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U.S. OPEN

August 23, 2014

Andy Murray

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Does coming into a tournament you have already won take a little bit of the pressure off your shoulders?
ANDY MURRAY: I think it helps if anything, yeah. I don't think it's a negative in any way. I don't know if that's due to pressure or, you know, experience or whatever, being comfortable in these surroundings and having good memories. I think it's a combination of everything really.

Q. Obviously you spent a lot of time in Miami. How has the departure of LeBron James changed your status as a season ticket holder?
ANDY MURRAY: Status is the same. We don't do that. In the UK you don't change teams when someone leave.

Q. I'm from Germany. What are your expectations for next year?
ANDY MURRAY: I think they will do better than people expect. Yeah, I think we have got a pretty good team.

Q. How about the cavaliers? How do you think they will do with LeBron now?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, I would expect them to be one of the favorites. Whether they win it or not in the first year, I don't know. They have got a pretty solid team.

Q. How are you feeling form- and confidence-wise?
ANDY MURRAY: I feel good. I have had a great practice week, had good fun on the court, enjoyed it, and worked hard. Yeah, been playing well. I feel good.

Q. You have obviously played a lot of Grand Slam finals and finals before breaking through with the title. For other players who are trying to break through, too, do you see them probably needing to get a lot of experience before they win a title the way the field is now, or do you see someone winning at all without first getting in the semifinals and finals?
ANDY MURRAY: You never know, to be honest. Everyone is different. You never know what's going to happen in sports, especially individual sport. You know, someone could easily break through at this tournament. But, yeah, I could also see why it might take a bit longer for some guys. But you never know. No one knows what's going to happen. You just have to wait and see.

Q. That was an interesting day you had yesterday with Rory and then the basketball. A slight departure perhaps from your usual preparation? Does it reflect the sort of confidence in how you feel? Could you sort of tell us what the day was like?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, it was fun. I have never been to watch golf live before. So, you know, for a first experience, you know, watching the best player in the world was a pretty good experience, and, yeah, I really enjoyed it. I guess it's like pretty much any sport. When you watch them up close, you know, it's impressive. And then, yeah, I didn't hit any balls yesterday. I took yesterday off. I trained for five days in a row, so I took yesterday off. Then in the evening, yeah, I went to watch the basketball at Madison Square Garden. I love watching basketball. But to sit that close again and see -- I mean, those guys, they're huge guys, but just unbelievably quick, great athletes. Yeah, it was a fun day for me.

Q. Your first match, playing on Monday, in the past sometimes you have had to wait until Wednesday. Will that be a good thing, to get underway straightaway?
ANDY MURRAY: Again, you never know. I mean, I have been here long enough to be used to the conditions and stuff now. I think for some guys that are coming in late, you know, playing on the Wednesday may help, but I have had enough time on the courts now to practice and prepare. So to get underway on Monday is good.

Q. You're playing a guy that's kind of familiar, especially here. What do you remember about him?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, it was a tricky match. Windy conditions that day, and, yeah, very up and down. He obviously started well. I think maybe -- did I win the fourth set 6-Love, third or fourth set 6-Love? Yeah, I was a break up and he came back. It was a strange match. It wasn't a particularly clean tennis match, but I found a way to get through.

Q. What do you think about your mum on Strictly Come Dancing?
ANDY MURRAY: I mean, if it makes her happy, then I will support her. I'm not really into those shows, but she loves it. I mean, she watches it all the of the time, talks about it all the time (smiling). So, yeah, if she enjoys it, then I'm happy for her.

Q. Will you be watching?
ANDY MURRAY: No. Probably not, no.

Q. When is the last time you saw her dance?
ANDY MURRAY: I don't believe I have ever seen her dance, to be honest. I don't think I have ever seen her dance. It will be interesting.

Q. Do you think the only thing missing from your game right now is the confidence of having back-to-back big wins?
ANDY MURRAY: Maybe. I mean, I have been playing well the last few weeks. You know, I lost to guys who had won the events, and had quite big opportunities in both those matches. I feel like I'm playing well. This week has been very good preparation. I'm happy. I feel ready to start the tournament. Yeah, we'll see what happens when we get underway.

Q. When was the last time you felt this ready, this prepared, this content?
ANDY MURRAY: For a slam, probably, I mean, any of the ones -- I mean, Australian Open last year, Wimbledon last year, you know, would have been the last two. Obviously I missed the French last year. My back was not great during this event last year. Yeah, this year would be the best prepared I have been coming into a slam. I got a great training block over in Miami done, so physically I'm where I would want to be. My body is pain-free, which is good. Yeah, I feel ready.

Q. You mentioned those missed opportunities against Tsonga and Federer. Do things like that stay with you after matches? Do they carry over into the next tournament?
ANDY MURRAY: I think one of the most important things in sport is to not be too hard on yourself after matches, to be able to move on. You know, I was obviously not happy with how the matches ended. I was very disappointed. But it's something that you need to learn to be able to move forward and not be too hard on yourself. You know, make sure it doesn't eat into your sort of preparation time or any sort of mental energy or that you might need going into a tournament like this. So, you know, I was very relaxed when I got on the practice court here. Like I said, I have had good practice, had good fun on the practice court, and worked hard. I feel ready for the tournament. Obviously I would have liked to have won those matches. I can't do anything about them now. Gotta look forward.

Q. You were one of the first to take this ice bucket challenge.
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah.

Q. Seems like the whole Team Murray has a lot of fun now. Does it seem different to what it was before with Ivan Lendl, or is it pretty much the same?
ANDY MURRAY: No, it's very similar. We all had good fun with Ivan. I actually saw him just now. I hadn't seen him for a few months. I actually saw him just now when I came off the court, which was nice. But, yeah, I have good fun with the guys I work with. It's a very important part of what we do. We spend a lot of time together, and you try to have fun while you're working hard. Otherwise the days and weeks on the road becomes long and tough. But I have good fun with them. It's been a nice few weeks.

Q. The training block you did, does that still mean you're going into this Grand Slam with more confidence than the earlier ones?
ANDY MURRAY: I feel confident. I don't know whether more or less than the other ones, but physically I'm better prepared than I was for the other slams just because, you know, I got -- the Australian Open I was obviously not going to be perfect. I hadn't played a match for like four months going into it, so, you know, that was kind of normal. But I got my best training block I have had since before Wimbledon last year down in Miami. Trained hard and, yeah, I feel ready. Yeah, because of that, I feel confident and I'm looking forward to the start.
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