THE STELLA ARTOIS CHAMPIONSHIPS

June 9, 2005

Andy Murray

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

ANDREW MURRAY: I'm very disappointed. I think I played a pretty good match, but I'm a little bit annoyed that I wasn't able to finish it. Because I think at 5-4, I was 30-Love up, and when I went over my ankle, I couldn't really continue after that. I was getting a lot of cramps and I couldn't really move. I'm a bit disappointed I wasn't able to finish the match.

ANDREW MURRAY: I just put ice on it, so I can't feel it so much. But I'm going to have a scan tomorrow, and hopefully it won't be too bad and I'll try and get ready for Nottingham.

ANDREW MURRAY: Yeah, I hope so. I'll see tomorrow. I don't think it's too bad because I was able to kind of walk on it. But I think it's quite badly swollen. Even if I won the match, maybe I wouldn't have been able to play tomorrow.

ANDREW MURRAY: Yeah, of course. I've taken an ex-Grand Slam champion to 7-5 in the third and I fought all the way through, whereas I could have maybe given up after the first set. But I kept fighting, and I think that maybe I earned his respect and maybe a few of the other players' respect because I played a very good match and I took somebody who's Top 20 in the world to a very tight match. I'm positive with the way that I played for my first week on grass. Hopefully, I'll play a bit better the next week.

ANDREW MURRAY: That was much better, I think, than my match yesterday because there was a lot more rallies, and that match against Dent was just kind of serve and return and physically it wasn't too tough. But that one was a lot of long rallies and it was close to three hours, I think, the match. On grass, it was very tough. There wasn't so many games that went really quickly. I was very happy with the way that I played. I think it was much better than yesterday.

ANDREW MURRAY: Yeah, I think so. I can't say for sure, but I think because I was playing against one of the best players, the rallies were very long. There was obviously quite a lot of pressure, and I was trying to get myself geed-up physically. It took quite a lot out of me.

ANDREW MURRAY: Yeah, yeah, I think I was gonna win, when I was 30-Love up at 5-4 in the third. And then at 30-15, when I played the point and I hit the lob and I kind of went over my ankle, I could have got up because obviously I was able to walk on it. I'm annoyed that I didn't, because I think he let the ball bounce and then just popped it over the net. But I think if I'd got up, I could have gone on to maybe win the point and I could have won the match. I'm a bit disappointed with that.

ANDREW MURRAY: Yeah, I heard something crack. That's why I didn't get up, because I thought like it could have been pretty bad. Because I've done that ankle three or four times before - not lately, but maybe like a year or two years ago. I been over it quite a lot, so I didn't want to take any risks.

ANDREW MURRAY: Yeah, well, I like playing in front of crowds. I think a match like that, was pretty tough for them not to get into it. I tried to fire myself up, and also they helped me a lot because I was trying to get them going as well. So they helped me through.

ANDREW MURRAY: Yeah, it's great to hear because he's a Grand Slam champion, he's beaten some of the best players in the world. It's nice when you hear things like that. Other people have told me before, a few other players. It's just good for the confidence. I think it shows that maybe I got a bit of respect off him, so I'm happy.

ANDREW MURRAY: Well, Top 10 is my goal, and I think I've got a chance of doing it. But it's going to take a long time and I'm going to have to work very hard until I get there.

ANDREW MURRAY: No, it was for myself because that game was very important. I think it was maybe 3-3 and there was maybe seven or eight deuces and I'd had some game points, and he had 40-Love in that game as well. So it was a very important game, and I just wanted to try and get them going so that maybe it would help me as well.

ANDREW MURRAY: Yeah, well, I don't know what to say. I just need to play on the court. I try not to think about the things that happen off the court. But if I can keep performing like that, then obviously there's going to be a lot of media attention. But I don't really mind it. I'm a little bit used to it now.

ANDREW MURRAY: No, I didn't really speak to anyone. I didn't really feel like speaking to anyone. I just wanted to go and get my ankle checked and take a shower and try and think about what happened. So I've not spoken to anyone yet.