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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 20, 2017

Andy Murray

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

A. MURRAY/S. Querrey

6-4, 6-2, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Was that as good as you could have expected, wanted?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I thought I did pretty good today. The start of the match was hard. Sam came out serving big. He was really going for his shots. Yeah, the end of that first set was important. He had a breakpoint at 4-3. When I saved that and broke the next game, momentum was with me. Started to serve a bit better, put a lot more returns back in play after that. Played some good stuff.

Q. 4-All in the first, amazing game. Must have had an effect on him.
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I can't really remember. I can't remember exactly what happened in the game. I know there were a few juice points. It was a tight game. He had a couple of game points. Did I finish it with a lob? But he was coming forward a lot, you know, forcing the play quite a bit. Made some good defensive shots in that game.

It was tough to play from that end of the court. The wind was blowing right into your face there. You were having to play a bit further behind the baseline. It was a lot easier from the other side of the court to dictate the points. It was a good game to get.

Q. How is the ankle feeling now?
ANDY MURRAY: It feels really good, yeah. It was sore yesterday and a little bit stiff this morning. But it feels good. After the first few games, where I was maybe slightly hesitant, I moved really well towards the end of the first set, and second and third set. So that was really good.

Q. Do you feel any less pressure now that the defending champion is out or do you not take much notice of that?
ANDY MURRAY: I mean, for me, it doesn't change anything unless I was to potentially reach the final, because I can't play Novak in the fourth round or in the third round. Don't worry about that really.

Obviously, if you're to get to the final, then it has an effect. A lot of the times when I've been in the final here, I've played against him. Had some tough ones.

I wasn't scheduled to play Novak today, so my job's to concentrate on Sam and to go into that match with a clear head and a good game plan and try to play well. I did that.

Q. What was your reaction when you saw the result? Amazement? Surprise?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, obviously surprised. Novak's record here speaks for itself. He's had incredible success here over the years. He obviously loves the conditions.

I don't know, maybe after the first set, it was a pretty long, tough first set, maybe you expect Istomin's level to drop a bit.

But I didn't see any of the match really. I saw like three, four points. I don't know exactly what happened. But, yeah, obviously surprised.

Q. He's been struggling since winning the French. Can you understand as a player at the top struggling after you've been at the top so long, playing so well?
ANDY MURRAY: I mean, struggling by the highest standards. But compared with, like, most players, it's not been that bad really. Obviously I think for him the early loss at Wimbledon and here would be disappointing. He'd want to play his best in the majors.

But he still won the Masters Series in Canada. He was in the final at the US Open. He was in the finals of the Tour Finals. He beat four or five top-10 players in the Tour Finals. He won the tournament in Doha last week.

He has played some really good stuff over the last six or seven months, too. It's just not been, you know, as consistent as what it was the three years before. But how anyone is expected to keep up that level for their whole career, it's just unreasonable to expect that of anyone.

There's been, yeah, a couple of surprising results, for sure. But on the whole, it's not been that bad.

Q. Did you have any say of the scheduling of your match on Hisense? What do you make of playing on that court?
ANDY MURRAY: I got asked if I wanted to play first on on Laver or later in the day on Hisense. It's a bit strange to play the last match, the second night match, then be scheduled to play first the next round. It kind of throws off your body clock a little bit. So I asked to play later in the day.

But it's a great court to play on. Great crowd. The stadium was full before we finished our warmup on there today. Like 10:45 it was pretty much packed. Good, nice atmosphere.

Q. Zverev is having a resurgence recently.
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, he played well end of last year. Obviously has had a good run here. His match against Isner was really tight. I saw a little bit of that one the other day.

But, yeah, he's doing well. He plays a very different game style to most of the guys now. He's serve-volleying, coming forward as much as possible, not with the most powerful game. He doesn't serve, like, 220 kilometers an hour. He serves 185s, 190s, but places it well.

People say you can't play that way any more and be successful, but he's done that the last few months.

He's been unlucky with injuries as well. He's had a number of injuries. I knew him pretty well. Grew up in juniors together. We're the same age. I know him fairly well.

Q. You've always been very professional with your recovery, everything associated with that. Do you do anything specific for sleep, temperature, pillow on tour?
ANDY MURRAY: I always sleep with the air-conditioning on. I know some people hate that. They say it makes them sick, gives them a sore throat. But I always sleep with the air-conditioning on, then get under the covers. I sleep better that way.

But, yeah, sometimes I wear compression leggings if I've had a long match. I mean, ice bath after every match, and on the off days. But I don't do anything different with my sleep. I just normally, during these events, try to sleep as much as possible. I try and have a nap during the day on the off days because that also helps your recovery.

Q. Anything you're particularly happy with the first week that you'll target the second week?
ANDY MURRAY: I think I played a little bit better each match. There's not been one thing I've been delighted with. I thought I moved much better today than I did in the first two matches, which is really positive for me. Each match I think I've improved a little bit. That's a good sign. Hopefully I keep getting better.

Q. Zverev was talking about how much his brother has helped him get better in recent years. You have similarities in the way his mum was also involved in his career. Talk about how family has helped you so much.
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I mean, I think obviously it helps. I think for him, in terms of practice, he's got a great person to train with all of the time. That's going to help you. Yeah, they have both of their parents here coaching them. That's always been the case. It's nice. It's nice to see. You also have Istomin as well coached by his mum, too.

Both of them have been extremely successful. There will always be people who say they should get a different coach or whatever, but why? They both have done great with their parents around.

Again, I've known the family since 12, 13 years old. I used to remember Alex, he was always there on the side of the court. He was tiny back then, but he was always there at the side of the court hitting. Both the parents were there. It's good to see.

Q. On a different topic, a little while ago there was an incredible picture of you with Prince William during a ceremony relating to your knighthood. You had a wonderful expression of satisfaction or joy or appreciation. What was going through your head at that time? Were you just thinking of your life? What were some of your thoughts?
ANDY MURRAY: I mean, I can't remember exactly what I was thinking. I mean, most of the people that were in the queue to go in there were sort of asking each other, What do you say? What are you supposed to say? You don't have long. You have sort of 20, 30 seconds. Yeah, so that's what everyone was kind of asking each other before we went in to do it.

I had met Prince William a few times before, which helped. He likes his tennis. He's been along to watch a few times at Wimbledon. But, yeah, I can't really remember exactly what I was thinking. Just obviously you don't sort of want to mess up in those moments because obviously a lot of people are watching.

But it went all right.

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