By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Monday February 20, 2023

After his latest cliff-hanging victory, a three-set thriller in Doha against Lorenzo Sonego, Andy Murray says that he has more faith in his body than he has had at any stage of career.



That’s quite a statement from a man that is playing with a titanium-infused hip, after one moderately successful hip surgery in January of 2018 and another full-on resurfacing in January of 2019. Throw in the fact that Murray is 35 going on 36 and it’s downright remarkable – but true.

Here’s what Murray said on Monday after saving three match points in the third set to defeat Italy’s Sonego.

“I have trained really well since Melbourne,” he said. “I pushed myself physically really hard since the end of last season. Obviously I saw the benefits of that in Australia and the matches that I played, trying to carry on that path as much as I can.”

Murray said the experience of playing three grueling matches in succession in Australia (his second-round victory over Thanasi Kokkinakis was a five hour and 45-minute affair that ended at 4:05 AM) has left him feeling stronger than he ever has been.

That experience, he says, made Monday’s two hour and 30-minute battle feel like a breeze.

“Even though tonight's match was 7-6 in the third and it was two-and-a-half hours, the fact that I was able to play for nearly five hours against Berrettini and then physically was able to manage another really long match afterwards has given me a lot more belief in my body, maybe more than I have had at any stage in my career, to be honest.

“It's because I have not had many of those experiences of playing four hours and 50 minutes and then playing another really long match afterwards. So that was really positive for me. I knew physically I was going to be okay.”

Murray will face Alexander Zverev in second-round action at Doha.