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WIMBLEDONJune 26, 2008Andy MurrayLONDON, ENGLAND A. MURRAY/X. Malisse 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 THE MODERATOR: Questions for Andy. Q. Xavier came in saying how impressed he was with your serve. Do you feel it's really evolving as a real weapon on grass? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, not just on grass. Yeah, I mean, for me, my serve, especially my first serve, is one of the best parts of my game, you know, winning over 80% of the points when it's going in. Obviously served a lot of aces today, as well. Yeah, something that I've worked on a lot and is helping me out in the matches. Q. 16 aces, 136 miles an hour. Looks like Andy Roddick, never mind Andy Murray. ANDY MURRAY: I'm not quite hitting it his speed yet. But, no, I mean, it's getting there. You know, hopefully the next couple years it will get a bit stronger, you know, get the strength in my shoulder to maintain it over five sets so that, you know, I can keep it going for, you know, the whole way through tournaments. You know, right now I've never had to play sort of six, seven matches in a row. But, uhm, yeah, it's working well so far. Q. What different threat does Tommy Haas present? ANDY MURRAY: Well, I mean, he's really a tough player. You know, he's solid off both sides. Serves well. Volleys good. You know, moves good. You know, he doesn't have too many weaknesses. That's obviously going to be tricky. But, you know, if I serve like I did my first couple of matches, you know, and put as many returns in the court as I did, then I'm going to have chances to break serve, put a lot of pressure on him. But it's going to be a difficult match, no question. Q. What do you remember when he beat you in Indian Wells this year? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I didn't play particularly well after the first set in that match. I lost my concentration a bit early on in the second. But, yeah, I played him twice in Indian Wells, both long three-set matches. I mean, yeah, he played well that day. You know, against someone that's as solid as him you've got to stay focused the whole match, and that's going to be one of the keys. Q. How much confidence can you take from beating sort of a decent player quite so comprehensively in the second round of a slam? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, you know, I don't think he played his best match today. But there were stages in the match where he can hit some great shots, and you have to make sure you don't let him get back in the really important game at 3-2 in the third set. You know, we had some breakpoints. He had some good passing shots. You need to make sure that you don't let someone that is sort of streaky get into a match like that and take a lot of confidence from managing to keep my cool and serve big in the important moments. I feel very confident winning two matches in straight sets. Can't start much better. Q. Have you ever played football after a match point? ANDY MURRAY: After a match point? Well, I mean, the umpire kind of messed up a little bit. He thought that Xavier was saying that he didn't -- sorry, he wasn't ready to return, so therefore was putting his hand up to say, I'm not ready, sorry. And, you know, me and him obviously knew that he was challenging me. Me and Xavier knew he was calling the call. The umpire didn't quite understand what was going on. Yeah, he told him what happened. But, yeah, that's probably the first time I had to play football. I had no idea what was going on. It seemed like it was so long I was just waiting on the court for. Q. What is your keepy-uppy record, Andy? ANDY MURRAY: I don't really have a record. I do a few little skills to trapping up my shoulder, behind my neck, catching it in my pocket. I don't really go further than that. Q. After two games, is your game where you want it to be? It looks very positive. Is there anything that you're a little bit concerned about? Was everything pretty much what you'd expect at that stage? ANDY MURRAY: I mean, the conditions for me, I probably feel like it watching, but it was quite swirly, the wind on the court. Therefore, I miss-hit a couple of groundstrokes that I might not normally miss-hit. I mean, I thought, yeah, so far it's been good. Serve's good. Return's good. Moving well. You know, the more matches you play you're going to get more confidence in all of your shots. Yeah, it's been good so far. Q. You look incredibly relaxed. Haven't seemed stressed at any stage, unless I'm misreading it. ANDY MURRAY: No, I felt good on the court. You know, before the matches, you know, you get the butterflies and the excitement. But, like I said, when you actually get out on the court, play the first few games, I've obviously started both matches well, got early breaks. You know, that obviously helps calm you down. Once I got the break in the first set, I obviously didn't let him back into the match. Q. When you've been leaving Wimbledon in the evenings, are you finding it easy to switch off? ANDY MURRAY: The day before my first match I actually got locked out of my apartment, had no keys to get in. Struggled to get back that day. But apart from that, yeah, it's been fine. Q. What was the reason for that? Obviously you lost your keys, but why? ANDY MURRAY: I didn't lose keys. My girlfriend took a set, and my friend. I think he was over there. I don't know where he's gone now. He took a set. Yeah, they were both -- they weren't at the tennis. They were in central London. So, yeah, I had no keys to get in. Q. How long did you get stuck out there for? ANDY MURRAY: I kind of read the situation early and I decided to stay here and I made a couple of calls. I was here for probably about an hour and a half extra than I would have liked to have been. Q. You were wearing the cap. I have to ask. Is the cap still around? ANDY MURRAY: The cap? Q. The Scottish cap. ANDY MURRAY: I don't remember wearing a Scottish cap. Q. White stripe on it. ANDY MURRAY: What was the question? Q. I've lost track myself. Is the hat in a bag somewhere? Is it a lucky thing? ANDY MURRAY: Like I said, I obviously get my clothes from Fred Perry. I don't make the clothes. If they give me any cap... The ones I have in my bag are the plain white ones with no design, the same color. Looks like there's kind of a cross on it. I don't think it was a Scottish thing. Q. Would you say it's been a perfect start to Wimbledon for you? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah. I mean, to win your first two matches in straight sets, you know, is obviously what you want to do. There's a couple of things I could have done. Neither of the matches were completely perfect. There were some things I could have done a bit better. I mean, for the start of a slam, to be through pretty comfortably is what you want to do. You know, I've not used up too much energy. You know, I'll be fresh for my next match. Q. You said you take your dog out for a walk. What is the dog's name? ANDY MURRAY: Maggie. Q. How old is she? ANDY MURRAY: 12 weeks. Q. Is that just something to relax, take your mind off tennis? ANDY MURRAY: No, I didn't get the dog just for that (smiling). I've always loved dogs, but never really had the chance to sort of have my own one. Now I'm in a position where I'm able to do that. Yeah, I'm enjoying it. Q. What breed is it? ANDY MURRAY: Border terrier. I prefer big dogs, but I couldn't -- a bit hard to sort of take a big dog around with you. Q. Four or five years ago when nobody knew who you were you would have followed this tournament, seen Tim the center of all the attention. Does it seem funny now for you to be in that role? ANDY MURRAY: It did a couple years ago 'cause I think that's really when it all sort of started. Obviously Tim and Greg were around, were coming towards the end of their careers. It's almost a good thing I sort of learnt to get used to it when they're still around. Now I'm obviously a bit more used to it, got a bit more experience with everything. This year for me hasn't been that difficult in comparison to previous years. Q. So you're managing the high expectations better than in previous visits here? ANDY MURRAY: It's not so much the expectations, it's more the dealing with the sort of media requirements and obviously a lot of people, you know, wanting different things from you around this time. I've just kind of learnt to sort of say no, I guess. When I first sort of came to Wimbledon and was playing I was agreeing to do everything, kind of tiring myself out that way. I got much more sort of relaxed off the court now, which helps. Q. The crowds have been quite calm until that moment as you started to serve for the final game. Really a moving applause for you. How did that feel? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, it was nice. Obviously the match against Santoro, towards the end of the third set, the atmosphere started to get better and better. I think -- I mean, the crowd support has obviously been very good. I guess it's difficult for them to kind of get really into a match when it's very one-sided. But, yeah, I think it was obviously really nice at the end. I took my time. Obviously played a good game to finish with, so it helped. Q. If you can get back into your apartment tonight, will you watch the Spain-Russia game? ANDY MURRAY: Definitely, yeah. Q. Have you been following the tournament? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I have been. I watched -- I had some money on Germany last night. A little bit tense towards the end of that match. But, yeah, I'll be watching most of the competition. Q. Are you shouting for anybody in particular? ANDY MURRAY: I said at the start of the tournament I thought Germany was going to win, so hopefully Germany. Q. Is a player allowed to back himself in tennis? Can a player have a bet on himself? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I bet on myself to win Wimbledon this year (smiling). No, no, I don't think you can. Q. Seems silly. You're not going to throw a game if you back yourself. ANDY MURRAY: I guess you could in theory say to your opponent, Here is 20 grand. Lose the match to me. Q. So the answer is no? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah. Q. Any particular reason for the name Maggie, and does she watch your matches? ANDY MURRAY: I don't know if she watches my matches or not. Maggie Mae is one of my favorite songs from Rod Stewart is kind of the reason. End of FastScripts |
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