|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
WESTERN & SOUTHERN OPENAugust 14, 2018Kamau MurrayCincinnati, Ohio THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Obviously it was a great week for Sloane in Montreal. After the initial disappointment of the loss, how do you think her mindset is going into the rest of the summer? KAMAU MURRAY: That's an interesting question. I think she is fine. You know, Sloane is never one that overreacts to a loss, so I think that the reaction you saw was pretty positive from a coaching standpoint, because it showed probably more disappointment than usual. But, I mean, in the car, she was, like, I'm not quite sure what I did wrong. So I think she knows she's a lot closer and that she's probably one or two sort of inches away from turning that match around, which we all watched the match and we all know that it could have gone the other way very easily. I think she's encouraged by it. I think she's happy with where she is. She's building momentum. And I think that, you know, we're on the right track. She's communicating. Beyond the tears you saw on TV, after that, it was over. Back to normal Sloane. Q. Were you surprised that she was so vulnerable in that moment? We don't see that a lot from her. KAMAU MURRAY: No. I think when the player -- there were times in that match where we all have, in the past, seen her just, Yeah, you know, it's a good effort, right? And I think that the fact that she didn't, so, like, 5-2 in the third, she could have been saying, Looks good, wasn't my day, the first time she made that wide serve all day, and she made it at 5-2, Love-Love, so I think she was really disappointed because there were times where she could have backed off and could have just thrown in the towel and she didn't and still came up short. So I think that was an appropriate response. You know, I wanted it for her. As someone that's watched her play every single, single match for three years, I think that was one where I could see, like, no, she kind of wants this. Even I start thinking, okay, how can I help her get it? So now I want it for you, because this one I clearly see you want, right? There are some others where it was, like, Eh, but this one she definitely wanted. I didn't want to cry because I'm a grown man, I don't cry (smiling), but I wanted to cry for her, because I do not think -- from an effort level, from an intensity level, and from a concentration level, you know, it was probably top. Q. You say obviously you see how much she wants it. After last year's big breakthrough in the US Open, did it take you by surprise at all how well she's done this year? KAMAU MURRAY: So I think everyone is looking at her career post-US Open, right? But I think, you know, if you look at her since, let's say, January of '16, she won Auckland, won Acapulco, won Charleston, third round of Wimbledon where she should have beat Kuznetsova to play Serena, got injured, had to take a break, so from my standpoint, I don't look at it from, okay, last year she had a good run in Toronto, Cincy, New York. I look at it as when we were working, we were on the court consistently, she was performing pretty consistently. But then when you don't play for 11 months, I think you all forget about her and she comes back and, Oh, she's back. To me, it's just reducing the amount of interruptions we had in our training and her schedule, but I don't look at it, as, you know, she's doing well since US Open. That doesn't happen. Like in tennis there are no one-hit wonders, start asking a lot of questions. I look at it as sort of a buildup, and I think that for the past three years she's been building and improving and listening, and, you know, being more mature and being more organized and being more honest. So, you know, was the US Open a surprise? It wasn't a shock. I think we all knew she was capable of it, and I think that could have happened sooner had she been playing consistently with no injuries, absolutely. Other injuries along the way that she probably didn't vocalize to you because they weren't as major as a broken foot. I don't look at it as post-US Open, I can't think of it that way, because when I first started with her she won the first tournament. In my mind, I'm thinking January 2016 her career restarts. You all are thinking September 2017 her career restarts. Q. Historically Sloane has been a little bit blasé sometimes with some of the losses, like you said. Throughout -- KAMAU MURRAY: You said "blasé" ; I didn't. My dad is a lawyer, so everything you say I hear (smiling). My dad is a judge now, so he was a lawyer for 30 years, so every word I hear (smiling). Q. She might say it's okay that she lost the match. Is that something that over the time you have worked with her that's been of concern to you? Like is that something that you wanted her over that time to show more sadness or emotion at losing, or do you just take it as part of her personality and who she is and why she can have success? KAMAU MURRAY: I think your reaction to a loss really should depend on what happened prior to the loss. So sometimes when there is not a lot of drama or overreaction to a loss, it's because we know there were some things we could have did differently prior to. So one of the reasons why Sloane has been so stable is because she is very honest and realistic. If we weren't ready to play, for whatever reason, if we lose, we're not going to cry. We're not going to fire our coach. We're not going to do all of these things, because, you know, losses don't just happen, right? So I think that the blasé, as you said, sort of energy could be just because, you know, this tournament, based on what happened prior to it, I expected to get two rounds and that was a great buildup for me. I think she's very realistic about where she is and what needs to happen in order for her to hold the big trophy. I don't know that it's a negative thing. I also know that in tennis you could still do everything right and still lose a match. So I think that knowing that helps you deal with a loss, right? And I think at the end of the day, I mean, look, these kids get to travel world and stay in nice hotels, you know, make a lot of money, and I know we would love for them to want to kill themselves for every match, but I think given where they are and where they come from, I think they do pretty good. I think that perspective on it makes it healthy, you know what I mean? I think it's a little bit unhealthy for every single loss to be the end of the world, which is why you see a whole lot of coach changing and trainer changing and all ta-ta-ta-ta-ta, racquet changing, all that kind of stuff. I think that's the overreaction we are used to seeing in the sport versus the honest assessment of how it happened and why it happened. I think Sloane is, as you all know, either she's all the way off, shut down, or she will be very honest. I think our relationship is very honest, right? If I told you to do something wrong -- there has been two matches in three years, I say, You know what? My bad. I got that one wrong. But I think that the honesty is why you see, you know, a very relaxed reaction in some losses. Q. It's interesting, the parallels, because these two matches, her and Simona, and maybe a little bit their personalities, careers, even their game styles on some level, that Halep used to have that, as well, where she'd shut down in matches. She just gave up. In her head, she knew it, whatever. But then she started to put herself out there and risk it and risk the hurt. How hard is it to kind of coax that out of somebody like Sloane in terms of you've got to risk it for the big thing? Like, you can't always be in the show, can't always be safe emotionally? KAMAU MURRAY: Well, you know, I said, like, two years ago, I was, like, every woman needs a soft place to land, right? And I think that Sloane has a soft place now. Whether it's me or whoever it is, she knows that I get what it's like to be on the court by yourself, right? I'm with you prior to, I'm with you on the airplane, I'm with you when I don't want to be with you. I think that because I don't have overreaction to every single win or loss, I think she's more comfortable being, like you said, vulnerable, because she can -- she's not worried about -- when I was a kid, playing tennis, you worry about the long car ride home after you lose. Kids don't forget that. These pros, once we are 14, having the long car ride home with their parents, so I think because she doesn't have that, it's almost dead silence until she says the first word. Then I'll say something. I think that's allowed her to be more vulnerable, because she's not so worried about, I wonder what he's going to say, or I wonder what mom is going to say. I think we all sort of get how difficult it is to be on that stage. Even as a coach, you walk out and say, Oh, Lord, let me say the right thing. And so it has been a process getting her to, you know, kind of go all in and risk being disappointed if you don't get the result. But at the end of the day, I mean, there is a lot of things that I think contribute to her attitude. I think that, you know, she spends a lot of time with kids now, both LA, in Chicago, who sort of look up to her who don't have as much. So it's okay to be vulnerable. No matter how vulnerable you are, you are nowhere near as vulnerable as that person over there. I think that realistic attitude helps her be, okay -- it sucks. Losing sucks. I was telling her, after the French Open, we kind of, like, rehearsed, and she said, Losing sucks. Losing sucks, right? But I think it's okay as long as you learn from it and move on and get better, keep working. Q. Sloane can sometimes seem to read every single word written about her and have thin skin about things. I'm curious, for you, as a coach, how easy she is to take criticism or -- I know you can be -- KAMAU MURRAY: I think she has very thick skin. I think she does read every word that's written about her, but I think the majority of the time it's a lot of laughter. It's a lot of laughter at some of the comments. I don't really think they affect her. I think being around me for three years, not a lot is going to affect you, because my mouth can be way worse than hers. She hates it when I say -- I say, I'm from the south side of Chicago. If you can tolerate that mouth, that expectation, and that energy, then I think the words from people she doesn't know, they don't bother her as much. I think she can be annoyed, but I don't think it gets under her skin, right? Annoyed is different than upset. Obviously words matter. You know, as a coach of a woman, we always are very careful with the words, right? And so, you know, it's okay to be annoyed but you don't need to be upset. Q. On-court coaching, do you like the idea? Is it working for you guys? KAMAU MURRAY: I don't know. In other sports they use every available tool, whether it's instant replay, coach is upstairs in the box watching video, telling the coach to challenge or not challenge, defensive coordinator, defensive running back coach. You have all these sort of different people who help the athletes be the best they can be. And we are playing for money, right? So I don't think it's a bad idea to use every available tool. I think that, you know, if we are preparing for the Grand Slams and you're trying to teach a 25-year-old how to work themselves through some situations in a Grand Slam, I think it's great you do it in tournaments like this leading up to it, because you're also a teacher. I teach a lot of kids how to play tennis. Coaching is different than teaching. I think teaching, a lot happens in the moment, right? It's a lot of right and wrong. Coaching is more strategic about when to say something and how often you say something. I love the fact that in the moment I can come out here and say -- in the moment under stress. In the moment in a lesson is not the same thing. In the moment and under stress I think creates a great teaching environment, whether it has an impact on the match or not, right? I was walking up here and a fan said, I heard you last week, Get out of Montreal. I don't want to see your feet in Montreal. So teaching in the moment under stress helps it become more permanent. So do I wish I could have said another magic word for her to win the match last week? For sure. Do I think that teaching in that moment under stress or hope that it will help her in two weeks? Absolutely. I like it. It doesn't bother me. I hate being on TV, but it's okay. You know, you hate to insert yourself into a match and be blamed if it doesn't go your way, right? But it's okay. Q. For a lot of us on the outside, when Sloane takes the court at any given tournament, we don't which Sloane is going to be there. Are there triggers for you, like when you know it's going to be a good week? Whether it's mood, practice is going good or whatever? KAMAU MURRAY: Yeah, I normally write a note to myself or I send a text to her mother. Like in Miami, We are going to win Miami. You can always tell if everything off court is in line, right, and your ball striking is there, and the hotel room is nice and it's got the right view and the sun is shining from the right direction, all those things help to predict for a good week. So I think you can tell it's going to be a good week in terms of, you know, performance. Then I think the morning of you can say it's going to be a good day. I think I can always tell -- and then the challenge is redirecting the energy. No one knows this, but before the semifinal, we got caught in a protest and a parade. Q. Up in Montreal? KAMAU MURRAY: Up in Montreal. And got to the stadium an hour and a half before the match and missed our warmup time and had to sort of regroup. I think that's where the coaching starts in the car on, We've faced adversity before. Remember that time we were in Australia and you got bed bugs? You sort of start to reset the energy. I think that is where the skill comes in, right? And where you kind of catch -- you can say, okay, I have seen this attitude before, I have heard those comments before, I have seen that look before. Let me jabber a little bit and wake her up, or let me give her the talk, and I think that is sort of the challenge the day of and the week of. Q. I'm not sure if this is a tricky question or not, but for you, what is the challenge of coaching Sloane Stephens? KAMAU MURRAY: Hmm. I think the challenge of coaching any pro is making sure not only they are organized but everything is all set. The calendar is, like, perfect, right, and everything is perfectly spaced out. But, I mean, Sloane is actually very easy to coach because she's so honest, and Sloane doesn't allow you to guess. She'll say, Stop doing that. Tie your shoes up. Three years ago we were on the court in Australia, and she was, like, Tie your shoes up. You know what I mean? I was, like, Okay, she doesn't like it when my shoes are untied. I think when players don't speak up, then I think it makes your job a lot harder to see what's set them off. They don't tell you until after the match, You know, I was really upset before the match. Well, I wish you would have said something, because I could have fixed that and help you win. I think Sloane is very easy in that regard because she's very honest. I want to eat this. Stop doing that. Can you get me this? I don't like this. I think this. He's serving this way. Tell me to serve this way. I think it makes it pretty easy. The challenges -- I don't know. It's a tough one. I would say the challenge with Sloane is very literal, so you've got to be very careful with your words. Q. There was a story before the US Open last year about you and Billie Jean King and laundry? KAMAU MURRAY: Uh-huh. Q. I don't remember the specifics of it. Those are key phrases in my mind. Do you remember the story, you going over to her apartment to do laundry? KAMAU MURRAY: I had been like here, been Cincy -- Toronto, Cincy, New York, and I kind of ran out of clothes. Sloane always makes fun of me. You're always wearing that dingy white hoodie. Still embarrassing me on TV. I didn't know if I was going to be there for the whole two weeks. I always plan for success, but Grand Slam finals...(smiling). So I was like out of clothes. I had to go wash. You run out after, like, Day 7, and then you just stay away from people so they don't smell you (smiling). And then, like, Oh, I'm going to go wash clothes. Then I think it's good, like if the player has nervous energy, or even as a coach, if you have nervous energy, you need to get it out so that you can help the player. Billie is somebody that helped -- Billie and Zina Garrison are the two people that I talk to almost every -- I've talked to Zina literally every morning for the past three years. Every single morning at, like, 7:45 I talk to Zina Garrison. So Zina and Billie are two people I talk out either my negative thoughts, frustrations, or my nervous energy. So I legitimately needed to do laundry. That's true. I did go use the washing machine. I had never played the Grand Slam final. So it was not a bad idea to go sit and talk to somebody who has played in a ton of them, and she ordered food. So that was sort of -- the night before was just, you know, go, kind of regroup, get out my nervous energy to try to be the best I could be to help Sloane because I knew she was going to be nervous. And so that's what that was about. I really hadn't spent that much time with her that two weeks, which is rare that I'm in New York and don't hang out with her. But I think it definitely helps to have somebody you can talk to. I would say, you know, Zina and Billie are two people that on a daily basis I check in with. And, you know, when my player does something that upsets me, and I want to say something bad to them but it's like in the middle of a tournament and I can't say it to them, because I want her to win more than I want to be right, you know, then you call Zina (smiling) or Billie. So everybody has that person that you call and -- that, or you type yourself an e-mail, which I do a lot (smiling). You know, you live in Chicago and you have a lot of conversations with people who are very discreet and value discretion. So some stuff you just want to tell somebody and you can't, because you value the relationship, so you type yourself an e-mail. Write yourself a note on the iPhone. That's sort of the habit I've gotten into it. I have two people I can say whatever to, and I know it won't go anywhere else. Those are two of those people, and my e-mail inbox is that other person. Q. That's dangerous information. KAMAU MURRAY: Oh, I know. I could write a book. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|