WIMBLEDON

June 25, 2005

Andy Murray

THE MODERATOR: First question for Andy Murray, please.

ANDREW MURRAY: A bit tired. Little bit disappointed. But I'm just very tired. My legs are really, really knackered. I couldn't move towards the end.

ANDREW MURRAY: No, it was just I was annoyed that I couldn't keep going in the fifth set because I thought I was running around very well in the fourth set. It was after the -- it was the first game of the fifth set where I really started to feel tired, and my right butt was -- when I went for a wide ball or tried to move or when he served wide to my forehand and I put pressure on it, my whole leg just, like, went because I had no power there. I was so tired.

ANDREW MURRAY: Uhm...

ANDREW MURRAY: Yeah, but it wasn't like -- it wasn't anything bad. It was just the more the match went on, I did a lot of running and I worked very hard. I just got tired towards the end.

ANDREW MURRAY: In terms of coaching support?

ANDREW MURRAY: Well, hopefully the LTA will give me some funding and then I have some sponsors who give me money as well. Maybe I'll be able to find some other sponsors so my parents don't have to pay for it. But hopefully I'll be able to work with Mark Petchey. I think we worked very well together the last few weeks. I'd like to keep that going.

ANDREW MURRAY: He just said "bad luck, it was a very good match, good luck for your future." I just wished him luck in the rest of the tournament and told him well-done.

ANDREW MURRAY: No, not really. I know I can play well now and I can compete with some of the best guys. Unfortunately, physically, I'm not strong as them yet which I think is understandable as I've only just turned 18. But I was very happy with the way I played the whole week and the first sort of four sets. Even the start of the third set, I had chances in the first three games, I could have gone 3-Love up. So I played very well pretty much the whole of the match up until the fifth set.

ANDREW MURRAY: I wasn't really thinking about it too much. I thought about it maybe when I had game point or breakpoint in the first game of the third set, but I wasn't thinking I was going to go on to win because to win a set against one of these guys for me, I have to work really, really hard and I need to play one of my best sets. It's not that easy to keep up or to do it for three sets.

ANDREW MURRAY: After I got broken in the second game of the fifth, I knew it was going to be very difficult because I couldn't move and I was struggling to serve because I just couldn't get any power in my legs at all. I was really, really tired.

ANDREW MURRAY: Well, it's only one been match, and that was the first time I played four sets even in singles. I think for four sets, I kept it up. But I think your body just gets used to it. The more five-set matches you play, physically you're going to get better. But maybe I just need to work a bit harder on court, play longer hours, or eat differently. I don't know. It's difficult to say. But physically, I don't think I'm in bad shape; I just got tired because I'd never played a five-set match before. He's probably played 10 maybe in his career.

ANDREW MURRAY: I was enjoying myself, and I wasn't expected to win and I wasn't expecting to win. So when I won the first set, I was very happy and I smiled to my coach because a lot of people thought I was going to lose easily. I was just trying to enjoy myself the whole time, because to be in the third round of Wimbledon, in your first Grand Slam, I thought was a pretty good effort.

ANDREW MURRAY: Yeah, no, it was very good. To play on Centre Court has always been kind of a dream. And when it comes true, and I went out and played like that, it was unbelievable. The support I got the whole way through the match, even when I was struggling to move towards the end, they were still very good. And when I went off the court, the noise was unbelievable.

ANDREW MURRAY: Yeah, well, maybe I shouldn't have done it because I lost. But, yeah, they were very good and they made a lot of noise. They gave me a lot of support. They actually gave him a bit of a hard time because he didn't really do anything bad at all and he wasn't saying much, and they could have applauded his good play a bit more. But I suppose that's just because they wanted me to win.

ANDREW MURRAY: Yeah, well, I want to play in the big tournaments. I think I proved to myself that I can do it now, but it's not just about doing it for one week of the year; it's doing it for 30 weeks of the year. And maybe I'm not physically there yet, but I think my tennis is, and I just need to work very hard off the court and then I'm sure I could get to the top hundred very soon.

ANDREW MURRAY: I'm going to go to Newport, ATP tournament, the week after Wimbledon. I'm still playing mixed doubles here. So I'll wait until I lose in that, and then I'll go to America.

ANDREW MURRAY: I don't know if it was disbelief, but I think everybody kind of expected me to lose. And then when I won the first set, I think everybody got quite excited. When I won the second set, they were even more excited. They obviously didn't expect me to win, but the noise that they made the whole way through, it was unbelievable. I don't know if it was disbelief, but it might have been. I'm not sure.

ANDREW MURRAY: No, I just heard about 10 minutes ago that he was going nuts when I got the overrule at breakpoint on it was 4-4 in the second set. But I didn't hear him. I didn't know he was watching.

ANDREW MURRAY: I think walking off Centre Court, knowing that I just lost a match, and the noise that everybody made and the support that they gave me when I went off the court, it made me feel like I almost belonged there. And hopefully it's going to continue, me playing on Centre Court, more often in the future.

ANDREW MURRAY: Yeah, well, I've not played in quarterfinals or semifinals yet. But, yeah, I think -- well, I felt pretty good out there. Like I got a lot of confidence from the support they gave me, so maybe I feel a little bit of what he feels maybe.

ANDREW MURRAY: I was in pain, actually. I sat down and I tried to stand up to go for a shower, and I couldn't do it. My legs were so tired. I ended up sitting down for 10 or 15 minutes. My coach came in, the physio, and I spoke to them for a bit. Obviously, I was a bit disappointed but I wasn't expecting to do so well. I just had to kind of look at the positives. Although it's difficult to take now, I'm sure in a couple of days, when I forget about this match, I'll realize what I've done and be proud of it.

ANDREW MURRAY: Well, I did say kind of at the end of last year that I wanted to get into the Top 100 and I believed I could do it. Because I didn't start the year so well, it's going to be very difficult. I know everybody was saying maybe he should keep his mouth shut. But then when somebody like that says that, maybe other people can start believing it. But it's very good for my confidence. She's, I think, probably the greatest women's player ever. If she says that, then maybe it's going to be true.

ANDREW MURRAY: Well, I really wasn't expecting to win. I never played against someone of his class before. I have in practice, but matches are completely different, and I didn't know how my game was going to go up against him. But once I got the first set, I got a bit more belief. Once I went two sets up, I really felt like I could play with him. So, you know, I was pretty happy with the way I played.

ANDREW MURRAY: I've not seen them yet.

ANDREW MURRAY: Yeah, I think my life will change quite a lot after this week. I think maybe it deserves to a little bit because I did very well and it's not like every 18-year-old playing their first Grand Slam gets to the third round and then takes an ex-finalist of the tournament to five sets. So I think it will change a lot, but maybe I deserve it a bit.

ANDREW MURRAY: I hope so. I don't know about the sponsors, but I know about the prize money (smiling).

ANDREW MURRAY: Just have to try and do it, I suppose. There's not much I can do about it. Everybody can say what they want, but I just need to concentrate on what I'm doing on the court.