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WIMBLEDONJuly 2, 2015Andy MurrayLONDON, ENGLAND A. MURRAY/R. Haase THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. A step up from your first round. Are you happy? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, well, I also said on Tuesday it was difficult because of the way my opponent was playing. Today it's a different matchup. Yeah, I played well today. Q. In terms of your first‑week performances over the years, was that one of your better ones? ANDY MURRAY: It's always difficult to compare. I mean, last year I played some good tennis in the first week. But, yeah, I mean, the first couple of sets were excellent. Then even third set, some of the points were very good. I moved well today, hit the ball a lot cleaner from the back of the court. It was a good match. Q. My impression was in the third set there was a lot more self‑talk going on, more intense. Was that about trying not to kind of relax when you had such a strong lead? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, well, I think I wanted to make sure. I've obviously had some tough matches with him in the past. I know when he's on, he can make it extremely difficult. He can be pretty flashy and play two or three great games in a row. Yeah, I wanted to make sure that I didn't give him that opportunity. There was a couple of times in that third set where he had maybe Love‑30 on my serve, 15‑30. Yeah, I managed to stop him from gaining any momentum. Q. With the way the weather has been recently, how different are the courts playing this year? Do you like the way they're playing? ANDY MURRAY: Well, it definitely felt quicker on Tuesday. But, I mean, it was extremely hot on the court today. It didn't feel that quick to me at all. It felt a little bit heavier. It was obviously pretty humid today, as well. That slowed things down a little bit. From what everyone has been saying, with the temperatures sort of this high, it's probably going to make the court harder, firmer, and probably a little bit quicker maybe earlier than usual. Normally towards the end of the tournament it's pretty quick. Maybe from Friday, Saturday onwards, it will be pretty fast. Q. You kind of accept that you're going to have one match off of Centre Court. Because you played so much on Centre Court, when you see yourself slated to play on No.1, is there any sense of a greater vulnerability there because it's not the court you're so used to? ANDY MURRAY: No, not really. I mean, the courts are different in that, you know, Court1 is more open. When it's windy, it can swirl around in there a lot more than on Centre. Now, Centre Court, the wind tends to only go in one direction really. It's a bit easier to play there because of that. But I've always played quite well on Court1. I like the court. Played Davis Cup matches there, as well. I've always liked that court. Q. You've seen James do really well in Davis Cup. I assume you saw the end of his match. What enables him this year to break through here? ANDY MURRAY: Well, obviously the draw opened up. He was to play Ferrer in the first round, which is an extremely difficult draw. Then playing a lucky loser in the first round, he's taken advantage of the opportunity that he's had at a very important time for him, as well, because he hadn't won so many matches lately. After here, quite a lot of points to defend. It was very important for him to capitalize on that. He's won a couple of good matches. Today I only saw the last couple of games. Vesely is a tough opponent. It was a good win for him today. He has an opportunity again in the third round I think. Q. How do you compare that with your first‑round game? ANDY MURRAY: It was better, for sure. How would you like me to compare it? Q. Compare the two opponents. ANDY MURRAY: Well, Kukushkin was hitting the ball extremely flat, very low over the net, kind of going for broke. It was going in for large parts of the match. It makes it very difficult. Today at the beginning, Robin was really going for his shots, as well. It wasn't coming off the same way. Then when he started to back off a little bit, it was a lot easier for me to dictate the points. Q. The Duchess of Cornwall said she was delighted to receive your sweat bands after the game. ANDY MURRAY: I heard that she was coming today. I saw her briefly after the match. But the wristband actually hit the chairman of Wimbledon. He was there with her. Normally you see who catches it. Then the Duchess opened up her bag and my wristband was in there, so he obviously had given it to her. Q. What are your thoughts on Heather Watson playing Serena Williams? What message do you have for Heather on the eve of that match? ANDY MURRAY: Well, obviously probably the biggest test in tennis right now, I would think. I saw a little bit of Serena's match yesterday. She looked extremely motivated from the beginning. I think in some of the matches at the French Open, it didn't appear that way. I don't know if that was nerves or anything. But she looked pretty fired up the other day. So it's going to be an extremely difficult match for Heather. But she's going to have the crowd with her. She has to try to use that to her advantage, try not to be intimidated. Yeah, just go out there and give it a go. I mean, I'm not going to go into tactics or anything. But, yeah, she needs to go out there, really go for it, try not to let Serena dictate, and hopefully she can serve well. That will make a big difference. Q. Since Coric and Seppi are 6‑All in the third, would you give us a word about each of them? ANDY MURRAY: I mean, Seppi has had such good results this year. He made the final a couple of weeks ago in Halle, plays well on the grass. He won against Roger at the Australian Open this year. He's capable of playing some top tennis. Coric is obviously one of the best young players coming through. Isn't as experienced on grass. But at that age, you can also learn a lot very quickly in a short space of time. He came through a tough five‑setter in the first round. Obviously it's a battle again today. He's got a very good attitude, good work ethic. He's a tough player. Q. Is that the question you were looking for today, in terms of an opponent you have struggled with in the past to some extent? Is that an important ingredient, to have that killer instinct, that ruthlessness? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I think in Grand Slams you have to try to conserve energy when you can really because the two weeks can be quite draining physically and mentally. If you can, you know, get yourself off the court quickly, capitalize if your opponent maybe isn't playing as well, if you're on your game, try to push yourself to keep playing that way. It can pay off towards the end of the tournament. So, yeah, I'm glad I got done quickly today. Q. The other British players quite often said how supportive you are of them. James just said it. I'm wondering what kind of form it comes in? Is it a text saying, Well done? Have you ever sat down and had heart to hearts with them, passed on tactical insight that you've gained? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I mean, like the other day, I spoke to James Davidson, the coach of Bedene about tactics before his match with Stepanek. I mean, with Kyle, I've sat down a few times and spoken at length about a number of things at different times, sometimes during Davis Cups, sometimes sat down with his coaches and chatted about his game. When I practice against him, I can feel the things that he's improving on, the things he's doing better, and can feed that back to the coaches, and maybe some things I feel like I can exploit in his game that maybe the coaches can't always see because they aren't playing against him. Yeah, with James, I mean, I've spent a lot of time with him over the last 12, 18 months really. We've done a few training blocks together. He stayed with me in Miami a few times. I watch a lot of his matches online when he's playing challengers and stuff. I watch his matches. I kind of say, Well done, or let him know what I thought about the match, anything like that. See if I can, you know, help in any way. But also I'm not just doing it to say I really want to help them, I'm doing it because I'm friends with them, I get on well with them, they're people I like. I genuinely care whether they win or lose the matches. The relationship is kind of different with all of them, I would say. Q. I've heard that Kim carries with her a lucky denim jacket for your matches. Is that true? ANDY MURRAY: I don't think so. No, I don't think that is true, no. Q. If it is to be Coric, he's one of the few players you lost to this year. Will you look at that match again? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I mean, try not to look into it too much. It was a couple weeks there in Rotterdam and then Dubai where I lost a couple matches where I didn't feel I played so well. But, yeah, we learn from those matches, too. I don't want to watch too much of the tape of the match. But, you know, I'll watch some tape of his matches that he's played here to get a better idea of how he plays on this surface because grass is very different to playing on a hard court. See the things that he's doing well on this surface and maybe some of the things he's struggling with. That's how I'll approach that match. Q. Did you get a chance to speak to James afterwards? ANDY MURRAY: I literally just saw him there. Q. Do you think he has the ability to go this far in Grand Slams and further in the future now? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, well, you know, I think that's the challenge for him, is kind of playing at the level that he should be playing at on a more consistent basis. He's had some terrific results obviously in Davis Cup, obviously here has played well in big matches on big courts. But you earn the right to do that throughout the course of the year. Yeah, I mean, my hope is that he sees that he can play at this level all of the time. Maybe with the extra ranking points... He's not finished here, he could still go further, and have better opportunity to play in bigger events more often. But, yeah, he has the ability certainly to compete at this level. He just needs a way to find a way to do it on a weekly basis. Q. What does he have to do against Pospisil? ANDY MURRAY: He'll have to serve well. Pospisil has got a very good serve himself. He hasn't had a great year, Pospisil, but he obviously won the doubles here last year. He can play well on grass. He has a game to play well on grass. But there's some certain patterns of play which I think James has significant advantages in in that match. So if he can get into those patterns of play that work for him, then he certainly has an opportunity to win that match. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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