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MUTUA MADRID OPEN

May 7, 2017

Andy Murray

Madrid, Spain

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You won in 2015. How important is this tournament for you after that title? How do you feel playing in Madrid?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I mean, I like it here. I played well, especially the last few years. I think the altitude helps my game a little bit on the clay, makes the conditions a little bit quicker, which I like.

Yeah, I do enjoy it here.

Q. You've made some changes in your team through the years at different moments of the season. What do you make of Novak's decision to separate from his former team all of a sudden like that?
ANDY MURRAY: I mean, obviously for us, it appears like it's all of a sudden. Maybe it's been something that has been discussed for a while. You just don't know.

What I will say, though, it is difficult, you know, traveling. It's great in some ways, but it's also difficult traveling with the same person or same people for 10, 11, 12 years. It's very rare nowadays to see teams or coaching relationships last that long, just because of how intense it is. A lot of traveling, a lot of time away from families. You're spending a lot of hours in the day together.

Yeah, maybe Novak just felt like it was time for a change or he felt like he needed a change. I don't know. I haven't spoken to him about that.

But, you know, rather than seeing it as a negative thing, it's been obviously a very successful relationship he's had with all of those guys. I'm sure they parted on very good terms. See what Novak's next moves are.

10 years is a very long time. I know it's definitely been that long with Marian. Miljan and GG have been around a long time, as well. It's just a long period to be with all of them.

Q. After Barcelona, where do you feel your game is at right now entering this tournament? Did you perhaps get what you wanted out of your last-minute decision to play Barcelona?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, Barcelona went really well for me. Obviously got three matches in three days. It would have been nice, obviously, to have played an extra one or two. It would have been perfect.

But, you know, I had the long match with Ramos on the Friday. It was like three hours. Then to come out and play again the next day, you know, I actually felt pretty good. I played some decent stuff there. Obviously could have been a bit better.

But practice here the last few days has been very good. I'm happy with how I'm playing. I'm starting to move better, feel like I served well the last few days, which is an important part of my game.

Last year I served well. My results improved a lot because of that. Obviously haven't served so well in Barcelona, Monte-Carlo. It's not easy at this level to win matches if you're getting broken a lot. Hopefully I serve a bit better this week.

Q. What do you think about the venue, Caja Magica and the whole city?
ANDY MURRAY: It's a great city, beautiful city. The venue, I think for the fans, is great. You have some really good courts. The practice courts, you know, there's lots of fans watching practice.

I mean, for the players it's great. We have a lot of space in the gym, good food. They put on a really good event for all of the players. Always improving things each year, which is obviously good to see.

I think they do a very good job.

Q. What are your expectations like for the next three tournaments, considering how well you've done there last year, and when you weigh it up with how your year has gone so far?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, expectations are high. I want to do well the next few weeks. In many ways, it's the most important part of the year. There's a lot of big tournaments that come very quickly, one after the other.

Obviously, you know, the grass court season is always an important period of the year for me. But, yeah, I'm motivated. My expectations are high for the next few months. I'm looking forward to it.

Q. I know before you had your back surgery, you used to find clay quite difficult. Since then, do you still regard it as perhaps your most challenging surface?
ANDY MURRAY: I think, like, at the beginning of the clay season, it's always a bit trickier for me than the other surfaces just because the movement isn't as natural on this surface for me as it is on the hard courts and the grass courts. It takes me time. I need to work on that each year when I come back onto it a lot before I feel comfortable doing it.

The last couple of years, once I've got that part of my game right, then I feel like clay does actually suit my game well. You know, the results the last couple of years would suggest that.

But definitely the beginning of each clay court season, it takes sort of a few weeks to adjust to it. But my back has been really good on the clay the last two, three years. It's been no issue this year at all. I'm really happy about that.

Q. On a medical front, all of other bits of your body, is everything in place, everything 100% at the moment?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I feel good. Barcelona was important for me to get, you know, three matches in three days. A couple of long ones, as well. Yeah, I mean, I was a little bit stiff and sore at the end of it.

I'm happy with where I'm at physically just now, and my body feels good. Yeah, you know, I need to try and keep it that way.

Obviously, like I say, with such an important period of the year, so many big events coming right after one another, it's important to be in good nick. I feel like I am just now.

Q. In terms of your season so far, when you look at the couple of early losses that you've had, what kind of perspective do you have of them? Do you look at each one separately as an isolated incident, or do you feel there's a common pattern?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, I mean, to be honest, the one that was disappointing for me was Australia, because it was a slam, a tournament where I'd had really good runs for a number of years in a row. I felt good going into it. That one was disappointing to me.

I think Indian Wells, I've struggled there in the past. I've lost maybe some matches there that I wouldn't have been expected to. I haven't played well there. I mean, that's happened to me. That's not just been this year that that's been the case.

Then, yeah, since then I've obviously had the elbow issue. It was touch-and-go whether I was going to be able to play Monte-Carlo.

I mean, the one disappointment for me this year has been the Australian Open really. That's one that I thought about, spoke a lot to my team about at the time. Yeah, I tried to learn from that one.

But now I've been wanting the last three, four weeks to get myself back in match shape, feeling fit and healthy again. And I do. I'm hoping now my results start to pick up.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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