- ATP Tour
Murray defends long break
Andy Murray has defended his decision to take a long break after the Australian Open, insisting he would do it again.
The Scot lost to world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open final at the start of the year and chose to take five weeks out, skipping the whole of February. He made his comeback last week at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells - where he was beaten in the quarter-finals by Juan Martin Del Potro.
The defeat to Del Potro prompted the media to criticise Murray's decision to take a break after only a couple of tournaments (he won in Brisbane before the Australian Open), but the British No. 1 has hit back and defended his move.
"A hundred per cent I would take that break again," Murray said. "You have to look further down the road sometimes and not just focus on one event.
"The tour is extremely hard and physical and I hope by taking a break now, when I get to French Open, Wimbledon time, hopefully I'll be a bit fresher than I have been the past few years."
Murray will be playing at the Sony Open in Miami this week as the second seed, as world No. 2 Roger Federer takes a scheduled rest, and the US Open champion could face Bernard Tomic in the opening round provided the Australian comes through against a qualifier.