Among The Perks Andy Murray Received After Winning Gold And The US Open: Upgrades On Flights!

As a pro tennis player Andy Murray knows too well of the trials and tribulations of world air travel. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise Murray revealed that among the many benefits he got after his big summer wins was complimentary upgrades on flights! Who doesn’t want to fly in comfort?

“The few weeks afterwards around the Olympics time and the US Open, yeah, I got a few upgrades on flights and things like that, which is nice, but that’s died down a little bit over the last few months,” Murray joked yesterday from Brisbane.

Murray begins the new season for the first time as a Grand Slam champion.

“Yeah, it’s a little bit different,” he admitted. “I prepared exactly the same. I probably just feel a little bit more relaxed maybe the last few weeks than I normally do a few weeks out from a slam. But, you know, I’m sure once I get on the court everything stays the same. I prepared very well in Miami and trained hard to get myself ready for the new season.

“I worked on a lot of things over the four weeks when I was there. I did a lot of physical stuff the first few weeks, and then last couple of weeks just did some technical changes the first sort of week, worked on a few things, and then started playing a lot of points.”

The Scot also weighed in on Rafael Nadal’s recent news.

“It’s been a shame for Rafa to miss such a long period,” he said. “I think by the time he starts playing tournaments again it’ll be like eight, nine months, so it will definitely take him a few months once he starts playing again to get back into a good rhythm and start playing his best tennis again.”

Murray, who lost last week at the Abu Dhabi exo to Janko Tipsarevic, officially makes his 2013 debut tonight in Brisbane against Australian qualifier John Millman.