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ATP MASTER SERIES MADRID

October 18, 2006

Andy Murray

MADRID, SPAIN

Q. Well done.
ANDY MURRAY: Thanks.

Q. How do you feel about that?
ANDY MURRAY: It was a great win. He's probably, behind Federer, the second best indoor player in the world. To win against a guy who is number 3 in the world is still a huge win for me.
The guy has won a lot of indoor tournaments in the last few years. When he's number three in the world, it's always very exciting for me.

Q. What especially pleased you, Andy, about the way you performed today, return of serve?
ANDY MURRAY: No, I did return well. My volleying was the best part, the thing that I enjoyed doing the most today. Something that maybe a lot of people might not think I do so well, because I'm not used to coming to the net that much.
But today when I came in, I remember losing maybe two points, and one of them was from a return it hit off the frame and I jumped on my feet. I volleyed really well today. I didn't lose too many points when I was up there. I was really happy with that. So I'm going to be working on that.

Q. Did you feel he changed his tactics a bit in the second set and started to come forward a lot himself a lot more?
ANDY MURRAY: He came forward when it was important points, which maybe was a bit of a surprise because you don't normally see him doing it that often.
But I didn't pass too well today. That was probably the worst part of my game. I didn't pass well, which is normally one of the things I bank on doing well when I go on the court, one of the best parts of my game. Maybe it would have been tighter in the second set if I passed better, because I had a few chances on his serve, and I passed it straight to him. And I missed a few. Again, I got broken. I could have done with passing a bit better. I'm maybe a little bit surprised he came forward that much.

Q. How does his serve compare, Andy, with, for example, Federer and Roddick?
ANDY MURRAY: That's a difficult one to answer. Roddick's probably got a consistently harder serve, but Ljubicic is maybe more accurate. He doesn't hit it as hard, but he hits his spots pretty well -- well, actually both of them hit very high percentages.
Federer, on the other hand, changes the pace a bit more. He'll kick in the first serves. He'll use a lot of slice in the serves. He definitely has one of the best serves in the game. It's difficult to compare all of them, they all have different types of serves, different technique. On any given day they can serve great.

Q. Does your attitude change at all when you know you're playing a big name player? You've had some great results this year against the biggest and the best players in the world. Does your whole approach in the way you prepare for matches like this change a little and your attitude any different when you're playing a Top-10 player?
ANDY MURRAY: No. I think it's just more exciting. When I play against guys that are in the Top-10 in the world, it's a great test for me. A win like today makes me feel like I can get to the level they're at. Just a little bit more consistency and getting used to playing a full year on the tour and pacing myself, and maybe having my schedule done a little bit better, I think that I can do it.
You do get excited playing against the top guys. It's a good benchmark for you. When you play against a guy like Ljubicic who is definitely one of the best indoor players in the world, you can see where your game is at. I won today and played a good match.
I think you don't necessarily get up for it more. You're just kind of more excited going in.

Q. In that case, where is your game at? Where do you think your game is at, at the moment?
ANDY MURRAY: I'm playing okay. I'm not playing unbelievable. I'm playing well like I was during the summer. My body feels great. I didn't feel great in Asia. I was a little bit tired. My attitude in my matches wasn't as good as it probably should have been. I learned a lot from that trip. Right now I feel very good. I got a chance to go home, back to London and see my friends and saw my family a little bit, which kind of refreshes your mind a little bit, takes your mind away from tennis. I played a lot, a lot, a lot of tennis in the summer, and it was good to kind of get away from that and spend some time with my friends because I'm still only 19, and I don't want to have tennis on my mind all the time. But I feel really good right now.

Q. Your thoughts on playing Novak in the next round?
ANDY MURRAY: It's going to be a good match. He's one of my friends, and I've played against him a few times on the 14's, and I haven't played him since.
He's obviously come along a lot. He's obviously higher ranked than me. He won a tournament a few weeks ago. He's playing really good tennis. I think it's going to be a close match. I'd probably say he's a slight favorite, but if I play like I did today, it's going to be really interesting.

Q. You lost to Ljubicic in February, I think, before you were with Brad. Did he play a particularly important part in this match? You seem to have your tactics well worked out.
ANDY MURRAY: Well, my tactics with Ljubicic at the start of the year went pretty well. I started to break up against him and then lost that break and went on to lose 6-3 in the third. I think I'm playing better tennis and more confident in myself. I think I can win against these guys on court.
Brad has obviously helped my game out. You can see that by my ranking. Against some guys it is really difficult to work at the tactics. But against Ljubicic, it's not that difficult. You just try and hold on to your own serve and try and get his serve back and see what happens.

Q. How good is it to have Tim in the last 16 as well, two British players? Pretty good? Just the fact that I'm not sure we perhaps would have waged a lot of money on two British players being in the last 16.
ANDY MURRAY: Why not.

Q. Well, wild card and a young chap. Who knows. It's great though, isn't it? It would be great for the game.
ANDY MURRAY: Well, it's obviously good when you have British players winning. Bogdanovich has won his first round 3-1 this week.
If we can have weeks where British guys are winning challenges and matches and winning matches in ATP tournaments, it's great for tennis. Two weeks ago or maybe last week Richard Bloomfield made semi finals in the Challenger. That wasn't happening until maybe three or four months ago. And now you've got guys who are starting to win matches in Challengers.
Obviously Tim is starting to play much better. I think I said that maybe a few months ago I felt like Tim if he starts playing like he was in practice, he's for sure a Top-20 player. He's that good, and he gives guys problems all the time. It's great that he's playing well again. He's not a number 40 player in the world. He's better than that. And I'm sure he'll continue in this form and he'll get his ranking back.

Q. It's your debut in this tournament, and you haven't had the experience of having the model ballgirls. Is that an extra amount of incentive to wait in there for the evening games?
ANDY MURRAY: As I was walking off the court, the models were waiting to go on for Ferrero's match. It's a little disappointing. Maybe I'm concentrating better in my matches than I would have later on. Tomorrow I think I'm playing on the outside court, so I'm not going to have them again.
I think if I win my next one, there's a good chance that I'll be on the court with them.

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