January, Wednesday 29, 2014   On a conference call to discuss his upcoming exhibition match versus Novak Djokovic in New York, Andy Murray gave his thoughts on Davis Cup and the Australian Open. Photo Credit: Corleve Andy Murray is looking forward to heading back to “The Big Apple.” The former US Open champion is prepping for his upcoming exhibition match against Novak Djokovic at the BNP Paribas Showdown on March 3rd at Madison Square Garden in New York. As part of a conference call to promote the event, Murray talked about his now classic match against Djokovic in the 2012 US Open finals. “We’ve played in quite a few big ones over the last few years,” he said. “Couple of great matches in Australia as well. From my side, obviously it was the first Grand Slam for me. And the way the match went as well, I was up two sets to love and then he came back and then be able to come through and win that fifth set. Yeah, it was probably my best win against him.” Murray, who cites New York as his favorite city to visit and compete in, is looking forward to the experience of playing there again, but this time under the lights of one of the world’s greatest sport venues. “When I was growing up it was my favorite place to play and my favorite place to visit. As a player, all the places that we play in all across the world, it’s a pretty unique atmosphere you get at the US Open. So it should be fun to go back and play at Madison Square Garden.” READ – Davis Cup World Group Preview Next up for Murray is this weekend’s Davis Cup tie in San Diego between the United Kingdom and the United States. Like many, Murray was surprised at the decision by the Americans to go with a clay court in Southern California. “I was a little bit surprised to be honest with the surface,” Murray admitted. “I see what they’ve tried to do with it. It’s not like a traditional European clay court that plays slow and heavy. Obviously the sliding is different. I move okay on the clay. It’s not something I feel unbelievably uncomfortable on. It’s much faster. The balls are quick. It’s very slippy, the court. There’s not a lot of top surface, you know it’s quite tough to move. So, I can see what they’ve obviously tried to do with the surface.” The current World No. 3 kicked off of his season Down Under by reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. After having just come back to action from recent back surgery, Murray admits he wasn’t quite ready for it all. That includes have to face an in-form Roger Federer who beat Murray in four sets. “Having not played at that level hurt me a little bit in the beginning of the match with Roger because he was obviously playing some really good tennis over in Australia, and he started the match very well and at a very high pace. I almost wasn’t ready for it,” Murray said about his performance in Melbourne. Overall, Murray is looking forward to improving and getting better as the season progresses. “But for the second tournament back it was good,” he said. “I wasn’t expecting to play my best tennis. But it was a good start. My back is feeling good. Hopefully that continues over the rest of the year.”