AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 17, 2023

Andy Murray

Press Conference

A. MURRAY/M. Berrettini

6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-7, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Congrats, Andy. This is your 50th win at the Australian Open, a win that is simply beyond my words. Maybe you could use your words to help describe how you feel now after such an incredible fight with a dramatic ending.

ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I feel tired. But, yeah, I mean, reflecting on the match, yeah, I haven't had loads of time to digest it, but I think it was a really good match. I think I did very well to hang in at the end, because it could have got away from me with the way that he was serving and the way he was playing.

But, yeah, on the whole I felt like I created enough chances to win the match. Had I picked one of the break points early in the third, it could have been a slightly different outcome.

Yeah, well, it felt to me that we played some really good tennis at times. Yeah, really happy to get through.

THE MODERATOR: We'll keep this short. Questions, please.

Q. Obviously you've won huge titles, so many big matches, but what were the emotions like today compared to those other previous victories? Does it feel different because of everything that you've been through?

ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I mean, I think the last few years, like, I've certainly questioned myself at times. There's certainly a lot of people questioned me and my ability, whether I could, yeah, still perform at the biggest events and the biggest matches.

Yeah, I felt very proud of myself after the match. That's not something that I generally felt over the years at the end of the tennis matches.

But, yeah, I think I'm proud of the work that I put in the last few months. I trained really, really hard over in Florida getting ready to play here. I'm really proud of how I fought through that match at the end, like I said, when it could have got away from me, how I played in the tiebreak at the end.

Yeah, I was impressed with myself (smiling), which again is not something... I'm hard on myself usually. Yeah, tonight I need to give myself some credit because the last few years have been tough. I've lost a few of those matches, those type of matches, in the slams the last couple years, whether that's the Tsitsipas match or whatever, Isner at Wimbledon. That one could have gone the other way tonight, but I stayed strong and I deserved to win.

Q. Could you tell us a bit about the Florida trip. When you went out to Florida, was it just you? I know you would go to meet Ivan there. Remind me of where it was. Did you stay at a hotel on your own? Did you have people with you?

ANDY MURRAY: I was there for three weeks. We were in Boca Raton at like a country club there. I stayed in a house, which was maximum two-minute drive from the court that we practiced on every day there.

I went with Ivan was obviously there staying at home. The physio that I was working with was Phil Hayward, who was there with me for the whole three weeks. Hilts came out for a couple of weeks of it, as well.

We trained there. Not every day. We had obviously some days off. But, yeah, put a lot of work in on the court. I did a lot of cardio work on the bike and on the Versaclimber.

Yeah, just lived a pretty sort of basic life for those weeks. Like, I was just, yeah, get up at the same time most mornings, go grab a coffee, get down to the practice courts, spend two-and-a-half, three hours on the court, have lunch, then head to the gym in the afternoon, or sometimes go back on the court again.

Yeah, just had very, very little distractions. I was totally focused on my training and on my tennis, the things I needed to do to get better.

It's something that I'll definitely look to do at times during the rest of this year to make sure I dedicate enough time to the hard work and improving my game.

Q. What is the difference that Ivan makes?

ANDY MURRAY: I mean, it's difficult for me to put my finger on it.

I mean, obviously the past success that we've had gives me confidence in the relationship. Obviously most of my biggest wins have come whilst Ivan was part of the team. He's certainly not going to let me get away with, well, not working hard. He's always going to push me as hard as he can to try and get the best out of me.

He obviously understands what it takes to get to the top of the sport. He did it himself as a player. He's obviously seen it with me whilst he's been coaching.

And, yeah, it's a relationship that seems to work (smiling).

Q. Have you thought at all about the time three years ago, four years ago, when you sat here before the Bautista Agut match feeling that your career was over? Has there been any flashback today to the fact this kind of day seemed so unlikely then?

ANDY MURRAY: No, I didn't think about that today really. I said the other day when I did my press that I did think about it last year when I played on the same court my first match here against Basilashvili. I did think about it, but not today.

My focus was solely on the match, the strategy, what I needed to do to try and win. I wasn't thinking about the past at all.

Q. A match like that is obviously going to take a physical toll on anyone, no matter their age, the state of their hips, et cetera. You sat down, first thing you said was that you're quite tired. Understandable. How difficult will it be to prepare yourself for another match? How different is what you'll go through now than for you maybe five or ten years ago?

ANDY MURRAY: I mean, the process is pretty similar, to be honest, in terms of what I'll do.

The one thing I've definitely got better at recently, probably since I had the kids, I used to always go to bed quite late, but I tend to get myself in bed much, much earlier. Prioritize my sleep probably a bit more, yeah, the process of the recovery. Did my ice bath, make sure I get good food in me. I'll see my physio now once we get back to the hotel. Yeah, just try and get an early night.

But, you know, look, it's obviously not that easy to recover from a 4-hour 45-minute match. But I have put myself in the best chance to be able to do that with the training and stuff that I've done the last few months.

I wouldn't expect myself to feel perfect on Thursday, but hopefully I'll be in a good place.