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August 8, 2007
MONTREAL, QUEBEC
THE MODERATOR: Questions for Andy.
Q. You've had two matches. Does it give you a clearer picture of where you are and what you've got to do?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I mean, I wanted to come here and seen exactly where I was at. You know, I thought I did okay. You know, I'm definitely not a hundred percent ready.
I was obviously a little bit stiff today - stiff and sore - which I was expecting. You know, got a couple of matches in. You know, I know how close or how far away I am from being ready for the US Open.
Q. How close or how far away are you?
ANDY MURRAY: In percentage? 1 to 10? How do you want it (smiling)?
Q. Whichever gives the impression you want to give.
ANDY MURRAY: Oh, in terms of match fitness, I mean, I'm not too close in that respect. In terms of, you know, being pain-free and stuff, I'm getting closer. I mean, I'd like to think I'm sort of 70-80%.
You know, it's just building up the confidence and being able to go and hit out further on my forehands so I can kind of play my regular game style instead of, you know, trying to play net rushing and stuff, which obviously is not natural to me.
But I feel like I'm getting there.
Q. Did the win make it more difficult when you're still trying to recover from an injury?
ANDY MURRAY: No. I mean, it was good for me because I got to play back-to-back matches. I hadn't played two sets in a row in practice at all just because I hadn't been able to. To do that a couple of days in a row, you know, it was almost sort of like an intensified practice session or practice match for me just to see exactly where I was at.
I think I got that.
Q. Looked like you actually did hit a few more forehands today, opened up a little bit. Is it feeling better or are you just testing it?
ANDY MURRAY: No, I was just -- I mean, Brad thought the opposite: he thought I was hitting it much, much harder yesterday. I don't know if it was maybe the wind gave that sort of impression or not.
It was kind of similar to yesterday I think, as well, because obviously his coach scouted the match yesterday and saw that I was blocking every return, and I wasn't really able to dictate points with my forehand like I normally can. Obviously, Ginepri wasn't going to know that because I hadn't played any matches.
No, I don't think I opened up on it too much more. But, you know, it's not any worse than it was yesterday.
Q. How did it feel this morning when you got up? Better than you thought it might?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I mean, my wrist wasn't worse. It was just kind of the rest of my body was a bit sort of stiff. You know, obviously you can get yourself stronger and fitter in the gym, but you lunge for more balls, you do different moves on the court, it's just much more intense. I think that was normal to feel like that.
My wrist is getting better, but it's not quite there yet. Hopefully in a week, two weeks, I should be okay.
Q. We're always talking about your wrist, but how is it psychologically? Are you completely away from the injury? Can you do what you want to do on the court, forget about the injury?
ANDY MURRAY: I think when it comes to a wrist injury, you know, you can't necessarily get away from it because you use it on every single shot. So mentally you're going to be thinking about it a bit.
I mean, I went out there and tried to play, see what I could and couldn't do. I did that. You know, I just need to get more matches and build my confidence on it because, again, no matter what you do in practice, it's not the same as going out and playing a match.
Once I play more matches, more practice matches, harder work on the practice court, then I'll obviously start feeling more and more confident on it.
Q. How much treatment do you have to give it after a match, like in the last hour or so?
ANDY MURRAY: I do like three sessions every day. Kind of a lot of massage. They've got a laser machine here that I've been using. Ultrasound, acupuncture. Tried a lot of different things to try and get it better.
Yeah, I'll do sort of three treatments every day that last maybe -- I mean, I'll see the physio for about two hours each day, you know, not just for my wrist but the whole of my body.
Q. Does it get boring?
ANDY MURRAY: No. I mean, I think when it's something that's not too serious but it's kind of niggling, you know, it can get hard being with the physio all the time. But when it's something as serious as this, I don't have a problem doing all that stuff.
Q. Do you intend to stay in Montréal or heading straight to Cincinnati?
ANDY MURRAY: I haven't decided what I'm going to do yet. I might stay here and train. I might go, I don't know, to Florida to practice for a week, couple of weeks. I just need to see what the best thing for me is. I've had a good chat with Brad and my physio. We'll make a decision on that probably tomorrow or the following day.
Q. "A couple of weeks" suggests you might not play at Cincinnati. Is that right?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, you know, I'm not sure yet. I'll have a chat. It came up when I was speaking to Brad. But, uhm, you know, I just need to keep building confidence on it. I wanted to be back on the court so much, but it's not enjoyable when you're losing 6-2, 6-2 against someone that you know you'd be favored to beat when you're ready. I just need to decide if I feel like I can go on the court and not have sort of matches like that.
But, you know, this week was good for me because I now understand where I'm at.
Q. Would you risk playing the US Open as the first tournament if you didn't play Cincinnati or New Haven? Obviously be a lot tougher of a test.
ANDY MURRAY: I mean, I guess, if it's sort of two and a half weeks from now, there's something seriously wrong with my wrist, if I'm not fine to play the US Open. But, yeah, I mean, if I had to, I'd go out and play there even if it was my first tournament.
But, you know, I'll just have to wait and see. Maybe I miss Cincinnati and play New Haven. I'm not sure. But obviously Cincinnati's a mandatory tournament. You know, again, you can't make ranking points. Because I miss so many of the mandatory tournaments, it's hard to try and keep a relatively high ranking because of the way that the points are structured.
Q. I'm sure you're aware, beginning of a huge new phase in your career, you're the brother of a Grand Slam champion. I'm wondering how that will affect you.
ANDY MURRAY: I don't know, it was great (smiling). I was obviously disappointed not to be playing Wimbledon. That was difficult for me. But then to watch him win, you know, live, it sort of made -- it almost made it worth it.
You know, he's been one of the reasons why, you know, I've got to where I am. You know, I would have never expected him to have won a Grand Slam. I always supported him. I can't watch his matches. I only ran out at 5-1 in the third set when he was playing. I was just proud of him.
I guess it doesn't change -- it didn't change, you know, the way that I look at him. But, you know, it was great for him, great for his career. He's definitely going to make a much better living out of tennis now than he did before.
Q. Has it gone to his head?
ANDY MURRAY: No (smiling). I mean, anybody that knows my brother, you know, he just loves being around these tournaments. He's had a lot of bad experiences in tennis. Now for him just to be playing against the best players in the world, you know, to play against Ljubicic and González here, I mean, a year and a half ago he was playing futures in Cuba. He's come so far in that length of time.
It hasn't gone to his head. He's still the same. He just loves being around these tournaments, you know, speaking to the guys that always looked up to.
End of FastScripts
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