Murray eyeing Australian Open glory

World No.4 Andy Murray has declared himself on track for Australian Open success
after leading Great Britain into the final of the Hopman Cup in Perth.
Murray, who is yet to win a grand slam, was at his brutal best as he destroyed world
No.35 Igor Andreev 6-1 6-0 in just 48 minutes on Friday.
The 22-year-old also played a starring role in Great Britain's 6-4 6-7 (6-8) 7-6
(10-6) mixed doubles victory, ensuring a 2-1 tie win over Russia and safe passage
into the final against Spain.
Murray has spent less than three hours on court in his three singles wins in Perth
and said he was feeling in top shape ahead of his quest for grand slam glory.
"If I can play like that then I can win Australia for sure," Murray said.
"But I need to make sure I do it in a couple of weeks and play like that from the
start of the tournament until the end.
"I've always started the years pretty well. I've won Doha two years in a row so I
always started playing pretty well going into Australia.
"In terms of the way I was striking the ball and moving and playing well up at the
net and taking chances, that was probably the best I've played at the start of a
year.
"Sometimes you play two, three matches like that a year and fortunately one of them
was today but hopefully I've got a couple more in the Aussie Open."
Murray was again forced to fly the flag after Russia's world No.5 Elena Dementieva
brushed aside 15-year-old Laura Robson 6-4 6-0 in the women's singles rubber.
Spain's strong paring of world No.16 Tommy Robredo and world No.26 Maria Jose
Martinez Sanchez are yet to be beaten.
But Robson, who has lost all three of her singles matches in Perth and is ranked a
lowly 403rd in the world, was confident of causing an upset in the final, where the
winning team will split $250,000 and pocket a diamond encrusted ball each.
"I played her (Martinez Sanchez) in a practise set before the tournament started and
I won," Robson said.
"I'm kind of putting it in my head that practise is pretty much a match.
"So technically I'm one love in head to head."
Robson turns 16 later this month and Murray said he had the perfect gift lined up.
"She's expecting a present from me. I said if I play well tomorrow she can get one
of those diamonds," he joked.
Spain won the Hopman Cup title in 1990 and 2002, with Robredo partnering Arantxa
Sanchez Vicario in the '02 triumph.
In the other Group B tie on Friday, Kazakhstan notched an upset win over Germany as
both Yaroslava Shvedova and Andrey Golubev won their singles rubbers.
World No.51 Yaroslava Shvedova defeated Sabine Lisicki 6-4 7-6 (7-3) before Golubev
hammered world No.27 Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-2 6-1.
But Great Britain's win over Russia ended any hopes of Kazakhstan sneaking into the
final.
Top-seeded Australia, represented by Lleyton Hewitt and Sam Stosur, bombed out
following tie losses to Romania and Spain.