TENNIS:When Andy Murray leaps up from his seat to give an impromptu demonstration of the latest Bikram yoga techniques he has learned, you know that Britain's number one player is feeling confident about his fitness.
Murray spent his off-season punishing himself in a variety of ways under the supervision of his new fitness trainers, Jez Green and Matt Little, both of whom were on court with him at Melbourne Park yesterday for his first practice session ahead of next week's Australian Open.
They have been instrumental in providing Murray with what he believes is the ideal preparation for the coming season: a confidence, borne out by his victory at the Qatar Open last weekend.
Green and Little are fans of Bikram yoga, which involves doing eye-watering stretches and poses in a temperatures of more than 40 degrees. Together they have made Murray a convert to the art, so much so that he spent much of December locked in a sweltering room with several other people, contorting himself in ever more painful ways. What is even more surprising is he actually seemed to enjoy it.
"I've done five or six classes now and it's been really good fun," he said. "You can't talk about how hard it is until you do it. I did some tough fitness work in the off-season and that's one of the hardest things to do. With no windows, and with 20 other people in there, and just trying to hold postures and stay balanced and concentrated the whole time, it's really tough."
Given the hellish temperatures of which Melbourne is capable at this time of year, Murray may find himself sweating again over the coming days. He is playing the Kooyong Classic exhibition event this week - where he is guaranteed three practice matches against decent opposition, starting with Marat Safin - and can expect his somewhat unusual preparations to come in handy if the thermometer goes above 40 degrees, as it is forecast to do tomorrow and Friday.
Since Melbourne has already seen plenty of what are known locally as "fire days" during this Southern Hemisphere summer, there is every likelihood Murray and his fellow players are about to experience one of the hotter Australian Opens of recent years.
"You expect it to get hot here," he said, with a shrug. "Hopefully, the yoga means I'll be used to it."
The yoga is just part of a wide-ranging regime designed by Green and Little (one of whom is likely to accompany Murray to every tournament this season), but it appears to have captured the 20-year-old's imagination.
"I can't really do any of the good stuff yet, but I think if I keep doing it, then in about six months I think there'll be a huge improvement in flexibility and also strength as well, because you're having to do stuff like this . . ."
At this point, Murray stopped to hold his leg straight in the air at 90 degrees before pulling it higher and higher by increments, a move which attracted some funny looks from those passing en route to Tennis Australia's nearby office.
Murray added: "It's all about progression. It's the perfect way - you can actually tell if you're improving or something, because you can either do the exercise or you can't."
Guardian Service
