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TMS - MONTE-CARLO

April 18, 2006

Andy Murray

MONTE-CARLO, MONACO

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.
Q. Could you tell us about the cramping. Obviously, you seemed to have got over it relatively quickly.
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, well, I mean, I knew I wasn't a hundred percent fit coming into the match. You know, I played -- since my match in Miami, I had very little time to practice because of the ankle injury and then the sickness.
Obviously, this is my first match on clay, so I wasn't expecting to play great and feel great on the court. But, you know, I had a lot of chances to win the match. You know, he's a really tough player. He beat Johansson, Tom Johansson, here last year, and he's been ranked around a hundred for pretty much all his career. So I knew it was gonna be tough.
Unfortunately, I got cramp. But it's just one of those things that happens.
Q. Do you think you got the cramp because you were compensating for the ankle? Was that the reason?
ANDY MURRAY: No, no. I think the reason for me cramping was having not been able to practice. You know, I didn't -- before Davis Cup, I played three -- I hit for three hours before I played the doubles match, and then I had to take three days off after Davis Cup.
And, you know, when I came here, I was not able to practice as well as I wanted to but, you know, I still felt this was a good opportunity for me to get some clay court experience. You know, I decided to play and, unfortunately, I lost. But I didn't get beaten comfortably, and I had a lot of chances to win.
Q. Is that one of the stranger days you've had, having gone out with a cramp and suddenly you go out there and they default after? Bit odd, to say the least.
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, well, it obviously -- it happens quite a lot with singles guys not wanting to get injured, you know, for the doubles. He obviously had hurt his abdominal muscle and, therefore, wanted to get some massage on it and get some rest before he plays his singles tomorrow.
But, yeah, it was good to kind of get off the court so I can get rested, and I look forward to playing with Tim again in the next match.
Q. Did you consider pulling out of the doubles yourself?
ANDY MURRAY: I could have done but, you know, I wanted to play. You don't get an opportunity to play doubles with someone as good as Tim every tournament.
Yeah, I felt like I could go out there and give it a good go. I wasn't obviously going to move as well as I can when I'm fully fit but, you know, it was good to get a few games practice because we got a tough match next.
Q. How did that come about, you playing with Tim?
ANDY MURRAY: Tim asked me on maybe Wednesday, Tuesday or Wednesday of last week if I wanted to play. Obviously, I said yeah straightaway.
Q. Did you actually have a massage between the singles and doubles when you came off?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I had massage, I stretched a lot, I had a little bit to eat, went on the bike. Just tried to do as much as I could to try and get my legs feeling good for the doubles.
I can't -- I just don't understand why I get cramp because I don't feel tired at all. Like going on to play, I didn't feel, you know, like, "I don't want to go out there." I feel fine enough to play. But when your legs cramp, you just can't do anything. I don't quite know what it is.
Q. Can you just clarify to us what the umpire actually said to you when he came down.
ANDY MURRAY: Well, obviously, he gave me the time violation.
Q. Yeah.
ANDY MURRAY: Because you can't -- I think for cramp you can't take injury time-outs, which I knew. I was just trying to get myself a few more seconds (smiling).
But, yeah, it was tough because I couldn't -- I hate having to finish a match like that because you can't -- at least I know I've given it my all when I come off, but it's just tough to kind of finish like that when you know you've worked so hard to get into the situation that you were in. And having had so many chances, it's just quite a tough one to take.
But I'll get over it.
Q. Did you think about pulling out? You clearly couldn't win the match then, could you?
ANDY MURRAY: I did all right. But when it happened, I mean, I lost my service game to 30, and then I got to 30 on his serve. I mean, you can pull out, but I think it's much better just to finish a match like that.
Q. When did you start feeling the problems? You had some treatment at the end of the second set, didn't you?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, my legs were a little bit tight towards the end of the second set, but I wasn't cramping. I couldn't push up on my serve really, but I was still moving okay. Obviously, towards the end of the third I started to get quite tired and was trying to take quite a lot of risks on his serve. Then I managed to break him at 4-2. If I could have just been able to hit my serve a little bit bigger, I think I could have won the match in three. But because I was putting those serves in, I was having to do a lot of running in the rallies that I was winning.
Q. There was no recurrence at any stage of anything wrong with your ankle, was there? You said you couldn't push up on your serve at the start of the third set.
ANDY MURRAY: No, my ankle felt fine. I moved well the whole match.
But, yeah, it was just my legs. My ankle was okay.
Q. Just frustrated? You say you had opportunities, 40-Love, when you broke at 4-3, I think, in the first set. It became a long game. There were opportunities you had to close him out.
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, the biggest one was at 2-Love in the second set. I had two breakpoints or three breakpoints on his serve, and I think I maybe missed -- I definitely missed one second serve return and I had another point on his second serve and I made another mistake. But, you know, if I got the double break there, I probably would have gone on to win.
But, you know, it's my first match on clay in however long, seven months, and my second match on the tour, and it's completely different to the other surfaces. I'm just going to have to play a lot to get used to it.
Q. Are you disappointed not to have met Nadal, I suppose?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, it's obviously great to get a chance to play against the best players. But, you know, I'm sure I'll have matches with him later on in my career and probably rather play him on grass before I play him on clay.
But, you know, he's obviously a great player and somebody that I would love to play.
Q. Would that have been a worry for you? You clearly wouldn't have met him in your best physical condition. Or doesn't that matter to you?
ANDY MURRAY: No, I would have gone and given it my best shot. And I think regardless of whether you're a hundred percent fit or not, as long as you give it your all, that's the most important thing. You know, I probably wouldn't have won against him and I wouldn't have expected to come anywhere near to beating him on clay at this stage in my career. You know, it would have been good to have the opportunity, but I'm sure I'll get more chances to play against him.

End of FastScripts...

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