Miami - Andy Murray brings an awesome recent record in
Masters 1000 events into his Sunday title clash with Novak Djokovic
for the Miami crown.
The Scot number 4 has played for the trophy in four of his last
appearances at this elite level, winning Cincinnati and Madrid
(back-to-back) and reaching the Indian Wells final a fortnight ago
against Rafael Nadal.
'Each time you get to the final of a big tournament you're going
to be feeling pretty good about your game,' said the 21-year-old, who
owns a 2-4 deficit in his career series with fellow 21-year-old
Djokovic, ranked one spot higher.
'The conditions here can be tricky.
'Here it can be very windy as well. It will be right in the heat
of the day so it's going to be physically challenging. There's a lot
of things you have to contend with.
'I'm feeling good and I'm hitting the ball well, and I'll try and
do the same thing in the final.'
Murray is the first British player to ever get this far in Miami,
while Djokovic, who knocked out Roger Federer in the semis, is
bidding to back up his 2007 honours at Crandon Park.
Murray has won the second-most matches on the ATP this season, 25
against 26 for Andy Roddick. The Scot has suffered just two defeats
while winning titles in Doha and Rotterdam.
And Murray is confident that he now has the game to start turning
it around against Djokovic. 'If both of us play well, it'll be a
great match. I'm sure he feels the same way. I'll have to play well
if I want to beat him.
'The last couple of times I played I figured out a way to play
against him; whereas before I struggled a little bit. I feel
confident, and I've had a really good run so far this year. But I
don't want to put any extra pressure on myself.'
While he leads in the overall table, Djokovic has dropped his last
two meeting against Murray, both at Masters in Canada and Cincinnati
last summer.
'I lost the last two times,but they were close matches,' said the
Serb. 'But he has drastically improved in the last year or so.
'But it's a final and everybody has a lot of motivation to win.
It's a big event and it's really unpredictable.'
Djokovic stand 12-6 in career title matches while Murray is right
behind on 10-6.
But the confidence cannot be missed in Djokovic's current tone:
'I'm playing on a much higher level these days and I'm playing with
more confidence and self belief.
'Hopefully I can continue that in the upcoming match.'
USA
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