Murray taking it one match at a time

Reigning champion Andy Murray is realistic about his chances of defending his crown at this week’s Madrid Masters following the tournament’s change to clay courts, admitting he is not looking any further than his opening match.

Murray clinched last year’s event in the Spanish capital with a 6-4 7-6 (8/6) final victory over Frenchman Gilles Simon – one of five titles the Scot won in 2008.

However, with this year’s competition having been switched to the newly-built La Caja Magica – which features clay courts as opposed to the hard-court surface Murray won on seven months ago – the 21-year-old admits he cannot risk looking too far ahead.

In his last match on clay, Murray suffered a 1-6 6-3 7-5 defeat to Juan Monaco in the second round of the Rome Masters a fortnight ago.

“The surface was obviously better for me last year, after losing my first match in Rome I just want to try and win my first match and take each match as they come,” said Murray, who will meet either Simone Bolelli or Juan Ignacio Chela in his opener having received a first-round bye.

“I’ve got a tricky draw, the conditions are different, so there is no use thinking about finals and semi-finals.

“I don’t play on this surface well enough yet to think past my first match and I play the winner of two very solid clay courters, so I’m not going to think past them.”

Murray is determined to improve his game on clay though, and has looked to world number one Rafael Nadal for inspiration.

Nadal has been virtually unbeatable on clay, but has been less successful on grass – certainly earlier in his career.

However, the Spaniard has improved his game on grass so much so that he reached the final at Wimbledon in 2006 and 2007 before going one step further last year and winning the title

Murray said: “Everything he’s done is pretty special. I think very few people would have thought he could have won Wimbledon and he’s been in the final three years in a row.

“I’m obviously impressed with what he has done on clay, but what he’s done on grass is a great motivation for me.

“I feel I can obviously get better on clay and learn how to play better and get onto the second week and go deep at the French Open.

“That’s why he’s so good. Every weakness he had when he joined the tour he’s always looking to improve, and even though when he’s number one in the world and so far in front in the rankings, you see him on the practice court and he’s always giving 110%.

“That for me is a motivation, to see someone who has been so successful and still trying to improve.”

With three tournament victories behind him already this year, in Doha, Rotterdam and Miami, Murray is certainly moving in the right direction and he today became the first British player to enter the top three of the ATP world rankings, climbing above Novak Djokovic.

That leaves just Nadal and number two Roger Federer ahead of him, and the Scot knows that he could put the Swiss under real pressure if he continues his fine start to the year over the coming months.

However, Murray insists he will not let his bid to break into the top two put him off his game.

“It’s obviously never been done before in the UK which makes it nice, but it’s one of those things that if you start focusing on the rankings or on what another player is doing, you kind of take your eye off the ball a little bit,” he said.

“You need to focus on your own matches and try and keep winning. The important thing is to concentrate on playing well and not the ranking.

“I’ve been on a very good run the last eight-nine months, I think the ranking reflects that. (But) to get close to those two or in between Roger and Rafa is a tough thing to do.

“They are probably two of the best players ever and it wouldn’t surprise me if they went down as that. I think Rafa is already on six slams, I’d love to try to break that up but like I said before, I need to focus on just winning matches.”