Monte Carlo is no-go but it's yes to US for Miami bound Murray

By MIKE DICKSON, SPORTS WRITER

Published: 19:40 EST, 28 March 2012 | Updated: 19:40 EST, 28 March 2012

Andy Murray has never been tempted to join the migration of tennis’s leading stars to Monte Carlo but has admitted that establishing himself  semi-permanently in America has its appeal.

The world No 4 already owns an apartment in Miami and does some of his training here.

With his partnership alongside Ivan Lendl taking root and his mentor living two-and-a-half hours north up the Florida coast, it is starting to make sense to spend most of his time off the circuit in the States.

Coming to America: Andy Murray plans to spend more time Stateside

Murray is happily ensconced in Surrey and shows no sign of wanting to follow his management stablemate Lewis Hamilton to Monaco, but America might be a different matter.

‘A lot of players have asked me why I don’t live in Monte Carlo,’ he said of the tax haven. ‘If I was ever going to move I would do it firstly because I want to spend time there and have friends there. And here I have a lot of friends.

‘I love it here and now with Ivan I’m probably spending three-and-a-half months of the year here.

Reason for change: Murray's coach Ivan Lendl lives in America

‘I’d be doing it for tennis reasons rather than tax reasons because this is the best place for me to train.’

Murray, whose interest in current affairs led him to watch some of the Chancellor’s Budget speech last week, has spent considerable time training at the Lawn Tennis Association’s national centre in Roehampton, but clearly finds it less than ideal.

‘At certain times of year it’s better to come here rather than stay in the UK because the conditions for me are not what I need to train properly,’ he said. ‘Like in December, there’s normally a lot of other guys here, top players to practise with, like (Jo-Wilfried) Tsonga.

‘If you want to start the year well you have to be practising with the best players, you can’t just practise with guys ranked five or six hundred and expect to turn up at a tournament and do well.’