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CHINA OPEN

October 1, 2019

Andy Murray

Beijing, China

A. MURRAY/M. Berrettini

7-6, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. It's the biggest win since your comeback. How did you feel on the court? Are you surprised you played that well, being in Zhuhai the week before?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I mean, last week was a really big step for me in terms of how I felt and how I played in the matches. The only thing last week that was tough for me was recovering from the matches. Like the day after the first round, physically didn't feel great. Felt decent in the match with de Minaur. I was definitely tired at the end but I was still hanging in. Almost got through that one.

Next day after that, if I had to play the next day, it would have been tough.

But in terms of actually my game, last week was a big step for me. Now I just need to try and get the matches, get them consistently, so that I'm used to playing three, four matches in a week.

Right now, at this level, I don't know if I'm ready to do that or not. So the more I can get through these sort of matches like I did today, I'll get there a little bit quicker.

But it was good.

Q. Last week in Zhuhai you said you're playing top 70, top 60 level. Now you defeat a top 15 player. Maybe you want to adjust? Maybe you are playing top 20 tennis now?
ANDY MURRAY: I mean, it depends. It depends how you look at it. I mean, on any given day a guy ranked in the top 50 could win against a guy inside the top 20. To me, like, the top 20 players are consistently winning matches every single week. They're doing well in most of the tournaments that they play.

Right now, I mean, I've won only two matches total. I think I have the ability to play at that level, for sure. I think the last couple of weeks have shown me that. But to say I'm playing a sort of top 20 level, I need to do it for a few matches in a row.

So tomorrow when I go out to play, if I'm playing top 20 tennis, I should go out there and play a high level. I'm just not sure if the consistency is there yet. Hopefully it is. I'll get a better idea of that tomorrow.

Q. Now that you're back and training and tracking your comeback, playing a few more tour events, what is the one thing you're happiest with in terms of your improvement?
ANDY MURRAY: No pain. Zero pain in my hip (smiling).

Q. But is it your ball striking, how you're recovering physically, how you're reacting to the speed of the matches? Is there one thing that you're the happiest with how you've recovered in your comeback?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, so as I was saying earlier, I don't feel like from the matches that I'm recovering physically that well yet. I think that will come. I think that takes time. I just don't really feel you can get that in the gym or on the practice court. It's so different playing matches, especially at this level. The intensity that you move at during the matches and the way you push yourself, it's just a bit harder, for me anyway, in practice. I've never been a good practice player.

But in terms, yeah, of how I'm hitting the ball, ball striking last week was really good. That was quite a big step up for me in comparison to the matches I played in the States and in the challenger in Spain. I feel like I'm hitting the ball pretty clean.

Yeah, the first match I played, when I played Gasquet in Cincinnati, I don't know, I felt a bit out of place. I didn't really feel like I was playing at a great level. Whereas even last week, although I lost in the second round, I felt like I was playing tour-level tennis. I was competitive, that I was in the match, even the one that I lost. Whereas I didn't feel that in the States. I didn't feel I was in the matches or playing great tennis.

I think things are going in the right direction.

Q. You mentioned your match against Richard Gasquet, your first match coming back on tour. He used dropshots in that match. After that match you said you were not fully prepared chasing those kinds of shots. In today's match, Matteo also mixed some dropshots with his strong groundstrokes. How do you feel your reaction to those dropshots were mentally and physically?
ANDY MURRAY: I think I'm doing a better job of chasing those balls down. When someone plays the way that he does, I mean, it's a good shot to play because he hits serves huge, then he hits big from the back of the court. He pushes you quite far behind the baseline. Then he uses the dropshot well. He has a nice touch. It worked well for him at times today, and others it didn't.

In terms of the way that I'm moving now, in comparison to a couple of months ago, I mean, just my level of confidence in that is much, much higher than what it was a few months ago.

Q. In the second set tiebreak, you were down a couple set points. You made a couple rushes up to the net. Is this a strategy you developed by playing doubles this season? Do you want to focus on using that as a strategy moving forward?
ANDY MURRAY: Depends who I'm playing against really. I did it a few times last week. I played against two very quick players, and it cost me a few important moments last week. In the second set tiebreak when I played against Sandgren, I came into the net three times. I lost all three points. Also an important moment at the end of the third set against de Minaur. You're not obviously going to win every point when you come to the net.

Berrettini isn't as good a mover as those guys. He's very, very strong from the back of the court. If you can get him defending, you might get the opportunity to move forward a little bit more. It's something that can work. Against certain players it can work well.

Yeah, I need to make sure I do it at the right moments against maybe quicker guys.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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