London, Jan 17 : World number four Andy Murray has said that he has the stomach to cope with being favourite to land the Australian Open title, and becoming Britain’s first men’s champion at a Slam for 73 years when he takes on Romanian Andrei Pavel in the first round.

Murray is the bookies’ choice to land the first Grand Slam of the year after a sensational start to 2009, FOX Sports reported.

Murray, whose best performance here was reaching the fourth round two years ago, said: “You have to find a way through the conditions, particularly if it is very hot. Conditions do not vary as much at any other Slam. At Wimbledon and the French it can rain but here, you never know what it will be like.”

“Due to the improvements I have made, I’m confident I can do well here. But I have not studied the draw too much — I just have to think about winning my first match. Getting to the US Open final gave me a lot of confidence. But if I get to another final, I’m sure that I will do a lot better than I did against Federer,” he said.

Murray, 21, insisted: “Being favourite makes absolutely no difference at all. “Once I play the first match, I might be a little nervous but if I can come through that one, I will be on my way in the tournament.

“With more strength in your upper body, you can maintain that consistency. It gives you peace of mind,” he added.

While Murray is the bookies’ pick, nobody is ruling out Federer — Aussie champion in 2004, 2006 and 2007 and one away from equalling Pete Sampras’ record of 14 Grand Slams. (ANI)