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ROGERS MASTERS

August 10, 2006

Andy Murray

TORONTO, ONTARIO

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You said on court you felt you'd come into the net a lot more in order to frustrate him. You were also very tough at the baseline. Do you not feel the fact you can play with different dimensions is what is causing you to succeed?
ANDY MURRAY: I think normally I play predominantly from the baseline. But I played a lot of matches. It was really hot in Washington. I didn't want to do too much running. After the first couple of games, you know, I knew if I played from the baseline, I was going to have to do that.
He's got a great forehand. His backhand is his slightly weaker side. I wanted to try to get the ball wide on his forehand so I could, therefore, play into his backhand and try and come into the net. I won 16 of my 19 points when I came up to the net. That was a pretty good statistic. It worked pretty well.

Q. It's partly based on your physical condition as well as the type of player you were playing against?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah. I mean, I hadn't planned to do that going into the match. You know, I wanted to see how the match was going and how he was hitting the ball from the back. I thought he hit his forehand pretty well today until he missed a few towards the end of the second set.
I knew I had to try and come into the net. It wasn't something I planned beforehand.

Q. Was it nice to be on the center court, not least because it's less windy there?
ANDY MURRAY: It actually felt pretty windy. I think compared with my last two matches, it was windier. I don't know if it was worse on the outside courts today, but it was pretty windy out there today.
You know, it's a nice court. Bounces up pretty high. It's not too slow. It suits my game pretty well. Sometimes maybe a little bit easier playing on the bigger courts than playing on the small ones.

Q. You did a little bit of self-criticism. You said there was one service game you weren't pleased with. Was that the first one in the second set?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I was 30-Love up in that game. At 30-15, I missed a dropshot that was right on top of the net. A little bit unlucky I suppose on the breakpoint. I went for a big second serve. He missed the return and challenged it. I don't know, it was millimeters out. A little bit unlucky there.
From 30-Love up, you shouldn't really be dropping your serve too often. That's the only game I was disappointed with.

Q. You felt he won the right to break your serve at the end, did you?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I mean, I played one bad point at 15-Love, but then 30-15, he hit a good return. He hit a couple of big forehands. I had to end up slicing my forehand. He came into the net on the breakpoints. You know, wasn't too much I could have done or would have done differently. I went for my serve more. You know, he hit some good returns.

Q. You had two real good weeks. You had a really good week or two earlier in the year in North America. How much of your success is due to being away from home?
ANDY MURRAY: I don't think it's too much. I think I made quarterfinals in Nottingham, then I made fourth round at Wimbledon, made semis in Newport, final last week. I won three matches here. I don't think it's just from being away from home. We've only got three weeks in the year where we are playing in Britain. I played pretty well those three weeks this year.
I think it's just a little bit nicer. I prefer playing over here. I feel more relaxed on the court. I don't put as much pressure on myself. You know, it's much more relaxed over here for me.

Q. You've also had a lot of tennis now. Are you physically feeling okay? Do you think you will be okay?
ANDY MURRAY: I think so. It's the first time I've made the final of a tournament, then won three matches the next week. That's obviously a good sign. I've won them all in straight sets, which has been good as well. Haven't had too many long matches.
At my age, I do need to get physically stronger. This is a first sort of step. Get mentally stronger, as well, not put mind over matter. I might be feeling a little bit tired tomorrow, but I'm in the quarterfinals of a Masters Series the first time with a good chance to make the semis. Regardless of how I'm feeling tomorrow, I'm still going to go out there and give it my best shot.

Q. How much can you and Brad actually work during a tournament? Is it more like what he can tell you mentally his experience? How is he contributing?
ANDY MURRAY: In terms of my strokes, you know, you can't change anything unless there's something really obvious on maybe the serve, the throw up on your serve. You can't change too much during a tournament. The main things that we've spoken about has just been tactics before a match.
He's obviously watched a lot of matches and played a lot himself. He knows the best way my game matches up against my opponent's. I think my game plans going into my matches have been really good. But in terms of my actual game, we haven't been able to change anything so far.

Q. Does his enthusiastic attitude help you out a bit?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, of course. I love the American way of life. You get up at 6 in the morning, go downstairs. Normally in most countries, everyone will be looking sleepy. They're all really happy to see you. I just prefer it a little bit more. It makes it easier for me to get up in the morning. I normally like my sleep. Here, I find it much easier to get up. I feel just a little bit more lively.

Q. That is a big change. Is that going to stick on or only in North America you're going to get up early?
ANDY MURRAY: I'm not getting up too early. I got up a little bit earlier today, but I have been sleeping quite a lot.
But, yeah, I mean, if I'm staying with Brad, he was up at 2:00 this morning, which is actually ridiculous (laughter).

Q. Going to bed or getting up?
ANDY MURRAY: He went to sleep at 10 and woke up at 2. Four hours of sleep. Got up, went to the gym, on the computer. I'm not going to be getting up at 2, but maybe 8, 8:30.

Q. Can you point to anything that Brad has changed if not tactically perhaps psychologically? Any difference being with him that you can point out?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, I think you're maybe a little bit more focused because when you're on your own, you know, I didn't get the chance to go and scout my opponents, see what their weaknesses are, because they might be playing at the same time as me. Now that I'm going to my matches with a clear game plan, it's much easier to concentrate on the way you're playing, whereas if you're going in there without a real set game plan, it can be easier to lose your concentration or let your game get affected.
With Brad, I know what I'm doing when I'm on the court. Therefore, you know, I'm playing much more concentrated.

End of FastScripts...

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