal's withdrawal from Wimbledon last night adds to the belief that Wimbledon 2009 could be the Scot's greatest moment. Murray, though, has no illusions about the task in front of him at SW19 and on the wider Tennis circuit. "The figures tell it all. Grand slams tell it all. Nadal and Federer have 20 between them. Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi won 22 and Federer and Nadal are far from finished, " says the Scot. Murray's attempts to come between the two, and even overtake both, have been given a considerable boost by Nadal's tendinitis in both knees that have forced the Majorcan to rest. The way to a final against Federer is much clearer. Nadal, too, has just conceded a huge amount of ranking points. But Murray knows he has to win a grand slam for a place in Tennis history and to make the Federer-Nadal axis at the top of the rankings a thing of the past. "It is about winning grand slams, " he says simply. "That is the difference between being ranked third and being second. I am not far way. I am one big tournament away from getting in between them. Two of the best players ever are above me, so to be competing when they are around is not exactly easy." Murray, though, is galvanised by the challenge rather than intimidated by it. "I need to try to break this fight up, " he said of the Nadal and Federer rivalry that will come under the flag of truce at Wimbledon this year. "But it is tough. The consistency that you need to do it is difficult. You need to play well every week. You have to go into every tournament with the mentality of trying to win it. You can not give up early in tournaments if you are struggling. You must find a way to come through difficult matches. It is not an easy thing to do. I hope I can." This hope is bolstered by experience. It is also strengthened by Nadal's woes. The Wimbledon seedings anticipate that Murray will now face Federer in the final and the Scot has beaten the Swiss great four times over the last year. But Murray insists: "It is not oneoff matches that makes it tough to break their domination. It is about the long haul. The season starts in the first week in January and ends in the last weekend in November and you have to try stay on par with them in each tournament. Then you have to try to do better." Murray has had spells when he is simply the best player in the world. He seemed invincible for a period at the end of last season and at the beginning of this. He does not play down this achievement but knows it is only a step in the right direction. "To do it for three or four months is not easy, " he says of his periods of ascendancy. But it is a whole lot easier than doing it three times over. Obviously, you have to play well but you have to avoid injuries and stay in shape physically. If I can do that, I have a chance. But it will be tough." His mindset has improved. Murray admits that at 22 he has achieved an element of relaxation. He is in a long-term relationship with Kim Sears and has revamped Team Murray. "I am more relaxed and a lot of that comes with having control of what is happening off the court, " he said. "If you have an office job, if things are not going well at home, you do not go into work with the right attitude all the time. Now that I have the right guys working me, and I am with guys I really enjoy travelling with, it is a huge difference to my attitude and my belief." Murray, though, is no laid-back no-hoper. His eyes are on the prize and admits that the intensity of his focus has never wavered. "You do not want to come too relaxed, " he says. "When you put in all of the hard work off the court, when you have prepared as hard as you can, in the gym and on the practice court, you become more relaxed because you walk on to the court for a match and believe that if you play your best you can win. "And if I don't play my best? Well, I can lose but it is not through not preparing properly. You lose all the excuses and all the negatives if you prepare properly so that is going to relax you because you are not worried about your physical state or whether you have practised enough. You really are just going in and playing Tennis matches. And I have always been good at playing Tennis matches. The harder you work, the easier it becomes." Murray's physical preparation has become the stuff of legend. John Lloyd, the Great Britain Davis Cup captain, spoke in something approaching awe of the Scot's training camp in Miami in the short hiatus between last season and this. So how hard was it? "I took one day off every week. And I was there for four weeks training morning and afternoon, " says Murray of the stint in Miami. "Doing it for a few days is not hard. But when you have four weeks of it, the first and second days become difficult because you know it is for the long haul. You wake up the morning and you are sore. You are tired. You know you have to go out and do it again. And it is Miami. It is warm." The words are said with a rueful smile. The regime, though, has built Murray up, physically and emotionally. "It is tough at the start and then you begin to enjoy it. Your times get better, you are lifting heavier weights. You are doing every exercise better and you start to feel good about yourself. But it is tough. "It is a challenge but that is one of the best things about it. If you go in thinking it is going to be a breeze you are not going to get the best out of it. You have to challenge yourself to get the best work done." His fitness has imbued him with confidence. Murray now knows he has the stamina to get the job done. He has always had the talent. "It does make the Tennis seem easier, " he said. "Playing Tennis is what I am good at but I am not the best runner in the world. And I need to be on the running track doing 400m reps. That hurts. It is not comfortable" The Scot also responds briskly when asked about just how he can make the game look like a walk in the park. "Tennis may look easy but it isn't to me, " he says. "It doesn't feel that way when I am playing. A lot of people are talented, but you need the hard work to make an impact. Just to have talent and no work ethic . . ." His voice trails off. Murray can not contemplate betraying his innate technical ability with a negligent attitude to training. He admits that sometimes form seems to come out of nowhere. "There are days when you feel good and you are hitting the ball great. But I have played a lot of matches and watched a lot of Tennis and I have learned that you always have to maintain that focus. There can be getting ahead of yourself in this business. If you play a bad game, you lose your concentration and you are back in a fight." But can Murray explain the almost intuitive knack he has of seeing how a rally is played out? Tim Henman, Wally Masur, the Australian Davis Cup captain, and a host of others have marvelled at the young Scot's ability to construct a rally like a grandmaster engineering a checkmate. "There are certain ways to hit certain shots and you know that the guy is going to come back with something you recognise. It is what the majority of players do. He has only a split second to think about hitting a shot. He is, then, going to try the easiest shot, the most comfortable shot. The more you play, the more you see that when you hit a shot you just know how the ball is going to come back. "It is all about having that anticipation so that you can construct the point. It make it look as if you have a lot of time on the ball because you have seen the shot in your mind." This ability allied to his strength makes him a viable contender for Wimbledon. He says of a success in a major: "It is the last goal I have. It is what I am working towards." He will have almost certainly to brush off the challenge of Federer to achieve this ambition. But Murray is slowly sensing it could be his time. "No.1 ranking would be nice, " he says softly. "The grand slam title is more important." hugh.macdonald@heraldandtimes.co.uk IN TOMORROW'S SUNDAY HERALD ADVANTAGE MURRAY 'What is exciting is that there are a lot of things I could do better'