US OPEN

September 12, 2004

Andy Murray

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

ANDREW MURRAY: I'm a little bit surprised to win, but not too much. I played four warm-up tournaments in Spain and Italy before, senior tournaments, and I'd won two of them playing really well. I think the competition in those tournaments was stronger than what it was here. I felt like I could win the tournament, but I wasn't really expecting to.

ANDREW MURRAY: I hadn't really thought about it like that. I just couldn't believe I had won. To win a junior Grand Slam after being out of tennis for seven, eight months is a big thing for me. I'd only been playing again for two and a half, three months. I don't know, when I won, it just felt unbelievable.

ANDREW MURRAY: I think when I was out injured, it made me mentally stronger because before, everything had been given to me, everything was really easy. But after that, obviously it was really difficult to come back from an injury. I think also I got mentally stronger, but also physically stronger as well. That's helped me the last few weeks.

ANDREW MURRAY: Well, it was my right knee cap. It was really just tendinitis below and on top of my kneecap. From growing, it was just really inflamed, so I had to take five months completely off and I wasn't really on my feet much.

ANDREW MURRAY: Well, this is my favorite tournament. I just think the atmosphere, all of the matches that I played here, was really good. You know, the fans are great. I think the night matches here are just really good for the supporters. I'd love to come back and hopefully play a night match one time. But to play here, I think it's the biggest tournament in the world.

ANDREW MURRAY: Me (laughter)? I don't know. There's not -- I actually don't know really any good players. My mom was an okay player, but we've got one senior guy who's like 220 in the world. But apart from him, there's not really anybody that's been very good.

ANDREW MURRAY: I live in Dunblane, it's about half an hour away from Edinburgh.

ANDREW MURRAY: Well, the weather's so bad in Scotland that it's really indoor centers that we need. I think there's only five in the whole of Scotland. So to get players playing is really tricky.

ANDREW MURRAY: Yeah, well, the courts are like -- it's about $20 an hour. You know, for the public, that's quite a lot of time if you just want to start the game.

ANDREW MURRAY: Yeah, I was trying to throw it at her, actually, just to shut her up because she was making so much noise the whole match (laughter). Yeah, but I just overcooked it a bit.

ANDREW MURRAY: I thought I played a pretty clever match. I was solid. I used my slice backhand well. I was expecting him to come forward a bit more because, well, everyone had told me that he was a serve-volleyer. But I think I started off really well, returned his serve and passed him a few times and then he backed off a bit.

ANDREW MURRAY: Well, I hate losing. I don't play any tournaments to come second best. So I think for me, when I go into a tournament, I want to win every single match. I believe that I can go right to the top. So I'm really motivated to go on and do it.

ANDREW MURRAY: I hope so. To play in the Davis Cup would be just an unbelievable experience. Obviously, to be part of the team is great also. Just to be around Tim and Greg and obviously just being part of the team is going to be great for me. I'll see how it goes in practice next week, and hopefully if I can beat them in some practice sets, then he might pick me.

ANDREW MURRAY: Well, I think we've all got -- there's three or four of us who are pretty highly ranked now and who have done well in some of the junior tournaments. We're always pushing each other to get better. I've never been jealous of Miles, but I was wanting him to win Wimbledon. We just sort of push each other to do better. When I got to the final, obviously, I wanted to go on and win a Grand Slam because no other British player has done it before.

ANDREW MURRAY: Yeah, I played last year and I got to the quarterfinals.

ANDREW MURRAY: Really because of my mom. She was obviously a tennis player, and then she's been the Scottish national tennis coach for six, seven years. She really brought me and the other boys from Scotland who are coming up and doing well, got a really good group. I think without her, Scottish tennis would be still as bad as it was before.

ANDREW MURRAY: No idea. I don't know.

ANDREW MURRAY: Not really. I think for me, I like her to come here as a mom and not my coach because it just puts too much pressure. I just want to respect my mom as being a mom and not, you know, if I'm not doing so well, I don't want to blame it on my mom; it's going to be my fault. I enjoy traveling with her because I've got a really good relationship with her and she knows it. But she knows a lot about tennis. I'm not really too sure what she's going to do.

ANDREW MURRAY: I've been compared to him a lot, which is great. To be compared to someone who's been in the Top 10 for six or seven years, go into the second week of Grand Slams, is great fun. Obviously, I'm just at the bottom of the ladder and I need to try and work my way up. I think I can do it. But just now I'm nowhere near as good as what Tim is.

ANDREW MURRAY: Not before today's match, but I spoke to him a little bit yesterday before his match with Federer. He'd come over and said, "Hi, how are you," two or three days at the start of the week. It's good for me to have someone like him who's going to come up and go out of their way to say that.

ANDREW MURRAY: Yeah, I train in Barcelona with Emilio Sanchez and Sergio Casal, the same place where Kuznetsova trains. Obviously the academy is doing well this week.

ANDREW MURRAY: About two years I went over.

ANDREW MURRAY: I think -- everybody seems to think that all British players are going to be good on grass but they don't realize we don't really practice on it until two or three weeks around Wimbledon time. But clay was my favorite surface before I went over, and I went over to improve my game and my strokes and I'm playing with guys who are in the top sort of 200 and 500 in the world. It really helps your game.

ANDREW MURRAY: I was really young when it happened, but obviously there's been so many problems in the world now. I try not to think about it too much, but it is in the back of your mind when there's all of this going on. I just feel like I'm so lucky being able to play in these tournaments. I feel bad that this is still going on in the world, all the different parts of the country.

ANDREW MURRAY: I've got to go and get a flight now which I'm a bit disappointed about. Then I'm leaving to go to the Davis Cup the day when I get back. So I have no idea what I'm going to do.

ANDREW MURRAY: Yeah, I watched the first set and a half and I left because I thought it had been a bit of a bad omen. I had been watching his matches on the TV and he had been playing well. I went and watched it on the TV, but it didn't really help.

ANDREW MURRAY: I think he's the most complete player in the world. He can do everything. He's got every single stroke. It's good to have somebody like that who does everything well because then I feel that I can still improve every single stroke. You know, I know Alex Bogdanovic played him at Wimbledon. Since then he's been doing really well. I think it's important to play against the top players so that you can improve your game.

ANDREW MURRAY: I'll play the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open, but except for them, no.

ANDREW MURRAY: Now. But I stopped school about six, seven months ago. So I've turned professional already.

ANDREW MURRAY: Well, yeah, I do like haggis, but I don't really eat it and they don't sell haggis over in Spain.

ANDREW MURRAY: I hate paella.

ANDREW MURRAY: I think my backhand, I think my topspin backhand. I hit my slice really well today, but I think if I want to get into the Top 100 in the world I'll need to work on my topspin backhand.

ANDREW MURRAY: I think the first time I play Roddick, I'm going to stand on the back fence and return his serve. He was standing right up at the baseline. Just when that first serve came right at him, he must have been so nervous and intimidated. I'm really looking forward to playing against the best players in the world. I've not really played against anyone who's been -- not Top 100 players. You don't know how good you're going to be until you start beating them.

ANDREW MURRAY: I think my legs are in good condition, but I need to still get a bit stronger up top. Obviously, I'm still growing. So obviously I've still got a lot of development to do. But we'll just wait and see. I think I'm quite a good height now. Hopefully, I won't grow too much more. Then we'll see what I'm like after that.