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QATAR EXXONMOBIL OPEN

January 6, 2017

Andy Murray

Doha, Qatar

A. MURRAY/T. Berdych

6-3, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You're going to play your second final here tomorrow against Novak. How will you prepare for the final?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, I mean, it's pretty late tonight, so just go back, try and recover, and do my usual practice match routine. Won't do anything different.

Q. Do you think the match of tomorrow has a little bit of extra importance? If Novak were to win he may get some more confidence before Australia; for you, keep the momentum going into Melbourne.
ANDY MURRAY: I don't know exactly. It's almost impossible to say, really. I think from my side this week has been a positive week. I'm happy that I've had five matches and some pretty competitive sets going into Australia.

So I know that when the Aussie Open starts I'm going to be ready. But it's a great test tomorrow. To start the year it's great to play against one of the best in the world.

Obviously ideally win the match, but I mean, I don't know how much bearing a match tomorrow has on what happens in Australia. There is a lot of tennis to be played before we potentially play again there.

Will be some difficult draws in Australia this year because of the way the seedings are; some of the best guys coming back from injury. I'm not putting loads of pressure on tomorrow's match.

Q. You and Novak go all the way back to your junior years and you faced him 25 times on tour. Are there any secrets between you two or you pretty much know what to expect when you go out against him?
ANDY MURRAY: Every match can be different. Different surfaces, certain things might work on grass that doesn't work on clay and things that work on clay that don't work on hard court. You need to be able to change and adapt.

Some days certain shots might not be working so you need to try and find different ways of winning. We know each other's games better than we know anyone else's. Novak has played Roger and Rafa a bunch as well, but definitely I think Novak is the guy I've played the most.

Q. Some were saying they think your movement is actually better than at the end of last year. I suppose that might be natural because you had a break, but is that how you feel on the court?
ANDY MURRAY: I think normally playing outdoors the conditions have been fairly slow this week because of how cold it's been really. I do feel like I've been tracking a lot of balls down.

At the end of last year I was tired, so it would be -- when you're fresh or fresher you should in theory move better. Definitely feel like I'm moving a bit better than the beginning of the week. That's been the most positive thing for me, to be moving this well at the start of the year.

Hopefully I keep that going through into Australia.

Q. Off-tennis question. I don't know if you heard, there was a shooting in the Ft. Lauderdale airport a little while ago. Some people are dead. It's close to your sometimes home. And then the Kvitova incident. Do you worry about your security when you travel, or do you just have to put it out of your mind? Especially you're obviously a recognizable person; how do you deal with that?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I think -- yeah, I mean, it's one of those things that sort of comes into your mind from time to time. Obviously when you hear about what happened with Petra, you know, it's shocking. It's fairly rare, but shocking nonetheless.

You know, yeah, you do think sometimes when you're traveling you just have thoughts that something may be happening sometimes when you're in large groups of people. Yeah, you can get a little bit anxious from time to time.

Yeah, you just try to continue living your life as is. Definitely been a tough few years. A lot of problems all over the world. So, yeah, got to keep your wits about you. That's it.

Q. My question is also not about today's match, but what you are doing with Huffington Post as a guest editor is fascinating talking. Could you talk a little bit about importance of making your opinion about men's suicide in your country?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, well, I mean, it's something that -- I mean, I think a lot of men find it quite difficult to open up about how they're feeling. Sometimes I think definitely in sport from a young age it's something that I don't think you're really encouraged that much because it's sort of seen as a sign of weakness, and athletes, you're supposed to be mentally very strong all of the time.

But we're just like anyone else. We're very sensitive, a lot of us, and I've gone through difficult times myself where I didn't feel like I was able to open up to anyone. You just end up beating yourself up about things. It's not pleasant.

So I think the more comfortable people are to open up and talk about how they're feeling the better.

That's why I did it.

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