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AEGON CHAMPIONSHIP

June 14, 2016

Andy Murray

London, England

A. MURRAY/N. Mahut

7-6, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. What are your thoughts on that, Andy?
ANDY MURRAY: It was a good win. You know, Nicolas is a very good grass court player, coming off winning an event just yesterday. So he's confident and has played a lot on the grass.

You know, I haven't really hit many balls on the grass the last few days, and the balls that I have hit there's been very little, limited movement not being able to play any points really at all.

So to get a win against a player as good as him on grass, not loads of preparation, is a good win.

Q. How much time in total do you think you have spent on the grass this year before today?
ANDY MURRAY: Probably -- pretty much an hour and a half on Saturday, Sunday; 40 minutes yesterday. So probably about like four-and-a-half hours. But only played points one of the days for about 20 minutes, so not much. It's obviously a significant change in comparison to the, you know, the clay in Paris where it was extremely wet, slow, and heavy. And then here, although it's been wet, you know, the court is pretty quick. You know, on the slice, off the slice the ball is shooting through. And on the returns, as well, it's pretty fast.

Q. How relieved were you just to get off without hurting yourself at the end of the day?
ANDY MURRAY: I don't know if it's a concern about hurting yourself. It's just -- normally at the beginning of the event here, the courts are pretty slippy and you just feel uncomfortable moving. A lot of guys sort of fall over. But I don't know over the years how many sort of injuries there has been here, but, you know, I do think, as well, just because I have not had much time on the grass, as well, you feel even more sort of unsure on your footing. You know, when you're aware the court is a little bit slippy there is a completely different way of moving to on the clay and, you know, you have to change and adjust that, as well.

You know, I'm happy I didn't sort of slip or fall over. I kept my balance fairly well, but it was still tricky to move. I think all of the players have found that, and, you know, it's not easy.

Q. Did it feel any different with Ivan back there? Was it all just like before?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah. I mean, it's great to have him back as part of the team, obviously. You know, good to chat. I didn't -- like when we were chatting sort of before the match, it didn't feel strange.

Yeah, it felt, you know, like it did before. I think it's a positive thing. You know, obviously I don't play tomorrow, so good to get a good sort of proper practice session in tomorrow. You know, hopefully get a few hours on the court and work on a few things.

Yeah, it was good.

Q. What was practice like? Felt a bit more difficult?
ANDY MURRAY: Today? No, it was just a prematch warmup, really. I mean, I warmed up slightly longer than I normally would just because I hadn't been on the grass at all. I warmed up for like an hour. Normally I warm up for like 40 minutes or so, so it was slightly longer.

But, you know, tomorrow will be a proper practice session. Today was more a warmup, warmup for the match, which I have my own sort of routine I like to go through. So didn't change much.

Q. Did you see him last night when he arrived, or was the first meeting this morning?
ANDY MURRAY: No, just today. Yeah, just today when we got here.

Q. Is there a settling-in period at all, or do you think you can hit the ground running because you know each other so well?
ANDY MURRAY: I don't know what "hitting the ground running" is. I mean, I don't know. I have been playing very well this year.

I expect Ivan to have a positive impact on me and my whole team. Whether that happens in three days or a few months, I have no idea. But I trust and believe in what he says, and that can obviously help, you know, immediately. But, you know, ultimately it's up to me to perform on the court.

That's why I put a lot of time and effort into sort of preparation for the major events and will practice hard next week with Jamie and Ivan, and hopefully that puts me in a good position for Wimbledon.

But it's not like, you know, I'm coming in having been garbage the last few months. I have been playing well. So, you know, I expect to keep that going.

Q. Did he say whether he had watched much of your matches at Roland Garros?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah. I mean, Ivan always watches, you know, the major events, especially the latter stages. That was the case before I worked with him the last time, and I think always he's done that, because, you know, he likes tennis.

Obviously the majors are -- you know, I don't watch loads of golf throughout the year, but when the majors are on, if you're a fan of the sport, you know, you'll watch the biggest competition.

So, yeah, he's watched a bit of tennis the last little while and also -- you know, he was in Miami, as well, a few months ago too for the tournament there. It's not like he's sort of just switched off totally from the tour.

Q. Can we change track a little bit? Since the Sharapova verdict, we haven't really spoken to you about it. You were quite strong on your thoughts about it beforehand. I just wondered what your take on it was now.
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I mean, my thoughts haven't changed really from March. You know, I obviously spoke quite a lot about it then.

I do feel like if you're cheating and, you know, or caught and gaining advantage on your opponents, then, you know, you obviously have to be punished for that. You know, it's not what's fair or not in terms of time. That's up for, you know, for the governing bodies, you know, the courts and stuff and the lawyers to decide upon that.

But, yeah, my view hasn't changed since March at all.

Q. Do you think more could be done to make clear what substances are and aren't on the list and when new substances are put on the list? Do you think that could be clearer?
ANDY MURRAY: I don't know. To be honest, I don't really see that as being a valid excuse. If you're taking, you know, any medication, you know, it's your responsibility as the athlete to check and make sure that what you're taking is legal. Obviously there can be the odd case where, you know, if you were given something by a doctor, he tells you, oh, this is, I don't know, this is a vitamin and it's not, you know, it's something completely different, then that's different.

But, you know, if you're taking medication, you know, there is absolutely no reason why you shouldn't know whether it's on the banned list or not.

Q. One of the things I think that surprised everybody about the Sharapova case was the fact that it was her agent, Max, who was given responsibility to check whether anything she was taking was on the banned list or not. Can you tell us who you would consult? I don't imagine Matt Gentry would know...
ANDY MURRAY: No, Dr. Turner who works at the LTA -- you know, I only take an anti-inflammatory now and then if I'm having problems with my back or my hips. But, yeah, he would be the guy that I would speak to about that for sure.

Q. Sharapova's case will be done by July 18. If the ban were quashed, she could compete at the Olympics. Do you think that would be appropriate?
ANDY MURRAY: It's not up to me to decide what's appropriate or not. You know, that's up to whoever the governing body, and I guess it's CAS are, you know, looking into it now and they will come to a decision. It's not up to me to decide what's fair or not.

But my position and my views on it haven't changed since March one bit.

Q. If you play Aljaz next round, first match with him and also the first time playing a British player for about a decade or so.
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, which is amazing really. You know, I think maybe Tim is the only one that I ever played. I never played Greg, you know, in a competitive match. Yeah, I played Tim a few times.

But, yeah, it's been a long wait really. There has been a couple of times where I have been close at this event and obviously -- and at Wimbledon with Wardy a couple of times.

But, yeah. I don't know what to say about that. But, yeah, it's been a long time.

Q. Your next three events on the calendar are all ones you won under Lendl. Is that a happy coincidence? Do you think you can repeat past successes?
ANDY MURRAY: I hope I can repeat them. That's why I'm still playing. I think if I don't feel like I'm able to compete and win the major events, then that's probably a time when I, you know, would think about stopping.

So, you know, I think I can still do it. I have won this tournament a few times, and, you know, Wimbledon, had good runs there in the past.

And, yeah, I think I'm in a good position to -- you know, this week's going to be tough, for sure, because of, you know, lack of preparation. But I think, you know, heading into Wimbledon I've played lots of tennis, you know, won a lot of matches, played a lot against the top players, as well. So I know the things that I need to work on, too. Yeah, I'm positive for the next few months.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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