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By Spencer Musick
BEIJING, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Britain's Andy Murray said he is heading into the China Open looking for a strong finish to what has been his best year of tennis to date.
Murray, the number one seed in Beijing this year due to the absence of Serbian powerhouse Novak Djokovic, believes that the possibility of landing on top of world tennis is his main source of motivation.
"I mean, I think obviously trying to reach No. 1 is a goal. I think most of the players that are near the top of the game would like that. I've never been there. It's something I would like to do for the first time, which is maybe more of a motivation for me than some of the guys that have been there before," Murray said.
The 500 points that Murray could earn with a victory in Beijing would go a long way toward narrowing the divide between himself and Djokovic in world rankings.
But, asked if the Serb's absence would allow him to feel less pressure on the court here in Beijing, Murray said he is not yet thinking that far in the future.
"If Novak was here, I would have to reach the final to have a chance to play him anyway. But, yeah, I'm not thinking about the final just now or trying to reach that stage," Murray remarked.
Murray also displayed a measure of caution in predicting how he might perform on the court this week.
"I have very few days of practice coming in here. I'm not putting too much pressure on myself right now. I need to get a few good days of training in here, try and get used to the conditions. If I can get through my first match or so, I'll start to feel better, then reevaluate my chances of going far in the event," he said.
As for the nail-biter defeats that Murray has suffered in the past few months, the Briton said he is not letting "extremely close matches against very good players" go to his head.
Murray added that the summer leading up to Beijing has been an arduous one, but said he hopes for a solid end to what has been a remarkably difficult and rewarding year.
"It was, for me, a very long summer with Cincinnati and the Olympics, coming off Wimbledon and Queen's as well. I played a lot of tennis. What I needed after that stretch was a break. I needed some time away from the court. Hopefully I can have a strong finish to the year," Murray concluded.
