WESTERN & SOUTHERN OPEN

August 17, 2022

Andy Murray

Press Conference

C. NORRIE/A. Murray

3-6, 6-3, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Wondering how you felt you played today and how that went for you.

ANDY MURRAY: It was some good stuff. It was some not so good (smiling).

I didn't feel there was, like, from my end anyway, at times I felt like I played really well and then at times didn't. Say, like, my consistency maybe was not where I'd want it. But there was some positive tennis in there at times.

I definitely had enough opportunities to win that match.

Q. What is kind of the toughest part about playing Cam at this point? What has improved in his game, do you think, since when he was younger?

ANDY MURRAY: Well, he's extremely consistent. He's a very fit guy. He moves well. Yeah, he was just a little bit more solid today.

You know, he's certainly improved, I would say, all around, you know, his game. He's returning a bit better, serving a bit better, a little bit more on his shots from the back of the court and just gradually improved his game, you know, to a level where he's playing right at the top of the game now. Yeah.

Q. You were cramping towards the end, I think. Curious how you were feeling then. It happened against Wawrinka and also in Washington?

ANDY MURRAY: And in Newport, yeah.

Q. Do you have an idea why?

ANDY MURRAY: I don't know. I don't know. I mean, I think pretty much every tennis player in their career has cramped usually in these sorts of conditions that we have had and sort of Newport, Washington, and here.

But the consistency of it for me is a big concern. You know, it's not something that I have really experienced. I have experienced cramping but not consistently like over a number of tournaments.

Yeah, big concern for me, because, you know, it's not easy to play, you know, when it gets bad like it was at the end. Yeah, I feel like it had an impact on the end of the match.

I'm not saying whether I would for sure win the match or not, but it certainly affected the way that I played a little bit right at the end, you know, from the middle of that set. You know, the same against Stan, I was fortunate to get through that one. I was lucky. You know, was a break down obviously in that set.

You know, it was a problem, yeah, like I said in Washington against Ymer. I was really struggling for a good set and a half and certainly impacted the way I was able to play in that match.

Newport, I was really lucky because it happened in the very last game and I was ahead. You know, I managed to hold serve in that last game, but if I didn't, you know, who knows?

It's, yeah, a big concern for me, that, and something that I need to address and find a solution for. No one knows exactly why cramps happen. You know, there is many reasons, whether it's hydration, whether it's the food that you have taken in, whether it's fatigue and lack of conditioning, stress.

So, yeah, need to try and understand what's going on there.

Q. Has it been like in the same part of the body or in different places?

ANDY MURRAY: Generally, well, in the legs, different parts of the legs at times. Yeah, predominantly in my legs, yeah.

Q. Raducanu played Serena last night, and she's about to win. Did you watch any of that? And what did you make of her winning last night?

ANDY MURRAY: I watched a bit, yeah. Yeah, I thought she did well. She was consistent and solid.

You know, the beginning of the match I think was really important for both players. Well, I know when you have not played loads of matches, you know, getting behind early, you know, you don't give yourself a chance to sort of relax into the match and stuff.

So from Serena's side, yeah, I didn't think she started that well. Then, you know, Emma, as well, going into the match probably would have, you know, felt some nerves and stuff, playing Serena, and obviously getting off to a quick start would have relaxed her from there. She made very few mistakes and was very solid all around.

Then I saw a little bit of the match with Azarenka, and she was playing well again today, which is good.

Q. As a fellow champion, what's your reaction to Serena retiring?

ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, it's obviously sad, but then, you know, it happens to all players at some stage. You know, she's not played that much the last few years. So it's been coming.

But when you hear the news, it's always, yeah, sad when one of the great players -- because I think, as well, like they don't seem normal, those players, so you kind of expect them to be able to go on forever.

So when they stop, it's obviously a sad day. Hopefully the next, you know, 10 days to two, three weeks, whatever it is, you know that her career is really well-celebrated and you don't want it to necessarily be a sad moment, like it's probably a time to celebrate her career and everything that she's done for the sport, because it's been immense.

I don't know how many other players have had that sort of impact maybe on the game. Maybe Billie Jean King arguably. But, yeah, she's been great for tennis, and like I said, it will be sad. But, yeah, let's hope everyone sort of gets behind her and celebrates her career the next few weeks.

Q. I know you have been asked a million questions about retirement. Have you ever thought about the way you'd like to retire? From her side, I imagine losing 6-4, 6-Love and the way she's losing is probably not ideal.

ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, it's a difficult one. You know, obviously when I had the injury problems a few years ago and didn't know whether I was going to be able to play, like, what happened in Australia was kind of -- I maybe always envisaged finishing my career like in the UK or whatever. But when I played that match against Bautista, like I said to my team, you know, if that was it and I don't get to play again, I was more than happy with that being my last match, because, yeah, it was amazing atmosphere, it was a great match, you know, I thought right to the end until I literally, could basically hardly walk at the end and left everything out on the court.

That was, you know, for me, it would have been fine if that was how it finished. Yeah, there is part of it I think when you announce that you're retiring that I would imagine like psychologically it's quite difficult, as well. There is a lot of pressure then, I think, as well, because you want to perform and everyone, because it's the last couple of tournaments, they probably put, just the whole situation puts I think a lot of stress on the performance.

So I don't know. I don't really know, to be honest. Don't know whether I would announce something or whether I would just stop and that would be it. I don't know.