Murray leaves Abu Dhabi pleased with his lot

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  • On the right path: Murray is happy with the way his season has started.

    It was quite the busy schedule for Andy Murray on Friday. The Scot practiced on Centre Court three hours before his match with Stanislas Wawrinka, spent 30 minutes signing autographs in the Tennis Village right before his clash, played and won a 66-minute battle with the Swiss, followed by a doubles exhibition with Emirati players before he went immediately to the practice court for some movement exercises.

    For someone who’s returning from back surgery and competing for the first time since September, all this activity is a good sign.

    And as Murray spoke to reporters after his 6-3, 6-4 win over Wawrinka to finish in fifth place at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship, the world No4 believes his UAE mission has been completed successfully as he heads to Doha feeling more confident about his physical condition.

    “I think I got what I needed from my time here,” said Murray. “I played two pretty decent matches and my intensity was pretty good in both of them, and I felt better today than I did yesterday and I hope tomorrow I’ll feel better than I did today. That’s all I can do right now.”

    Murray lost his opening match in Abu Dhabi on Thursday night in straight sets to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga but with the addition of the fifth-place playoff for the first time this year, the Brit’s many fans got to watch their Wimbledon champion one more time.

    For Murray, it was a perfect chance to get more match play, which is his priority right now as he gears up for the Australian Open, which is less than three weeks away.

    “I’m not worried because I’m not expecting to be playing my best tennis straight away. That’s something that as much as it can be frustrating to not be playing as you would like, you need to accept that’s the situation, missing a few months then having a surgery,” he said.

    “So it’s going to take some time but it’s playing matches, that’s what I need. Because I’ve practiced everything for the last five or six weeks in training and I’m hitting the ball fine. It’s just playing matches against these guys at this pace is different, that’s why the last couple of days have been very good for me.”

    Murray will officially kick off his 2014 season in Doha, where he will be playing singles – in a field that features fellow top-four players Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer – and doubles partnering Nenad Zimonjic, in another attempt to get match ready for Australia.

    “In a couple of weeks I need to play five sets and the only way to get used to that is by spending time on the court playing matches. It’s probably going to be hard and my body will be stiff but like I said I’ve trained properly and I did all the right rehab,” said Murray referring to his heavy schedule in Qatar.

    “I’ve played matches in Australia that have lasted five hours, I can’t just play three-set matches in the buildup and do nothing after it.”

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