Andy Murray, his confidence for the US Open bolstered by an Olympic gold medal, knows what it feels like to win a Grand Slam title in his dreams even though he has never done so in real life.
The 25-year-old Scotsman, who avenged last month's Wimbledon final loss to World No. 1 Roger Federer by beating the Swiss star in this month's London Olympic final at Wimbledon, has suffered with intense dreams that didn't match.
"Four days after Wimbledon I dreamed I won Wimbledon, and I woke up in the morning and I was just starting to feel better," Murray said. "That didn't help.
"Then a few days after the Olympics, I dreamed that I lost in the final of the Olympics. Obviously waking up remembering that I had won was nice."
Murray is painfully aware he lacks a Grand Slam title in an era dominated by Federer, injured Rafael Nadal and defending US Open champion Novak Djokovic. But he has taken a spark of confidence from his Olympic gold medal.
"The one thing it has given me is a bit more confidence probably," Murray said. "But I needed to make sure that afterwards I worked hard.
"That's the most important thing, to make sure I kept my feet on the ground and keep working hard and try to improve."
Mission accomplished. Murray enters the US Open fit and well-prepared despite winning only once in key US Open hardcourt tuneups at Toronto and Cincinnati.
"Winning the Olympics was the biggest win of my career, that's for sure. It meant a lot to me," Murray said.
"Once you start getting on the match court again -- you never forget about it, but that feeling is a bit different. You are nervous going into matches and preparing for events. That takes your mind off what happened a few weeks ago.
"I feel confident in myself just now. That's what's important. I prepared well. I trained hard the last five or six days so I'm ready to go."
Once change in strategy Murray has made is staying at a quieter hotel to try and keep the hustle and bustle of New York to a minimum.
"Staying in a quieter hotel than usual this time," Murray said. "I like just being able to get back to the room and just be able to chill out. New York can be very, very noisy if you're staying right in the middle of Manhattan.
"Just trying to get out of here as quickly as possible and just relax in the evenings, and not spend too much time out and about."
The absence of Nadal with lingering knee trouble has meant that Djokovic could not face Murray or Federer until the final, while the two Wimbledon finalists are on a US Open semi-final collision course.
While Murray said he didn't see much difference for himself in the draw, he did say the US Open will miss Nadal.
"Tennis will definitely miss him while he's not playing," Murray said. "Tournaments definitely miss him because he brings something different to a lot of the players on tour in terms of his character and his personality and the way he is on the court. The energy he brings to the match court is incredible."
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/confident-murray-wimbledon-win-dreams-204402781--ten.html
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