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BARCLAYS ATP WORLD TOUR FINALS

November 18, 2016

Andy Murray

London, England, United Kingdom

A. MURRAY/S. Wawrinka

6-4, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. It looks easy, but for sure it was not. What was the key for you to win this match? Was it mental, technical?
ANDY MURRAY: I mean, I think kind of I weathered the early storm a little bit. I mean, Stan came out hitting the ball huge. He was hitting a lot of winners, a lot of aces. He had a couple of they weren't huge opportunities on my serve, but 15-30s, 30-Alls.

But once I got through the early part of the match, I started to create chances in most of his service games. I served very well myself. I got a lot of free points with my serve. That allowed me to also dictate a lot of the points, whereas at the beginning of the match I wasn't able to do that. Stan was, like I said, hitting the ball big, serving well, dictating most of the rallies.

Q. Did you get a chance to congratulate Jamie on his achievement of getting to No. 1? A little word about the achievement, him and Bruno together, ending the year as No. 1.
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, they had an amazing year. Only started playing with each other in January. Won the two slams, you know, which is fantastic. Jamie had not won a slam before this year, a men's doubles slam. Bruno neither.

They obviously complement each other's games very well. They've played I think really good in most of the big competitions. They deserve it. They've obviously played extremely well this week. They knew pretty much what they were going to have to do. Yeah, won all three of their matches here.

It's a great achievement for both of them. Very proud of Jamie.

Q. You're obviously right in the thick of it now. Do you ever get the chance to reflect that this is potentially a very big weekend for your family? Will you have sort of various family members here over the weekend?
ANDY MURRAY: I think my mum is here. My grandparents came earlier in the week. They went home on Thursday. My dad was here for the first few days, and he went home on Tuesday morning. He saw me and Jamie play one match each.

But, no, I mean, obviously the whole year has been fantastic for both of us. Obviously, yeah, we would like to finish it perfectly if we can. Still there's a good chance that doesn't happen. Yeah, regardless of what happens over the weekend, we can look back on this year and be very proud of what we've done as a family.

Q. Obviously you're No. 1 at the moment. Jamie is part of the year-end No. 1 team. The profile of tennis in Scotland has never really been higher. Since you've been on tour, I think you can count on one hand the number of indoor courts that have been built. There is a feeling the relative authorities haven't been doing enough. Would you be disappointed if come the end of your career you thought nothing much changed up there?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, obviously I would be disappointed if nothing changed. Yeah, I'm interested in it, for sure. There's not loads I can do about it just now whilst I'm playing.

But obviously my mum's heavily involved in tennis not just in Scotland, but in the whole of the UK. She's pretty aware of everything that's going on.

Yeah, I mean, I spoke a bit about it earlier in the week. I just hope that when I finish, it's better than it was when I started. Whether that's the case now or not, I don't really know.

Q. I want to get your take on your opponent on Saturday, Milos Raonic. You played five times this year, a couple close matches this year. Talk about what you're expecting for him. A lot is on the line for both of you tomorrow.
ANDY MURRAY: It's a big match, obviously. Milos, you know, he obviously serves big, goes for his shots. He moves forward when he has the chance. I think he probably likes the conditions here. It's a little bit quicker.

Yeah, you don't normally get loads of opportunities against the big servers. Then it comes down to when you do get those chances, whether you take them or not. And this year when I've played him, I've created a few opportunities in the matches. When they've come, I've been pretty clinical. I'll need to be the same tomorrow if I want to win.

Q. Back to the family, coming from a small town like Dunblane, both of you No. 1. Do you have any recollections of when you were kids battling it out on the court, maybe thinking you were battling for Grand Slam titles or No. 1 rankings, things like that?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, we obviously used to play against each other all of the time pretty much until we were like 12 to 14. That was kind of when we went our separate paths really. Jamie went down to Cambridge for, like, nine months or so. Obviously he went off to Paris, and I went off to Spain when I was 15.

Actually, like, kind of between 12 and then 17 and 18 we didn't spend loads of time together. But before then, we were on the court together. Pretty much every time we went to practice or play tennis, it was together.

But we didn't play loads of tennis. We played probably four hours a week up to that point. It wasn't like loads. But we did play golf together. We played squash together, table tennis. We were always competing against each other, yeah, from a young age.

Now we obviously don't. I think we're probably each other's biggest fans. Yeah, it's really special to get to watch what he's achieved, you know, in the biggest competitions in the sport. Yeah, neither of us ever would have expected this when we were growing up. Need to try and enjoy it.

Q. There's a suggestion that maybe the tournament could stay here past 2018, or even long-term. Would you be a fan of that, support it?
ANDY MURRAY: I haven't given that any thought really at all. They do get great crowds here. On a personal level, obviously I'm close to home and close to my family, so that's nice at the end of the year.

But I'm more interested in doing what's best for tennis. I haven't really spoken to anyone about that. If we changed and went somewhere else, where that would be. It would obviously have to be an upgrade from here.

But, yeah, I don't know. Haven't thought much about it.

Q. What is the significance of missing Novak in the semifinals? Also, what are your memories of Raonic from Wimbledon?
ANDY MURRAY: The beginning was?

Q. With Novak, the significance of missing him in the semis.
ANDY MURRAY: I don't think it's significant really. I don't think it is. I mean, there's a good chance that if I want to win the tournament, I would have to win against him. That would either be in the semis or the final. I don't think that makes a whole lot of difference.

But got a big match obviously against Milos now, a tough one. They played a really close match I think the other day. There were opportunities on both sides. I'm certainly not taking anything for granted. I know it will be hard. I know I'll need to play well to win.

But, yeah, I feel like my game's in a good place. Played much better today than I did a couple days ago. Physically I feel good. So looking forward to the weekend.

Q. Specifically on the Park of Keir development, how important would that be, which is coming up soon, the results will be made known soon? How important would that be for your mum, yourself, Jamie to drop in there in future years?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I mean, I think for my mum, obviously it's something she's been working on for a very, very long time. I hope for her that it goes ahead. When I speak to her about it, she so, so wants it to happen.

It's not like, you know, she's going to keep going after this. If it doesn't happen now, this will probably be the last chance. She's put so much time and effort into it. I know she's doing it only for the right reasons.

Yeah, I hope for her that it happens. If not, it would be a shame. But, yeah, I think the decision is in the next few weeks really. We'll find out soon.

Q. You have spoken a lot about the importance and benefits of recovery this week. Given the fact that Milos basically had a day more than you to recover, what bearing could that have on tomorrow?
ANDY MURRAY: I mean, I hope nothing. I mean, thankfully today's match was quick. In the match with Kei, I played 3 hours and 20 minutes. Definitely would have had an impact on the next day's match. Luckily I had a day's break after the match with Kei, then a quick one, fairly quick one, today.

I don't think it should have too much of an impact.

Q. Back to what you were saying when you used to play Jamie when you were kids. When you played golf, squash, table test, who used to win those matches? Who was the more competitive of the two of you?
ANDY MURRAY: I mean, when we were really young, Jamie would have won most things we did. He was 15 months older, so he was bigger and stronger and better than me at most things. He was smarter than me.

Then as we started to get older and physically were on more of a level playing field, we were pretty close really at most things. Jamie is a really good golfer. He was better at that. Football, probably me. Then like squash and table tennis, more of the racquet sports, was pretty close between the two of us really.

Well, that's my recollection of it. He might say something a bit different (smiling). That's what I remember.

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