Murray seeded fourth for Australian Open

Posted: Thursday 15th January 2009 | 10:37

ANDY Murray has been seeded fourth ahead of tomorrow's draw for the Australian Open.

ON THE RISE: Andy Murray's victory at the Qatar Open means he's seeded fourth for the Australian Open (Getty Images)

The 21-year-old British number one is behind Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic in the seedings, which are in line with the current ATP Tour rankings.

Nadal - who has a 5-1 advantage in previous meetings, but lost their last encounter at the US Open semi-finals - is Murray's scheduled last four opponent.

The absence of defending champion Maria Sharapova from the women's draw means Serbia's Jelena Jankovic is top seeded.

Federer has expressed surprised that bookmakers are rating Murray as a hot favourite in Melbourne than five-time Grand Slam winner Nadal.

But the Scot believes he belongs among the tennis big guns.

He said: "The older you get, the more matches you play, you realise what the bookies are saying doesn't make any difference once you get on court, whether they are saying good things or bad things. You just get on with your job.

"The more you play against him the less fearful you are, you're not scared to win the match. If you're young and you play against the top guys, once you get close to winning you get nervous.