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AUSTRALIAN OPENJanuary 27, 2015Andy MurrayMELBOURNE, VICTORIA A. MURRAY/N. Kyrgios 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 An interview with: ANDY MURRAY THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. As a man who likes his football, was that the perfect away performance? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I mean, I didn't go into it obviously thinking like that. I was, yeah, just trying to win against Nick, which was tough 'cause he has an exceptional serve and makes it very difficult for you when he's serving. And, like I said on the court afterwards, it was very tricky conditions, as well. So I was quite happy with the way I handled everything tonight. Q. What was the wind doing out there? Was it swirling? ANDY MURRAY: No. The end where we walk out onto the court was a really strong breeze. When you were at that end you were playing with the wind, so it was tricky 'cause it was very strong breeze. When you're down the far end of the court you had to do a lot more defending. If you tried to play with any sort of height the ball was dropping short. It was very easy for me or him to attack. So, yeah, I tried to just keep the ball low from that end, used a lot of slice, and played pretty flat. So it was tough for him and it worked. Q. Through to the semifinal dropping one set. How pleasing is that? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I think, you know, for me tonight it was a tricky one to judge, to say how well I played, because I found the conditions difficult tonight. So I tried to use the conditions to my advantage and played a slightly different style than what I had been in the other matches. I would say the match against Dimitrov was a very high level. It was a clean match. Both of us were striking the ball well. And, yeah, I made improvements with each of the matches. But then tonight, you know, I just tried to play the best with what the conditions were allowing you to do, and I think I did that quite well. Q. Do you think he should have gotten a point penalty in the tiebreak there when he broke his racquet? ANDY MURRAY: I don't know if there's a rule that I -- I haven't, in the last three, four years, seen someone break a racquet and not get a warning. Any time it's happened to me, if I've broken a racquet, I've always gotten a warning. I just asked the umpire, and he said, no, it doesn't always have to be automatic. But I asked the question because I haven't seen that happen for a long time. Q. Did it feel any different going into the match knowing if you won you'd play Berdych rather than Nadal? ANDY MURRAY: Not really, because Tomas had played very well so far, up to today, and Rafa's form obviously had been a bit up and down. He was coming in having not really played much tennis at all for quite a long time. And when he was playing towards the end of last year he certainly wasn't fit, so I wouldn't imagine he would have been practicing loads either. I wasn't too surprised. I mean, Rafa nearly got himself back into the match in the third set, but he was clearly not playing so well at the beginning. Q. We were all 19 once. What do you make of his on-court demeanor, showboating, that kind of stuff? ANDY MURRAY: I actually think he's quite respectful on the court in many ways. He does applaud good shots. He does say, Good shot, good serve. Yeah, he gets frustrated with himself and sometimes says things he shouldn't, but everyone, I would think, has done that in some way when they're 19. It just happens that when he's doing it he's playing in front of a large audience and it gets picked up on. I've spent a little bit of time with him and I think he's a good person. I don't think he's a bad guy. He's nice. He's always been polite and respectful. Yeah, maybe he does the odd thing on the court that might annoy some people, but I don't think he does anything with bad intent. He's only going to continue to mature and improve in that respect as he gets older. He just needs to be allowed to grow up. Like everyone makes mistakes when they're that age. Q. What will it be like having Dani in the opposite box in the semifinal for the first time? ANDY MURRAY: I don't know. When I finished working with Miles MacLagan he started working with Baghdatis. I played against Baghdatis a few times. I played him at the Olympics. I played him in Tokyo with Miles there. Yeah, with Miles there I didn't really have an issue with it. But, again, I don't know, maybe I'll find it weird on the day. But, yeah, it's just something that you deal with as a player. My goal isn't to beat Dani; my goal is to beat Berdych. So I don't think about that in the next days. Q. Does it change your preparation having someone who knows your game extremely well on your opponent's side now? ANDY MURRAY: I've always said to people that, you know, watching is one thing and seeing someone's game, but when you actually get on the court with them things are actually a lot different. It seems like you might be able to attack certain areas of someone's game or something that they do might look really good, but what matters is when you're on the court can you exploit those things, that weakness. That weakness, is it as weak as you think? It's completely different when you're out there on the court, in my opinion. Yeah, we'll see how the match plays out and what the tactics are and stuff. But, you know, I also know what Dani thinks of Berdych's game because he's told me, so it works both ways. Q. When Nick broke back in the first set, could you sense the pendulum was starting to swing? If it was, how do you stop it? ANDY MURRAY: I mean, maybe played a slightly loose game there, but it was the tougher end to play from. He caught hold of a few returns which he hadn't returned so well up until that point. And then, yeah, just in that next game I came up with a couple good passing shots. Yeah, just tried to keep the momentum on my side, and thankfully got the break straightaway. But, yeah, I mean, he did start to play a little bit better. He started to hit the ball a little bit cleaner towards the end of the match. Q. You talked about the ability to defend at this level. After he broke you, you hit two or three amazing rescue shots. Was it good you were able to step your game up again after you'd just been broken? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah. When I've been behind, like against Dimitrov in that fourth set and obviously like situations like today when I got broken or when I was behind in the tiebreak, I've been happy with the way I've been able to come up with some good shots when I've needed them and sort of not get down on myself and come straight back. I've been pretty happy with that so far in the event. Obviously the further down the road you get, the better players you play, there's going to be more times when you might get behind or you might get broken or they might play great tennis for a few games. You need to be able to weather the storm and hopefully come through it. So far it's been a good sign. Q. Tomas gave Dani credit for coming up with a good plan against Rafa today. Is that one of Dani's strengths, do you think? ANDY MURRAY: I don't know. To be honest, I don't really want to talk about what Dani's strengths and weaknesses are. I'm happy to talk about Berdych and what his strengths and weaknesses are, but I don't want to discuss what Dani does well and doesn't do well. Because, like I said, I'm not playing against him. I don't think in loads of sports people talk about other player's coaches and managers and whatnot. Coaches talk about each other, but not for me to discuss. Q. Tomas' strengths and weaknesses then? ANDY MURRAY: He's a big guy. He strikes the ball very well. Yeah, he serves well. Yeah, he's fairly calm on the court. I think he manages emotions fairly well. And, yeah, he's obviously played extremely well this tournament so far. Just by looking at the results, he's had some good wins and played well in Doha. He'll be coming into the match with confidence. Q. What is the main feeling, satisfaction, happiness, in terms of keeping the momentum going? ANDY MURRAY: I'm happy. It's nice to be in the latter stages of a slam again. Yeah, I'm happy with that. Obviously we want to do as best as possible, but all you can do is prepare as best you can, which I certainly did over the last few weeks and months, and have given myself an opportunity. Maybe I won't play well in a couple of days; maybe I play great. I don't know. But I've given myself a good opportunity again, and hopefully I can use it to my advantage. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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