Only Brad Gilbert could get away with calling Andy Murray "Junior" to his face. But it can be assumed the nickname is just the coach's all-American way of expressing himself. Gilbert is not being condescending. Patronising? No. American and affectionate? Yes.

Certainly, Murray said yesterday that he had done a lot of growing up recently, in feet and inches, and as a person and a tennis player. When comparing the Murray of last year, who was bundled out of the Australian Open in the opening round, with this year's Murray, who will be among the top 16 seeds for the Melbourne slam, the 19-year-old indicated that he no longer felt "like a kid".

The first grand slam event of the season begins at Melbourne Park on Monday, and Murray believes that he is now an altogether better tennis player than he was 12 months ago. Not only is he almost 6ft 3in tall, which is pretty much the perfect height for a male tennis player, he has also put some muscle on his 12½-stone frame and has considerably more confidence and experience than he did last January, which now seems an age away.

Murray has been busy over the last year, moving towards his ranking of world No 15, a career high. "I think I've learnt to deal with things better and I'm much stronger, not just physically but mentally," said Murray, who yesterday defeated Ivan Ljubicic at the semi-serious Kooyong exhibition event in the Melbourne suburbs.

"I don't let things get to me as much. Also, the work that I've been doing off court, I just feel like I'm much more balanced on the court. I'm not getting overpowered by guys that are much bigger than me.

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