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ROGERS MASTERS

August 12, 2006

Andy Murray

TORONTO, ONTARIO

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Andy.

Q. After something like, I think it's nine matches in 11 days...
ANDY MURRAY: 10 in 11.

Q. ... is it a bit too much to win that one, as well?
ANDY MURRAY: I don't think it's asking too much. I think it's just a matter of getting used to playing that many matches in that many days, you know, just getting that little bit stronger.
I think, you know, I showed that I can have two very good weeks on the tour back-to-back. You know, I played well all week. I had to try and play a bit more aggressive today. I did it better in the second set. I had a chance to break him. I had three breakpoints in the second set and didn't take them. If I managed to get myself in front, then it might have been a different story in the second set.
But first set he played really well. To be fair to him, he played a really solid match. He served well, didn't give away too many free points. He volleyed well, didn't miss too many volleys. When I came into the net, he got the ball below the net. I missed a few volleys. The volleys that I was trying, he was getting to.
All credit to him, he played well today.

Q. Could you have done anything different?
ANDY MURRAY: Probably could have returned a bit better. I mean, it's difficult. One day, you know, playing against a lefty who doesn't serve as big, to playing against someone like Gasquet who's got a deceptively big first serve, right-handed. On a lot of big points, my breakpoints first set, the one or two breakpoints that I had, I think I got aced twice. Then in the second set, he aced me once down the middle. He served well on most of the breakpoints.
I could have done a lot of things a little bit better. Wasn't just one thing in particular.

Q. Throughout the week you've done a lot of things very well. The first serve again eluded you a bit, didn't it? Do you know why?
ANDY MURRAY: Today was better, I think, than the other days. Just one of those things. When you come from playing in the temperature that it was last week, with quick balls, then coming here and it's a little bit cooler, breezier, you know, with different balls which are much heavier, it was quite difficult. I was hitting a lot of the serves into the net.
I think when you start to miss a few, you start to get a bit tired, you want to finish the points quicker, you're going to try to hit harder serves, your legs aren't quite getting up there like you'd want them to, you're going to miss a few.
I served better today than I have in my last couple of matches. It wasn't just because of my first serve today that I lost the match.

Q. Can you put this in perspective? Obviously you're disappointed by today's result, perhaps your performance. Finals last week, semifinals this week. Generally the progression is looking promising, isn't it?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I'm definitely not disappointed about this week. I obviously could have played a little bit better today. You know, I've had two really good weeks. I'm going to be inside the top 25 now. I'm going to get a seeding at the US Open. I've got a lot of things to be happy about.
Obviously, you know, I would have liked to have done a little bit better, maybe won last week and got to the final here. If someone said to me before Washington I would have made a final and a semifinal, then I probably would have taken that. So I'm pretty happy with the last two weeks.
I hope - not hope - but I need to think mentally I don't want to sort of let this form go away. I want to take this into the US Open and have another good tournament next week.

Q. How difficult is it then to take on what you've achieved over the last two weeks and build on that between now and the end of the season?
ANDY MURRAY: I mean, last year I did it pretty well. Like after Wimbledon I went and I played a lot of tournaments, you know, didn't sit back and relax. I went and played nine weeks in a row in the States, which was maybe a little bit too much. I played three or four indoor tournaments at the end of the year, did quite a lot of traveling.
This year I can plan my schedule a little bit better, but I'm still going to play a few tournaments and just concentrate on every tournament I play. I want to get myself even higher. If I want to get into the top 20, I'm going to have to win a lot of matches by the end of the year.

Q. How do you feel about starting against Tim so soon next week?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, obviously it will be difficult. The way Tim plays, you know, is tough to play against. You don't see it too often nowadays. Completely different match to my match today.
Tim plays really flat, whereas Gasquet plays with a lot of spin, plays from the baseline. Tim will be pretty close to the baseline and trying to come into the net as much as possible. It's going to be a tough match, for sure.

Q. Considering you only played a week ago, you're now 2-nil?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I think if you look at my preparation for Cincinnati compared with his, I'd probably say he's been there for, I don't know, three, four days, practiced on the courts, got in there early, probably had a few days to work on the things. He probably saw the draw yesterday and will have been able to speak to his coach and do the things in practice that he wants to do against me when we play each other. His preparation will probably be a little bit better for the match.
He's experienced enough to know what happened earlier on in the week and I'm sure he'll change a few things when I play him next week.

Q. It's about 32, 33 there for next week. So back to Washington...
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah. I mean, I think it's good to play in that sort of heat to get used to it. It makes you physically stronger. Normally as humid as it is in Cincinnati, it's not as humid in New York. It's going to be good preparation for there. For here, you know, it was kind of hot this week. But compared with Washington, it felt cold.

Q. Now that you will have a seeding in a Grand Slam, how big an advantage or help should that be?
ANDY MURRAY: It depends what you get seeded. You know, if you're ranked between like 28 and 32, your drawn against the first and fourth seeds. Whether that's an advantage or not, I'm not sure. At least you miss a seed in the first rounds. If you're ranked 40 in the world, you can draw the 24th seed in the second round, you know, maybe have a slightly better draw. It just depends.
I don't know exactly what my ranking goes to this week.

Q. 21 or 22.
ANDY MURRAY: You know, it's definitely -- once your ranking gets between kind of 16 and 24, you know, it is a bit of an advantage to get seeded in the slams because obviously you avoid the best players until the second week.

Q. You said, talking about Gasquet's serve, it's 'deceptively' big. What do you mean by that?
ANDY MURRAY: He's got a pretty quick action, and it's not like -- there's not like a huge, huge wind-up. He's not that tall either. Doesn't look like he's putting that much effort into it. But he times it really well. It's a quick action, so it's tough to kind of read when he's going to hit the ball. Most guys have a slightly higher throw-up and knee bend. He just hits it out of his hand. You know, he serves pretty accurately as well, so it makes it tough to return.

Q. A lot of different spins on the serve?
ANDY MURRAY: He doesn't put a lot of different spins; he just serves really accurate. He serves close to the lines. Against a lot of players, they can hit big serves, but it will be right in your striking zone. Against him, he might not hit it as hard as some, but he gets it away. You normally have to take a step to hit the ball. It's not so much the spin; it's just the accuracy.

Q. There were a lot of unforced errors in today's match. Is it just because it was a semi and everybody was more aggressive than unusual? What do you attribute that to?
ANDY MURRAY: I didn't feel there was too many unforced errors today. Depends who's doing the stats. If I hit a big forehand and I miss it by a millimeter, I don't see that as an unforced error, whereas on the computer it might go down as an unforced error. I'm sure the people that are doing the stats haven't played at the highest level either. Everyone, all of the players, don't tend to look at the unforced error one.
I think both of us were hitting the ball pretty hard out there. I felt like it was a pretty high-quality match, bar a few games in the middle of the first set by me. He kept his level consistent throughout. But I didn't think it was like there was a lot of unforced errors today.

Q. With your rise and expected continued success as a Brit, do you feel like all of Britain is or will be watching you for obviously that one day perhaps you could be Wimbledon champion in the near future?
ANDY MURRAY: Not really. I've seen what Henman's gone through the last eight, nine years. He's dealt with it great. I think, you know, a lot of people can want you to win Wimbledon, but at the end of the day you know you have to try and block all of that out. I've done a pretty good job of that so far.
When it does come to Wimbledon, it is pretty over the top, everything that goes with it. Yeah, you just have to get on with it. I'd love to win Wimbledon one day. I'd love to win a Grand Slam. It's just the pressure that I put on myself which is going to make it difficult.

Q. What have you noticed with your coach in the short time you've been with him? What do you see in the future with him to help your game?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, tactically he's great. He scouts all of my opponents that I play and could potentially play in the following round. We haven't worked on my game too much. I'm sure when we get the time the week before the US Open, I'm sure we'll get some good work done.
He's really positive. I like that. It's worked well so far. I see it being a pretty long and lasting relationship. I think everything's gone well so far and I look forward to getting the chance to kind of put in some really good work with him.

Q. Did he get up at 2 or 3 this morning?
ANDY MURRAY: I didn't ask him today.

Q. Have you fallen into a rhythm? I know it's only been two weeks. Have you kind of figured out what works with him? He does a lot of talking. Have you gotten used to that?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, everyone says that -- I've been asked the question quite a few times since we started working together. You know, it's better to work with someone who speaks a lot and talks sense than doesn't speak, and when they do speak he doesn't make sense.
It's been good fun. I enjoy it. I think it's good to have a coach with a strong personality like him. He believes in everything that he says. He's not afraid to disagree with you. That's something that I need at this stage of my career.

End of FastScripts...

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