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MONTE-CARLO ROLEX MASTERS

April 15, 2016

Andy Murray

Monte Carlo, Monaco

A. MURRAY/M. Raonic

6-2, 6-0

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Talk about the singles. Very well done. Excellent form. You must have been very happy today.
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, it was really good today. That's why matches like yesterday are important. You know, obviously didn't play my best yesterday, or really in the first round either.

But, you know, I fought right the way through. Like I said, I got a chance today to play better, and I did. I played really well today. Served better. Obviously returned very well against a great server.

Yeah, was one of my best matches for a while.

Q. Even before you got on top of him, you were right on the money from absolute ball one. Why was that? Did you just tell yourself you really needed to be dialed in from the start? The concentration seemed to be top class today.
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I think obviously I had things going my way from quite early on in the match which helps you not get frustrated on the court.

But, yeah, against someone with his game style you know that normally he's tough to break and you only get a few chances during the match, and you have to be very patient because you might go a few games where you're barely touching balls because he's serving big and hitting big forehands.

I kind of went into the match with that mentality, that I might only get a few chances, and I really needed to be focused when they did come, and I was. Thankfully they kept coming today. But that's not always the case against him.

Q. Do you think this tournament, because it's the first one of the season on clay, is in a way peculiar? Djokovic loses his match. Yesterday you were in trouble, and today you win easily. Nadal had to save 15 breakpoints yesterday, and today just one break. Do you think this is a strange tournament, it's impossible to predict anything, or what?
ANDY MURRAY: I think that clay is a surface where there can be big changes in momentum that you don't always get on the faster courts. So I think, like, for the past 10 and a half months since there's been any clay court tennis really, the big events, the Masters Series, or the French, that sometimes maybe people forget that.

But the results, I mean, yeah, for sure, Novak losing was an upset. I mean, normally this event has been quite predictable. Rafa's always done extremely well here. Novak's got a really good record here. In general, Roger's always played really good here. Stan normally has done well.

It's normally fairly predictable. But, yeah, there's been a few surprises this week.

Q. How do you see the next match going against Rafa?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, another really good test. Rafa, especially on this court, he plays great on clay obviously, but on this one in particular, his record is incredible. I think he's maybe only lost one or two matches in his life here. So, yeah, it's a great test for me this early on in the clay season.

I'll go into the match with confidence having managed to win against him in Madrid on the clay last year, and having played a really good match today.

I look forward to it.

Q. You talked after your previous round matches about feeling a bit flat and lacking concentration. Did you feel completely different today? If so, do you know why that was?
ANDY MURRAY: I didn't feel flat yesterday in the match. I just didn't play particularly well. I was getting frustrated with that, against a very difficult opponent.

Today was the same. I do feel motivated just now. Obviously the concentration hasn't been great in the last couple of tournaments. Today was the best it's been for a while. Obviously that showed in my performance.

I'll try and maintain that throughout the rest of this event, but also moving forward into a very important summer with a lot of big events.

I need to learn from today's match, just like I learnt from yesterday's one. Hopefully keep doing the right things.

Q. I'm sure you've been asked in years gone by. Stan had a bit of a go today, an amusing comment, about what it's like playing in an open-air restaurant. The only thing that kind of distracted you was when somebody dropped a bottle just when you were about to serve. What is it like out there playing in front of knives and forks?
ANDY MURRAY: I think normally the atmosphere on the court is very good. Sometimes early in the day when the crowd isn't full, people are sort of coming in, people are having lunch up there, then yes, it's just a constant noise. I feel like you get used to that because it's like that for most of the week.

Tennis players obviously complain about noise. Like at Wimbledon if somebody shouts in the middle of a point, because it's so silent there, it does have a huge impact, whereas at the US Open, there's always noise there, so you just get used to it.

Here, I think it's the same. It's like that from the first match. There's just always a noise. I haven't thought about it apart from when I heard the glass smash.

Q. Last time you were in the semifinals here was five years ago. If you think about yourself five years ago, what things have changed that you're most happy about?
ANDY MURRAY: In my tennis?

Q. In your tennis maybe on clay, in your life.
ANDY MURRAY: Well, I think obviously last season I managed to get some wins against some of the best players. I think Milos also plays well on clay. It's maybe not his best surface. He's had some good results on it, too.

That's been the most pleasing thing. Before I didn't have such a good record against the better players on clay. The last few seasons I've started, like someone like Ferrer, I'd never beaten on clay till last year. Rafa neither, had I managed to win against him. That's been the most pleasing thing is that I've kept improving on the surface.

I'm proud of that. After eight, nine years where my results maybe weren't as good, I've still continued to try to learn and get better on it.

Q. Which is your first focus about tomorrow?
ANDY MURRAY: I don't think there's one thing in particular really. I mean, I'll have to play a great match, but also a smart match as well. I need to be intelligent on the court, go in with a very good idea of what I want to do in the points.

So, yeah, that's the most important thing, to have a good game plan and be smart on the court. Against Rafa on this surface, he has the ability to get you to sort of play - I don't know what the word is - but he gets you to go for more than you should because he's so consistent.

He hits a lot of height on the ball, a lot of spin. He can make you go for winners from uncomfortable positions. You have to not allow that to happen. You need to try and stay calm, be patient. I'll try to do that.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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