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SONY ERICSSON OPEN

March 28, 2007

Andy Murray

KEY BISCAYNE, FLORIDA

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. When did you first realize there was something wrong with you?
ANDY MURRAY: At the 30-love with him serving. He served wide, I had a bad bounce, and I pretty much missed the ball, and I looked up and I saw him kind of bending over a little bit. I thought he hurt his back.
Next game he got to 30-30, and I didn't think it was too bad. Then obviously he got the trainer, so I didn't quite know what had happened. You know, the first couple of points of his service game, I didn't really know exactly what the problem was, because he was still serving hard, but once we got into the points, I think he was struggling moving his forehand. Didn't really know it was as bad as it was, obviously.

Q. What did he say to you at the net?
ANDY MURRAY: I just said sorry it happened. Just said when I hit the volley in behind him, I think it was at 2-1 or 2-2 or something, and I think he said it was there that he felt like something had gone in his butt. I didn't really know how bad it was.

Q. But you started a lot better today than you did yesterday, hitting the ball nice?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I was hitting the ball much better today than I did yesterday. I was playing more aggressive. Came to the net a few times. There were some good volleys, served better. Felt like I was moving pretty well.
And just started to serve well at the start, not getting aces, making a lot of returns. You know, after the first game, obviously lost two games to love, but I was hitting the ball much better.

Q. How much does it help having Brad Gilbert as a coach?
ANDY MURRAY: I don't think there's any difference. We worked together for a year and a half, and Roddick had arguably his best year on the tour. He's obviously doing a lot of things well. There's little bits and pieces you can pick up. But it's not a huge difference, but because it can be easy to overthink things.

Q. Does it suit you, Andy, having a lighter day?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah. I guess anybody would rather get off the court quicker than longer. But I'd rather it was in normal circumstances, if I won a match fast instead of your opponent pulling out. You know, obviously I think I've got the next match Friday night, so I'll get a bit of time to recover.

Q. Playing again in the Masters semifinals, at least you'll be going into this one with everything in good working order?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, obviously last week was a bit unfortunate. I play Djokovic or Nadal now, so it will be a good match for me, a good test, and one that I'm looking forward to. I feel like I'm in good shape, I'm definitely going to have enough time off to be 100% fit going into the match. So I'm looking forward to it. I lost my last two Masters semifinals, and I'd like to get to my first final.

Q. While you were out there, did it suit you, the stadium court, any better than grandstand?
ANDY MURRAY: It's less windy on there, which makes it easier to judge your shots and hit the ball better. It's hard on the grandstand court, it's so open, and the wind swirls a bit and you're not that confident hitting through the ball. Today, the court's not completely different, but it's just the surroundings that make it easier.

Q. What do you think you have to do to beat Djokovic?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, just play my game, I think. My game kind of maybe suits -- I think his game kind of fits into mine quite well. So if I play a good match, mixing it up, coming to the net, bringing him in a little bit, not giving him the same pace all the time, I think that's important against him because he's got really solid ground strokes off both wings. You have to throw him off his rhythm a little bit.

Q. How impressed are you with Nadal, playing on hard courts now?
ANDY MURRAY: I think he's always played well on hard courts. It just takes a bit of time, he's obviously used to playing on clay more. But he can play on any surface, as well. He's won Masters Series on clay, hard, indoors, and made final at Wimbledon, so he doesn't have any problem playing on any court. Obviously, he won last week, and he's got a lot of confidence, so it will be a tough match.

Q. What is the general feeling in the locker room with Federer losing the second successful time in the Masters Series? Is there a general feeling that maybe his aura of invincibility is fading away a little bit?
ANDY MURRAY: I've never said that he was invincible. It is possible to beat him, you just have to hope that he doesn't play his best, and you play a really good match. I haven't spoken to too many of the players about it, but it probably does give you a feeling that you will have a chance at winning against him.
But he's been on such a great run that there's going to come a time when he didn't play his best two tournaments in a row, and I'm sure he'll be fired up for the clay court season now and go work hard on his game and be back better than ever.

Q. How do you actually -- ho have you actually physically been to Roehampton?
ANDY MURRAY: Yes, I've seen Roehampton.

Q. What do you think of it? What do you think of how it's coming along the last time you saw it?
ANDY MURRAY: The last time I saw it is when I played the Juniors there in 2004, 2003, 2004 I think. So I haven't actually seen -- I've been to the site, but I haven't seen the center. I've heard it's nice. But you'd have thought so for $40 million.

End of FastScripts

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