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WIMBLEDONJuly 6, 2015Andy MurrayLONDON, ENGLAND A. MURRAY/I. Karlovic THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. You always seem like a tactical, thoughtful player. On match point, maybe a couple other times, big second serve, deuce court, he's guessing you're going down the middle, you fool him going wide. Is that an effective tactic? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, for him on this surface, he likes to take chances on the second serve return. It's sometimes maybe the shortest ball or the best ball for him to hit in the rally. For some guys, when you hit a good kick serve, it's up here. It's not that easy to do much with. For him it's right there. He does look to run around and hit forehands. He hits them well. I mean, he's a big guy. When he connects with the ball, it's a big shot. So I just tried to use some variety there throughout the match to not allow him to be too comfortable. It worked at a few important moments. Q. You must be delighted with the accuracy of your serving. ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I took a little bit off the first serve. I wasn't serving as hard as usual, you know, to try and, again, not allow him the opportunity to sort of go for huge returns or try to come to net off the second serve return. So I went for a high percentage of first serves. When I was in the rallies, I felt comfortable. But, yeah, against him, it's a tactical match, but it's tough. It's quite stressful to play against him. Q. You certainly know a fair bit about your next opponent. Three times you played him in the last 10 months. ANDY MURRAY: Yeah. Q. Going to be different now, you would imagine? ANDY MURRAY: Different surface. I played him three times on the hard courts. I think a couple of them were indoors, as well. So, yeah, I mean, I've never played him on grass. He's had a good run here. Obviously won the doubles here last year. Can play well on the surface. He's also played a lot of tennis here, which, you know, is a positive for him in some ways. But also maybe he's a little bit fatigued. So if that is the case, and I won't bank on that being the case, but if that is the case, I'll try to use that to my advantage. Although my match was quite long today, the rallies aren't particularly long, and it's not as physical. So I feel pretty fresh. Q. Take your brother out for dinner tomorrow, see if he'll give you a couple of tips. Doing well at the moment. ANDY MURRAY: No, I won't be taking him out to dinner tomorrow. No, I don't normally, because doubles and singles are two very different things. I've played him enough in the last few months, you know, to have an understanding of his game. Yeah, I'll watch some videos of him playing singles over the next couple days. I hope Jamie wins obviously, but it's gone on a while. Q. Back on Karlovic. I think you lobbed him five times. Is that something spontaneous? ANDY MURRAY: I think more than five (smiling). Q. Was that something you thought was a proper game plan and you kept going to it? ANDY MURRAY: Well, there's many reasons why it can be a good play against a lot of guys that come to net. If you lob them a few times early in the match, then they can't sort of cheat, you know, closer to the net when they come forward. If you see the shot, the volley he missed, at 6‑All in the tiebreak in the first set, or maybe it was 7‑All, I can't remember, but he actually backed away from the net when I went to hit the passing shot. It opens up more angles for you to use when you're passing. So, yeah, it's not like I would just use it against him. It's good against guys that come to the net because it stops them from getting too close. Q. You spoke immediately after the game on TV about what satisfied you the most in your game. Was there anything that sort of troubled you a little bit that you think you need to work on? ANDY MURRAY: It's very difficult to judge that against Ivo, which is a completely different match to anyone you play against on the tour. Maybe him and Karlovic [sic] or one or two others are similar. I mean, it's difficult to judge. Really I felt like I passed well. I felt like, you know, I was fairly well‑focused throughout the match and concentrated. But it's very difficult to judge your overall game against him because it is, you know, three‑, four‑shot rallies. Not loads of long points. Q. You come away pretty content overall? ANDY MURRAY: Uhm, yeah. I mean, I was expecting nothing different to what I got today. I expected it to be a very difficult match. I expected a lot of the sets to come down to one or two points, and that was the case. I'm happy that I got that match under my belt, managed to win it, because it could easily have gone the other way. Often he comes out on top in matches like that. Q. Nick was in the room right before you. He was upset about some things the media say about him. He said he felt misunderstood. You're someone who spent a lot of time with the media growing up. What can you tell him or what kind of advice can you give him, because he seems to have trouble dealing with it. ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I mean, the most important thing is to try to be yourself. I think, you know, I don't think people always appreciate how difficult it is to grow up under the spotlight, how difficult it is to have loads of people expecting you to be perfect from a young age. I mean, you know, I like Nick. I've spoken to him away from the court. He's quite different to how he is on it. Sorry, my brother just won (clinching fists). It's not easy. He'll find his way, for sure. But I think, you know, he'll hopefully have good people around him that can help him, people that have, you know, experienced being on the tour. Guys like Lleyton Hewitt and Pat Rafter and these guys will be able to help with that. It's important to listen to them, I would say. But, yeah, just try to be yourself and not listen too much to what the media say sometimes because I can imagine for him right now it's very difficult. Every day there's something different getting said. It's like, you know, some people like the way he behaves, some people don't. When you're 19 years old, you don't know exactly who you are at that age. You just need a bit of time to develop. But he'll be fine, I'm sure. Yeah, that's it. Q. Do you think he's misunderstood? ANDY MURRAY: I mean, I don't know exactly what is misunderstood about him. I don't know what everyone says about him. I know he obviously likes to entertain on the court. You know, I enjoy watching him for that. But I'm sure, like, in the next few years, he'll start to maybe calm down a bit on the court and learn to use his emotions more positively more often. Because when he uses his energy the right way, I mean, he plays some unbelievable tennis. But then today, I saw a bit of his match, there were times when he was very down on himself and almost gave away a set just from being upset and being down with himself. Obviously at this level, you can't afford to do that. Q. I know you were focused on the court here today. What was your reaction to the injury and the way it happened to your friend Rory McIlroy today? ANDY MURRAY: I saw it after my practice. Yeah, I mean, it was surprising obviously. I mean, I saw that he was in like a walking boot. And, yeah, I mean, it's one of those things maybe he'll regret playing football with his friends just now. Also you want to have fun, as well, whilst you're playing your sport. Obviously we're at an age where it's fun to be able to go out and do those things. It's probably just an unfortunate accident. I sometimes play football. I always play with ankle braces and stuff in case, you know, something happens. But, yeah, it's really, really unfortunate. Hopefully he's okay. Q. You've had a slightly mixed relationship over the years with Hawkeye. I'm wondering where that call‑‑ ANDY MURRAY: What do you mean I've had a mixed relationship? Q. They don't always get it right. ANDY MURRAY: I like Hawkeye. I think it's great. Q. Have you ever been so pleased with the outcome of a real hairline call as that crucial one in the fourth set today? ANDY MURRAY: I mean, I can't remember. I mean, I've been playing under Hawkeye for like 10 years now. I can't obviously remember all of the ones that have gone for me and against me. But that was obviously a very important one today. You know, I mean, the thing that's good on the grass in some ways is that when it hits the line, it basically stops and the ball checks. When he'd hit that volley, I knew that didn't happen. It kind of shot through. I thought, you know, as soon as I hit it, I mean, I saw he was standing right at the net. I did challenge immediately after I hit the ball. Yeah, it was obviously a big one to get right, and won me the match. Q. How is the shoulder? Two or three days. Did it clear up at all? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, it feels better. I think, you know, I would have liked to have served a little bit bigger today, a little bit harder.  That's something that as I go on in the tournament, I'll need to try to do more of. Still conscious of it. Playing with quite a lot of taping on the shoulder. But, I mean, obviously I played for three hours today and it feels better than it did three, four days ago, which is positive. Q. There's been some talk about Leon Smith coming to Scotland. ANDY MURRAY: What do you mean 'coming to Scotland'? Q. Doing more coaching in Scotland. What would be your view going forward? Would that be a good outcome, first of all? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I mean, I think obviously Leon, in most of the jobs he's done over the years, he's been successful at. He's obviously passionate about tennis in this country. He's done a great job as the Davis Cup captain. I think, you know, when he was based in London, or spending a lot of time in London, he was somewhat wasted a little bit in the offices and stuff. I think he's best, with what his skill set is, being on the court. He's very fun to be on the court with. He's obviously even gained more experience over the last few years during Davis Cup, will have learnt even more than, you know, he did when I worked with him from 12 through to 16, or 11 till 16. That was probably a great time for both of us. But, yeah, I think his time would be best spent on the tennis court with younger prospects, for sure. Q. Four Scots. Your brother has just won. Maia Lumsden, the third seed. Anna Brogan, in the top seeds. A wave of Scottish kids coming through after you. ANDY MURRAY: I hope there is. Obviously the results today were fantastic. I know Anna Brogan a little bit. Most of what I hear of them is through what my mum tells me. Yeah, both of the girls have got fantastic attitudes. Ali Collins, as well, works hard. That's what you want. I just want to see players reach their potential, whatever that is. You know, tournaments like this make a big difference. When someone like Anna Brogan sees she's beating the No.1 in the world, it gives you a lift, gives you some confidence. So, yeah. Q. You mentioned about Nick finding the right balance between emotions on the court and off it. The situation now, the way you control yourself, is that purely evolution, or is it something that maybe Amélie has brought to you? ANDY MURRAY: No, I think a lot of it comes, yeah, from within and also, yeah, experience, kind of learning kind of what works and what doesn't. I'm certainly not perfect in that respect. I could be better. I mean, Australian Open this year was a good example of that, where I could do better in that aspect sometimes. But, yeah, I just have a better perspective on life kind of as a whole now than what I did when I was 21, 22 years old. That helps. Q. You said pretournament you thought you were playing better than you were in 2013. How do you compare to how you feel your game is than any previous Wimbledons at this stage? ANDY MURRAY: I mean, it's so difficult to answer that question. I think I'm playing well. You know, I'm through into the quarterfinals against Pospisil, which is a good opportunity for me. Yeah, I prepared very well for the event. The way I played in the last couple matches at Queen's was very positive for me. Some of the tennis I played this week at times has been very good. I don't know how to answer those questions about whether it's the best I felt at the quarterfinal stage or not. It's really impossible to answer that. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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