Melbourne - Andy Murray said there was no need to call him
"Sir" on Saturday as he took a relaxed approach to his new status as
a knight of the realm and world number one at the Australian Open.
The laconic Scot said just being called "Andy" was
fine despite a decision by Australia's Channel Seven to refer to him as
"Sir Andy Murray" at the tournament.
"I'm more than happy just being Andy. That's enough for
me," he said. "Yeah, if they call me 'Andy', that's cool. I'd be
happy with that."
Murray is entering his first Grand Slam since being knighted
in Britain's New Year Honours, and his first as world number one after he
displaced Novak Djokovic late last season.
He appears to have taken both titles in his stride,
insisting he didn't feel anyone was treating him differently since he was
crowned the world's top player.
"I haven't really noticed it. It kind of happened for
me right at the end of the year, so I haven't been on the tour much as the
number one player," he said.
"So I haven't noticed it yet. I don't know if that will
come over time, if I'm able to stay there or not."
More importantly, Murray is pondering how to win his first
Australian Open title after being an unsuccessful finalist five times.
Last year's appearance was torrid for Murray, as his wife
Kim Sears was heavily pregnant with their first child and his father-in-law
collapsed while watching a match.
"It was a tough tournament," said Murray, who
seriously considered pulling out and bolted for the airport after losing the
final to Djokovic in straight sets.
"It was like, I want to be at home for the birth, but
then I'm not just going to leave whilst my father-in-law is also in
hospital," he added.
"Yeah, it was tough, and certainly not a position I
would want to put myself in again, or my wife, or any of my family
really."
This time around, Murray is in a far happier position and he
will approach his opening match against Ukraine's Ilya Marchenko in a relaxed
frame of mind.
As well as becoming a father, he won his second Wimbledon
title and successfully defended his Olympic singles gold medal, before reaching
world number one for the first time.
"I obviously feel pretty confident after the way that
last season finished," he said.
"I do love it here. I love the conditions. I have
played really well here over the years, and just haven't managed to obviously
get over the final hurdle.
"But I think I'm in a decent position to do it. I think
I have a chance to win here. Obviously nothing's guaranteed. But, yeah, why
not?"
He said he was also glad to have Ivan Lendl as his coach as
he sets about trying to defend his ranking, chiefly from Djokovic who is
showing signs of a resurgence.
"I think it could be quite easy that once you get to
number one that you think, 'Well, actually, I just need to keep doing what I
doing'," he said.
"The reality is, in sport, that things obviously keep moving on, the game will get better, I'll obviously get older, the young guys will continue to improve.
"And also Novak and Roger (Federer) and Stan (Wawrinka) and Rafa (Nadal) and all the guys at the top are still going to be wanting to get there."So that's why having someone like Ivan on my team who has been in that position before and knows what that's like has been important.
"I need to continue to improve," he added. "Any weaknesses that are in my game, to try to get rid of them."