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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 19, 2015

Andy Murray

MELBOURNE, VICTORIA

A. MURRAY/Y. Bhambri
6-3, 6-4, 7-6
An interview with:
ANDY MURRAY

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. What do you make of that?
ANDY MURRAY: I thought it was a tricky match. He played very close to the baseline on that court. I feel it's quicker than Rod Laver and Hisense. He was coming forward a lot. Even when I was hitting good returns, he was changing the direction of the ball very quickly and coming to the net. He played well up at the net. He had good hands, solid volleys and made it tough. I thought I served well the whole match. I served well. I just got caught a few times the first shot after the serve. Could have been a little bit better my first shot after the return. I don't know if that was something to do with me feeling like the court was a bit quicker. I felt a little bit rushed there. I served very well. That was good.

Q. You practiced on this court a couple days?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I practiced on it a couple days ago, but obviously the last couple days being pretty cold, very cloudy, and today obviously the sun was out. The court was livelier. Yeah, maybe the court isn't way faster, but obviously when you play in quicker conditions, obviously when it's dry as well -- it didn't feel humid at all -- the ball travels through the air quicker. Also maybe down to the way he was playing as well. He was hitting the ball very flat and coming to the net a lot. So rushing me. He played a good match. I had never seen him play before, and never practiced with him. It was tough to know what to expect.

Q. You tweeted some kind words for Pliskova, watching her some point during this leadup. What is it about her that impressed you most in her game?
ANDY MURRAY: I just thought she was a little bit different to some of the other girls. She served well. She had a big serve. And then when the ball was in the middle of the court she was really taking the ball on. She was a very good ball striker. She's got a long reach. Yeah, she was extremely aggressive on the return as well. Yeah, from just watching a little bit, you could see that she is obviously a very dangerous player for any of the women to play against. Yeah, just looked like if she could improve her movement a bit make her very difficult to beat.

Q. You were heard in the third set saying you weren't particularly happy with your performance. Shocking movement was one of them. Is that something you need to improve on as the tournament progresses?
ANDY MURRAY: I think in some sense when you're playing you tend to say things that you don't really mean. That's just how the brain works. I've learned a lot about that over the last couple years. That's just a normal thing to say. I do feel like he made me feel that way because of the way he was playing. Like I said, he was rushing me. I was saying it was more my movement after the return or after the serve. I was a little bit slow there. Once I got into the rallies I was moving good. But because of the way he was playing, and also maybe just feeling that court was a bit quicker, I thought it was a little bit slow on the first shot of each rally. But, yeah, that will get better.

Q. Matosevic up next. Some of the crowd on your side?
ANDY MURRAY: I don't know. To be honest, doesn't change how you approach the match. I'm sure it will be a good atmosphere. I know Marinko very well. I get on well with him. Yeah, he hasn't won any Grand Slam match since the French Open last year and now I think he's starting to relax and loosen up once he got the win at the French Open. He's a good ball striker. Big guy. Serves well. He works extremely hard. He has a good work ethic. Yeah, be a fun match.

Q. You played a Junior World No. 1, former Junior No. 1. What are your thoughts on his prospects for the future and what do you think he needs to work on and do you think he can challenge for a top 20 ranking in the future?
ANDY MURRAY: I mean, I don't know how hard he works. I've never seen him train or anything. But he's way better than ranked 300 in the world. He missed five or six months last year through injury. And, yeah, I mean, I would imagine by the end of this year he would definitely be around a hundred in the world. If he stays injury-free, most World Junior No. 1s go on to reach the top 100 on the some stage. Yeah, with his game, I mean, he returns well. He sees the game very well. He's talented. Good volleys. You know, he likes to take the ball early and come forward. Yeah, I don't know how good he's going to be because, like I say, I haven't seen him train. I don't know how hard he works. But I would be surprised if on some stage in his career he wasn't around the top 100 in the world. If he continues playing like that, I think by the end of this year he won't be far off.

Q. Do you have any advice for him? Any aspects of his game he can work on to become even better?
ANDY MURRAY: I think if he got physically stronger he could be better. He moves well. Just, yeah, maybe wasn't able to sustain his intensity the whole way through the match. Played a few loose games here and there, and that can be the difference sometimes. Yeah, I think if physically he got stronger, that would help with that. Give him a bit more strength and power behind his shots. Yeah, that said, I have no idea how hard he works or what he does when he's training. He trains at Bollettieri's. There are a lot of good role models there, a lot of top players there to lookout for him, so I'm sure he's on the right track.

Q. You have beaten Matosevic three times without dropping a set. What did you do well then that you're going to have to do again on Wednesday?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, hopefully I'll play well. I need to continue serving well. That helps against whoever you're playing against. Yeah, when you play against a big guy who likes to go for his shots, if you can keep good weight and depth behind your shots, that can frustrate them. I'll try and use some variety to throw his timing off a little bit. Yeah. Just continue doing what I've been doing the last few weeks. I've been playing very well in the practices and striking the ball cleanly in the matches. If I keep that up, I'll keep getting better each round.

Q. Would you prefer an evening match? Are you happy with the early start?
ANDY MURRAY: I don't really mind, to be honest. The conditions today were perfect playing conditions. Obviously in the evening that slows things down a little bit. When it's cooler, you know, maybe doesn't take as much away from you energy-wise. But obviously you can finish the matches quite late, and that can -- can -- affect you the next round. But I don't really mind when I play.

Q. After the match you said that you were aware how tough a draw it is here this year. Is that something you often do, look through the draw at all?
ANDY MURRAY: No. I didn't plan on looking through the draw. When I spoke to Mike the other day he told me my draw when I spoke to him immediately. So, yeah, I don't always look at my draws. When I came to my press conference - I can't remember who it was - but they basically read out the whole draw all the way through to the final. So whether you look at it or not, people talk about it. I think this is maybe the tenth, ninth or tenth year I've played here. I know how to deal with that and to just concentrate on each match. I've played tournaments where -- I think that the year I won Wimbledon everyone was saying it was the hardest draw, and then a couple guys get knocked out and I was getting, If you don't make the final this year you'll never make the final again. A lot can change in a couple of days in sport. You just got to concentrate on your own matches, take care of business, and that's it.

Q. (Regarding fans) They've been here since 2007 every year supporting you. They also went to the US Open last year.
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah.

Q. Was it nice to have their support again in the stands?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, it's nice. It's good fun, I think. They do help get the crowd going a bit as well. Yeah, they've been a great support to me over, yeah, the last eight or nine years here, and then it was nice they managed to come to the US Open. My mom always tries to sort them out with tickets every year. Yeah, I think that they're good fun. The crowd seem to like them. They don't do anything offensive to anyone. It's all good fun. Yeah, I like having them there.

Q. Do you have a favorite tune of theirs?
ANDY MURRAY: They actually changed a few. The last few years they had a lot of the same ones. I was hoping that they are going to change a few of them, which they did this year. Not one favorite, but they do come up with some good stuff.

Q. Belinda Carlisle made an appearance today. Have you heard that one?
ANDY MURRAY: Oh, yeah, I think they've done that one a few times actually.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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