ROTTERDAM – British tennis star Andy Murray insisted on Tuesday that he was always going to compete here at this week’s ATP Rotterdam Open despite it coming so soon after his second Australian Open final loss. “I was always going to play here after Australia,” said the low-key Scot, who is seeded second here and begins his campaign on Wednesday against another former Aussie Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis.
“It’s tough to adjust to the first indoor match in a few months.” Murray, ranked number five in the world, said that he dealt with his straight-sets Melbourne defeat by good friend Novak Djokovic “pretty well,” adding that it did not affect his desire to front up so soon after his Grand Slam loss.
“I had always planned on playing here, Australia was a good start to the year,” said the losing finalist at the last two Melbourne finals. “I would have liked to have gone one win further but I’m looking forward to the year ahead. Murray, who is competing here for the third time and won the title in 2009, said that he purposefully avoids reading about his losses.
“I like to stay low-key and away from the spotlight.”
