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MUTUA MADRID OPEN

May 9, 2017

Andy Murray

Madrid, Spain

A. MURRAY/M. Copil

6-4, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You looked pretty comfortable out there today. Can you walk us through how you felt your serving was going, how you felt it went?
ANDY MURRAY: I mean, I found it difficult to start. I haven't practiced out there. Well, we practiced out there for 25 minutes before the match, this morning at like 11:00. That had been it.

It was very lively out there. It was probably the hottest it's been since we've been here. Found it a bit difficult at the beginning to adjust to the conditions. Also never played him before. He serves big, comes forward a bit, uses dropshots. It was tricky.

But when I started to control the points more towards the end of the first set and second set, you know, I was hitting the ball pretty clean, creating a few chances. I didn't give him any opportunities.

It was good for the first match.

Q. Last night Eugenie said she got a lot of support from people in the locker room that were maybe too scared to speak out in the Maria case. I was wondering as someone who has been very strong on doping in the sport generally, if you experienced the same thing in the locker room, maybe they haven't been able to speak out publicly?
ANDY MURRAY: No, no, I haven't spoken to any of the players about that this week. Yeah, not at all.

I mean, it's been a talking point over the last 16, 17 months, getting asked about it most weeks. Obviously especially at the beginning the players were discussing it a lot.

But, you know, not this week.

Q. What pleased you most about today, if you could pick out one thing? Clearly the last couple of months haven't been the easiest for you. Do you feel like it's kind of set you up a bit now for this key part of the season?
ANDY MURRAY: I mean, I still think there's a ways to go. I don't think I'm playing perfectly just now. I think there's just things I can definitely do better.

But, you know, the most positive thing about tonight was that I feel like I can serve a little bit better than I did today.

I had no breakpoints against me. That was something that obviously I'd struggled on serve a bit, especially the last couple of tournaments. So to not give up any breakpoints in the first match was good.

I think the altitude does also help a bit with that. It's a good sign for me that my serve is getting better. Hopefully that continues that way.

When I serve well, the rest of my game tends to follow. It's an important part of the game for me. You know, when I can get a lot of free points on my first serve, put a lot of pressure on my opponent's service games, you know, it really helps my game a lot.

That was the most important thing for me today.

Q. Would you like to say something about Copil's game. He's just broken the top 100. I think he surprised some of us, how well he played. Were you surprised at how much game he brought?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, I'd seen quite a lot of his match from yesterday, and some of his match against Bautista last week. He served for the match against Bautista last week. Bautista is a very, very good player, very solid, not an easy guy to win against. He obviously had chances last week.

But he serves big. When you can get a lot of free points on your serve, like you see with Karlovic and Isner and these guys, if you can find the way to get in return games.

He comes forward a bit. Like I said, he uses the dropshot. He has quite good hands up at the net as well. You can cause guys problems by putting pressure on them that way.

I don't think clay is his favorite surface. I think on the quicker courts he'll be even more dangerous. He's very good. Obviously, like you say, just broken into the top 100 for the first time. The more you're exposed to this level at these tournaments, obviously it helps your game. I'm sure he'll keep getting better.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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