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U.S. OPEN

September 3, 2015

Andy Murray

New York, NY, USA

A. MURRAY/A. Mannarino

5-7, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-1

An interview with:

ANDY MURRAY

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Why are you wearing adidas shoes?
ANDY MURRAY: Why? Well, as a professional athlete, you obviously have to be very careful when you make changes to your racquets and to your footwear.

I started testing the Under Armour shoes in March. Used the Under Armour shoes at Wimbledon and during the grass court season. Then did some more testing on the hard court shoes in the buildup here. They just weren't quite right.

You know, you can't take risks with those things because if you, you know, have an issue there, get blisters or twist an ankle or whatever, that can cost you. It's different if it's a T-shirt or shorts. The shoes and the racquets are obviously extremely important.

I'll be in the shoes by the end of the year. The shoes are very close to being right, but just weren't quite ready yet.

Q. What do you consider the most important aspects of trying to come back from being down, and what was the key today?
ANDY MURRAY: We need to believe, for a start, which is not always easy. Obviously I had quite a few opportunities, I felt. You know, I think I was one for seven on breakpoints or something. Like in the first set, 6-5, I had Love-40 on his serve there to get back into it. I just wasn't able to break at any of the important moments, unfortunately.

I just had to kind of tell myself that I would get there eventually. Managed to turn it round.

Q. How is the recovery process going after that match? How do you feel?
ANDY MURRAY: I feel okay just now. Normally the next day is when you feel it, when you wake up. Obviously get stiff and sore. But that's why I obviously surround myself with the team that I do to recover as best as possible. Ice bath. I just did some stretching now. I'll have a massage when I get back to the hotel later.

I'm going to come in and try and practice a bit earlier so that I can get back and have a bit more time to maybe have a sleep in the afternoon tomorrow, spend as much time recovering as I can.

Q. There were a couple times late in the match that you were almost using your racquet as a crutch.
ANDY MURRAY: No, I was bending over because I was out of breath. I was bending over because I was tired. Normally after extremely long rallies at the beginning of the fourth set, it was extremely tough conditions, especially in the beginning of that fourth set, some unbelievable points kind of back-to-back with a lot of running.

Yeah, I was tired. I wasn't holding myself up with my racquet. I was sort of bending over. That's I think what a lot of people do when they're out of breath or tired.

Q. Are you clearing your throat there? You sound stuffy. Are you a little bit ill?
ANDY MURRAY: A little bit, yeah.

Q. Anything connected to what you were talking about that affects you on court in terms of breathing?
ANDY MURRAY: No, I mean, the beginning of the matches a little bit. But after the first couple games, feel fine really.

But I think quite a few of the players have had, you know, sort of a head cold a little bit. My brother was quite sick yesterday, as well. I think there's a few of the players have had it.

Q. You spoke before about the importance of belief when you're down. What are your observations of Serena Williams' ability when she's down in so many different situations to have that belief and be able to come back?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I mean, I think the thing is on the women's event, you don't have as much time to turn it around. I think obviously playing best-of-five is more physically demanding, but at the same time you have the opportunity to almost have quite a slow start. If your opponent's playing great for one hour and 45 minutes, on the women's tour, you can be out of the tournament. If you start slowly, an example like today, I had time to get back into it, which helps.

Yeah, Serena was often quite a slow starter. It also helps that she's much better than everyone else. When she starts playing her game, she tends to come back.

Q. Given that you're not 100%, you were two sets down in the match, was there any point you felt you were going out? Is it a relief to still be in the tournament?
ANDY MURRAY: Not relief. I'm proud of the way I fought. It was not an easy match to come through at all. He was making it extremely difficult for me, as well. Thought he played some really, really good tennis. He has such an unorthodox game, I didn't really feel that comfortable at many points out there in the match.

But, yeah, I was happy, very happy with the way I fought through that, you know, finished the match stronger than him.

Q. At the bathroom break in the third set, when you won against Novak, there was that famous bathroom break...
ANDY MURRAY: Not really. When you're playing for that long and the amount of fluid that you're consuming, it's normal that after, you know, a couple of hours you need to go to the bathroom. You know, we don't have the luxury of having the 10-minute breaks, set breaks, when it's extremely hot and humid out there.

I was only off the court for a couple of minutes at the toilet. Thankfully literally it's right there when you walk off. But, yeah, that was it.

Q. Speaking of that, the heat rule, do you think rules like that should be uniform across both men's and women's? That's not the only rule that's different. Time violations, women don't get the exact same set of warning, serve, penalty in the way that you men do.
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I think that's where obviously the WTA Tour and the ATP Tour have different rules and regulations. Unless one day, which I'm sure it may happen, that everybody comes together, then yeah, you know, it kind of is up to each sort of governing body to decide what the rules are.

But I think, yeah, I mean, when it's extremely hot and humid, it helps to have that break. I don't know exactly what it's for. But I guess you get the chance to sort of go off and change, get under a cold shower if you want to.

Q. A question on retirements. There were 11 in the first round. Obviously has its complications in terms of tournament integrity. Fans paying their money. Do you have any thoughts on possible solutions?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I spoke about that the other day. It's a very easy thing to solve. You know, obviously people can get injured in a match. In an individual sport, you can't just substitute someone else in, like, during a match. If someone's injured before they go out there, they're just going to play five games or a few games just to get the first-round check, then that's really bad for anyone that's paid to come and watch.

So the best thing to do, I think if you've worked the whole year to get into these events and earned the right to play, if you show up here and withdraw, give the lucky loser a chance. But the player that pulls out just takes the first-round prize money. If I was the lucky loser, I'd be delighted to have the chance to play for the second-round prize money.

I think the player that's earned the right to be there in the first place, you give them the first-round prize money and you avoid people walking on the court for a few games. It's a waste of time for everyone.

Q. In a match like today, do you worry about the toll it takes on you later in the tournament or do you walk away feeling confident by the way you dominated the last three sets?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, well, that's the thing. In these conditions, obviously it can take its toll later on in the tournament. But unfortunately you don't always have the luxury of winning matches in straight sets. Sometimes you have to fight through. Maybe if you're not playing your best, just find a way to get through.

You know, thankfully the last three sets were fairly comfortable in terms of scoreline; otherwise I could have been out there much longer. Would have been, you know, very tough to recover from.

But, you know, I believe just over three hours that we played, I've played matches much longer than that. But, yeah, it's not easy to recover in these conditions.

Q. As active players, you are the most successful as Roger with coming back. Does it raise your confidence level and give you motivation for the rest of the tournament? Especially the last time when you did it, you won the tournament in Wimbledon against Verdasco.
ANDY MURRAY: Well, I think, like I said, when you're not playing your best, you find a way to come through matches like that. Yeah, it can give you confidence. You feel a little bit like you're fortunate to still be in the event and you're a bit more maybe relaxed going into the next matches.

But, yeah, I mean, I've come through many tough matches in my career, and I think that's why when you are behind like that in the scoreline, when you've done it in the past, you have the belief that you can come through and do it again. That definitely helped me here today.

Q. Bellucci next for you. Talk about what you're expecting from him, what you think you need to do well to beat him.
ANDY MURRAY: I expect a tough match. I would imagine he's pretty close to his career-high ranking just now. He's played well this year.

Good serve. Plays predominantly from the back of the court. But he's an aggressive player. He likes to try and dictate the points from the back. Like I say, he's had some good results this year. Won two matches here very comfortably.

So, yeah, I expect a tough match and one that I'll need to, you know, play very well to win.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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