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Tennis Betting 2009: Andy Murray to step up a weight division

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Britain's number one tennis player is convinced that bulking up during the winter is his best way to his continued sucess in 2009...

Any footballer - or any other sportsman for that matter - will tell you the value of a proper pre-season programme. It's when the hard yards are covered to get a base of fitness that will last for the whole campaign. Miss it through a niggling injury, or because you are mixed up in the middle of a transfer saga, or for any other reason and you can normally write off any hope of hitting the heights afterwards.

The way it's structured has changed loads down the years, of course. I can remember being invited as a young reporter to join Aston Villa's first few days of running up the hills in Sutton Park, and watching players who had won the European Cup a couple of years earlier being physically sick as a result. Now the sports scientists have taken over, the bag of balls is out from day one, and the programme is just as intense physically but based around short, sharp power work rather than slogging on a cross country run.

Getting it right is just as important as ever, though - which brings us to Andy Murray who has flown out today to Miami for his own intensive fitness fortnight. Just a fortnight after his last season ended at the Masters in Shanghai it might seem a bit soon to be putting himself through another gruelling workout. But Murray has correctly identified where his year came up short and is planning to go better next year.

He did brilliantly to beat Roger Federer in China, for instance - but then immediately lost his next match when sheer fatigue caught up with him. And in the US Open he didn't have the stamina to follow a sensational victory over Rafael Nadal by performing at his peak in the final.

So Murray is aiming - in boxing terms - to move up a weight division by putting on power in the next couple of weeks when he'll work only on his fitness. He's been telling the papers about his plan.

He says: "I did the same thing at this time of year in Miami 12 months ago and my fitness levels were a lot better as a result. So this year I'll be able to run a bit faster, lift heavier weights, and try to work harder again than I did last year.

"I'm going to be training for four or five hours a day so I'll also have to eat lots of protein. The aim is to put on about eight pounds in weight which should give me a little bit more power in my shots."

One of the defining images of Murray's year was him showing off his new bicep muscles after that epic five-set win over Richard Gasquet when he came from two sets down at Wimbledon. He's clearly understood the value of the work he's done, and his widely criticised division to create his own team of coaching and fitness staff has been vindicated. People thought he was assembling yes men, but instead they've driven him forward.

Can it help him win his first Grand Slam? He's now [6.8] to start the year by winning the Australian Open, the same price as defending champion Novak Djokovic. Federer remains favourite at [3.35] but the big danger will be Nadal who is [5.7]. You can be sure that somewhere, without talking about it, the Spaniard is working equally hard these next few weeks to get his own "pre-season" right.

Five things you might not know about Andy Murray's coaching team

1. Coach Miles MacLagan played was born in Zambia of Scottish parents and played Davis Cup doubles for Britain - his best singles effort was to take Boris Becker to five sets at Wimbledon

2. Strength and conditioning coach Matt Little is known as Mr Incredible after the cartoon character. He's trying to turn Murray into a Charlton fan

3. Physical conditioner Jez Green was a former amateur kick boxing champion. He says he broke three ribs and two noses - all other people's!

4. Physiotherapist Andy Ireland's former massage clients include a supermodel and the Saudi Royal family

5. Coaching consultant Louis Cayer says he's 55 years young and was Canada's Davis Cup captain for 11 years. He does all the video analysis.