Andy Murray ready to bring his 'best tennis' to Australian Open final
Last Updated: January 27, 2013 8:48am
Andy Murray is put through his paces by coach Ivan Lendl on the eve of the final
Andy Murray will not use scheduling as an excuse if his Australian Open campaign ends in a final defeat to Novak Djokovic on Sunday.
Murray needed five sets to battle past Roger Federer on Friday - 24 hours after Djokovic swatted aside David Ferrer in just 89 minutes to win his semi-final.
"Yes, Andy played a five-set match against Roger but apart from that he hasn't really been tested the whole tournament."
Novak Djokovic
But the Scot said immediately after reaching the final he was hoping for a "physical" contest with Djokovic, and nothing has changed since.
"You just try your best to be in the best possible condition for Sunday," said Murray.
"Realistically you're probably not going to feel perfect because of how the semi went, but it's not to say you can't recover well enough to play your best tennis."
Djokovic has little sympathy with his long-time friend and rival, pointing out that Murray's previous five matches were all straight-sets wins while it took him 22 games of a decider to get past Stanislas Wawrinka in the last 16.
He said: "Yes, Andy played a five-set match against Roger but apart from that he hasn't really been tested the whole tournament.
"Also, he's considered as one of the physically strongest and fittest guys around. I am sure he is going to be fit for the final."
Djokovic will become the first man in the open era to win three straight Melbourne championships if he can repeat his 2011 final victory over Murray.
But the third seed has developed a big-game temperament since that heavy defeat and beat the Serb at last year's US Open to claim a first grand slam title.
He said: "I think I've started to play better tennis and played at my optimum level more in the big matches over the last year or so which hasn't always been the case. That's what changed for me."
Djokovic leads Murray 10-7 in the head-to-head statistics, but Murray has the chance to create a little bit of history of his own if he can claim victory on Sunday.
No male player in the Open era has followed up winning their first grand slam title by also winning the next available major crown.
