Murray shows body of evidence for high hopes as season starts

At the end of another arduous British grass-court summer last year, Andy Murray departed Wimbledon frustrated.

- Tumaini Carayol

He had been defeated in the second round by the towering American John Isner, yet had not even done much wrong. Isner played a brilliant match, serving 38 aces, and the quality of his performance underlined one clear issue: Murray's ranking.

As an unseeded player, Murray was at the mercy of the draw. Throughout the rest of the summer, he attempted to rectify that issue by piling tournaments on to his schedule - he travelled immediately to Rhode Island to compete in the Hall of Fame Open, the lowly tournament that ends the grass-court season. After the considerable feat of returning to the top 50, though, Murray could not push on and secure a top-32 spot.

On the eve of the Australian Open, his unseeded status has handed him a tough first-round opponent: Matteo Berrettini, semi-finalist last year and the 2021 runner-up at Wimbledon.

At his pre-tournament press conference, Murray said: "Obviously a tough draw. But I also feel like I'm in a much better place than where I was during any of the slams last year coming into it. I feel well prepared, I feel ready to play a top player early in the event, whereas maybe last year at times my game didn't feel that great."