Andy Murray says "everything is in place" to launch a strong challenge at the Australian Open, which starts in Melbourne on Monday.
The British number one, seeded 15th, meets Spain's Alberto Martin in the first round on Tuesday.
Murray told BBC Five Live: "[The preparation] has been perfect. I've matured a lot since last year.
"I realised I had to change some things after the Australian Open last year and I have benefited from it."
Murray finished third in last week's exhibition event at Kooyong and had good wins over world number four Ivan Ljubicic and 2005 Australian Open champion Marat Safin.
The week before, Murray was beaten in the final of the Qatar Open by Croatia's Ljubicic.
"It was great to get those sort of matches the week before a Grand Slam," said the 19-year-old Scot.
"It felt like my game had improved a lot since the end of last year. Last year I prepared slightly differently and this year has been much better."
Murray worked with athletics legend Michael Johnson before Christmas with a view to improving his suspect strength and fitness.
And Murray hopes the extra work will pay off this year with more consistency throughout the season.
"I played well last year in patches but I had some problems," said Murray.
"To get to the next level you have to play consistently for the whole year and that's one of the things I want to change this year."
It was not so much the comprehensive defeat he handed out to Marat Safin yesterday – he has beaten better men than the Russian in the past 12 months – that was so impressive, as the maturity Andy Murray displayed, both on and off the court. Gone was the self-destructive and generally brattish behaviour, to be replaced by something much more adult. He is even smiling. Kevin the Teenager, it seems, has finally come of age.
It was not so much the comprehensive defeat he handed out to Marat Safin yesterday – he has beaten better men than the Russian in the past 12 months – that was so impressive, as the maturity Andy Murray displayed, both on and off the court. Gone was the self-destructive and generally brattish behaviour, to be replaced by something much more adult. He is even smiling. Kevin the Teenager, it seems, has finally come of age.
"I think you've got to look at the perfect example of someone who is totally at ease with life – Federer always seems pretty chilled out," said Murray, who will be 20 in May. "Who wouldn't be when you're winning as much as him? But that's the sort of way I think you have to get to. I have calmed down a lot since my first Wimbledon – then I was jumping around a lot saying, 'C'mon'. I'm not doing that as much any more.