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AEGON CHAMPIONSHIPSJune 21, 2015Andy MurrayLONDON, ENGLAND A. MURRAY/K. Anderson THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. That last set seemed like a faultless performance. Is that the way you saw it? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I served extremely well, and then the two opportunities I got I wasn't expecting to have loads of opportunities with the way he had been serving this week and the way the courts were playing. So, you know, thankfully when the chances came, I managed to come up with, you know, some kind of instinctive shots and, you know, guess the right way on a couple of shots and managed to get the breaks. You know, I felt like once I got into the rallies I was doing really well, but it was obviously tough to do that some of the times. He served extremely high percentage of first serves and was serving big. But it was a good performance, yeah. Q. Did playing the semifinal, finishing that off first, help you going into the second match in the afternoon? ANDY MURRAY: No, I don't think so. You know, it was an unfortunate situation yesterday what happened. But, no, I mean, maybe when I was like 21 or something, you know, I could warm up and cool down, warm up and, you know, play, do that three, four times a day and feel okay, whereas now it's not quite as easy as it used to be, unfortunately. I spent a decent amount of time with my physio between the matches. Yeah, he did a really good job. I want to thank him for it, as well. Q. Is that difficult mentally as much as physically to switch on and switch off and switch back on again? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, well, there is a lot of things that ‑‑ you have two hours from when you come off the court. You want to cool down, you know, digest what's just happened a little bit. And then, you know, you basically are coming up with two game plans on one day to play different, very different opponents that are, you know, that are playing very well. Like I say, you need to warm up and cool down and it's, you know, it's been a long couple of days. Yeah, it's not that easy coming up with good strategies for back‑to‑back matches against different players in such a short space of time. Q. You said on TV I think you said you felt better than when you won Wimbledon in 2013. Just wondered if you could sort of quantify where you think the improvements are. ANDY MURRAY: Well, I think you just have to improve; otherwise I wouldn't still be in the same position. You know, I was ranked, I don't know, 3, 4 in the world around that time and I'm still there just now. You know, sport and life and everything moves on. If you don't continue to improve and get better, there is going to be people that will take your spot. So I feel like I have improved. Physically I'm definitely in a better place than I was then. Obviously I was having problems with my back around that time. Not so much on the grass but on the other surfaces. And, yeah, I feel like I'm using my variety very well just now, something that maybe I wasn't the last couple of years. That's been good for me. Yeah, more experience, more matches. So, yeah. There are a few things I'm doing a little bit better. Q. The last time that you won this tournament you went on to win Wimbledon. ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, but that means nothing, really. You know, it's great preparation obviously, but, you know, I think it has only happened six times where someone has won Queen's and gone on to win. There are no guarantees that winning here, you know, gives you a Wimbledon title. I need to go out there and earn it. I need to train well the next five, six days, prepare as well as I can. It's great preparation. It's a great start to my preparation on the grass. It gives me that little bit of confidence going in there. Yeah, it's been a really good start, but, you know, it's a long way to go before Wimbledon even starts, and then all sorts of things can happen during slams. Q. You seemed to go up a gear after losing the first set to Muller and then maintained that level to get better and better all the way through. Was that situation with Muller what you needed to really sort of jump charge you? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I think I felt like I played a really good tiebreak there. And, you know, when I was in real danger of losing that match and going out, I came up with some good shots there. Yeah, I did carry that form through for the rest of the tournament. I don't know exactly why that was, but, you know, sometimes‑‑ you know, like Kevin, in the first round, I don't think he was playing so well against Hewitt. Saved a match point. Once he got through that, he actually started to play some really good tennis and improve. Sometimes when you are in those tricky situations maybe in a losing position, you come back and it can sort of give you a bit of sort of extra confidence for the week. That match against Muller was very important. Q. I'm trying to work out what Jonas' record is now when he's with you at tournaments. Did he do one match with you in Madrid? ANDY MURRAY: He left the day I played my first round, which was at 1:00 a.m. in the morning. So the day before I played my first round. Q. 10‑0, I think. 10 matches? ANDY MURRAY: Nine. I think I played four in Munich. So there has obviously been a good start with him, and hopefully that continues. Obviously I'm not going to stay undefeated with him forever, but I also have to give a lot of credit to Amélie, because a lot of the work I have done with her is paying off. All of the things I have worked on with her, like using my variety is something I have spoken about a lot in the past, that's things I have been working on with her for quite a while now. Yeah, hopefully a culmination of the two of them will give me more success. It's been a good start. Q. Has Jonas' voice been the lone voice in your ear, or have you been speaking with Amélie on the phone this week? ANDY MURRAY: I have spoken to Amélie a couple of times on the phone. I spoke to her on the way home from the match with Muller or Verdasco. I can't remember. Then, yeah, we message most days. Well, actually, every day, as well. She arrives tomorrow evening. Q. Do you get into any sort of routine now that this is over and you start your preparation, training preparation for Wimbledon? Do you get into a routine? And if you do, are you a creature of habit and have to stick with that, superstitions of yes or no? How do you plan things ahead now? ANDY MURRAY: No, I don't really have superstitions, to be honest. I mean, some people on my team in the past have had, you know, superstitions and I would just kind of go along with that, because superstitions are there to make people feel more comfortable. If the people on your team are more comfortable, then that rubs off on you a bit, as well. So I don't really have any superstitions. I will take tomorrow off, for sure. I won't train tomorrow. And then I will probably be in at Wimbledon on Tuesday. I'm playing a match at Hurlingham. I think that's Wednesday. I'm doing Tim Henman's ‑‑ I'm doing something for his foundation at Hurlingham on Tuesday, I'm doing that, as well. But then, yeah, rest of the week I will just be at Wimbledon training. Q. Lleyton's last Wimbledon is coming up. When he won Wimbledon he also won the US Open. A lot of people in Australia thought he might win a couple more. I was wondering how he might be remembered and where he ranks? ANDY MURRAY: Well, he was obviously a great player. I think he finished No. 1 in two consecutive years. I think that's right. Obviously an extremely difficult thing to do. Fantastic Davis Cup record, as well. He loves playing for his country. Yeah, amongst, you know, all of the players and stuff, I mean, he will be remembered as being just a fantastic competitor. He hated to lose. Yeah, I mean, obviously the last few years of his career has been tough because he has had a lot of injuries and some surgeries on his foot. Yeah, that's probably taken its toll on him a little bit. But often when players break through at a very young age like he did‑ he was a top player when he was 18, 19 years old ‑ they aren't going to play their best tennis when they are 32, 33. That's normal. But, yeah, I mean, he's had a fantastic career. He was a great grass court player and a fantastic attitude on the court. Q. Some players do quite a lot of sponsorship stuff in the week before slams. You tend not to. Your deal with Seedrs, what are you looking to get out of that? Is that the kind of deal you prefer to do now so you have an input rather than just wearing a patch and having to look after sponsors' interests and things like that? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I think obviously when he come to, you know, major tournaments, that's when obviously sponsors want to use most of their time. I'm doing something with Under Armour tomorrow. But I have just found for me, like I think it's best for the player and for the sponsor if you perform your best in the major competitions, as well. So I have tried the last few years to limit, you know, the amount of time I spend doing those things the week before a slam. I feel like it's helped my performances, you know. Sometimes they can be five, six hours, that, you know, if you get some rain like the following day, you can end up missing two days of training. So, yeah, I have just tried to limit those things. And the more sponsorship‑type deals I do, the less time obviously the better for me. With Seedrs, I don't have to spend time the week before the slam doing bits and pieces, which helps. Q. What are you looking to get out of that, that deal, apart from money? ANDY MURRAY: (Smiling.) It's just something‑‑ you know, it's a little bit different, you know, investing in companies that you actually may take an interest in. You know, I have someone who is Neil Grainger who has been responsible looking after my money since I was 18, 19 years old who has worked with Tim, as well. A lot of times when I speak to him, I don't really understand kind of what he's saying or know the companies so well. Whereas with something like this, I can actually, you know, decide a little bit what I do. If it's something that's involving sports, technology, things I'm actually interested in, then it could be good fun for me. Q. You have been beaten by one player three times. What is your feeling about that? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, it's obviously a shame that I have lost to Novak. You know, I have been close in a lot of the matches, and, you know, French Open, Miami was close, and Indian Wells not so much. But the Australian Open, as well. I think that it's something ‑‑ he's obviously had a great year, has not lost to many players. There is no disgrace in losing to him, but obviously if I want to win the major competitions, I have beaten him in those tournaments before when I won US Open and Wimbledon and the Olympics, and, you know, I need to continue to improve and learn from those matches. I also look at him and the things he's doing well and try to improve upon my own weaknesses. But, yeah, I can't complain about the way I played the last few months. I mean, there is one player in the world that's played better than me. I would like to be that player, but hopefully in the future I can be. Q. I'm not asking you to criticize Novak's preparation, but would you be comfortable going into Wimbledon without any grass court tournament under your feet? ANDY MURRAY: I have never done that, so I don't know. Probably play a couple of matches I would have thought at one of the exhibitions next week, you know, which he's done a number of years, but I don't believe he played anything last year and went on to win the tournament. So, you know, if you've prepared that way before and it's been successful, I'm sure he won't be doubting his preparation, because he's done that in the past and ended up playing his best tennis. I think because of the amount of tennis he's played this year, he won obviously Rome, then played right away through to the end of Paris, which I'm sure was, you know, emotionally quite draining for him. He was very close to achieving something that very few players have done that he probably needed some time away to rest and relax and get his head right before getting prepared for another slam. So he's obviously comfortable with that, and I'm sure it's the right decision for him. Q. Was there anything different from your perspective this year with this event being a 500 rather than a 250? ANDY MURRAY: Well, it was a stronger event. I think there was more ‑‑well, there was less players in the draw, but the players that were in it, I felt like all of them were very competent on grass. I mean, I played Lu in the first round. He's made quarters at Wimbledon. Muller is a very, very good grass court player. Kevin. Also Verdasco, I think it was the quarters of Wimbledon I won against him in five sets. In the past maybe in the first couple of rounds that wasn't always the case. It was a bigger draw, so more guys that weren't comfortable playing on the grass courts, you know, you could draw them in the first round and maybe you could ease your way into the tournament; whereas this is definitely not the case now here. Very, very strong tournament and a tough one to win. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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