	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

ROGERS CUP

July 24, 2008

Andy Murray

TORONTO, ONTARIO

A. MURRAY/S. Wawrinka
6-2, 0-6, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. That match was slipping away from you quite fast, wasn't it, to the point where you got within a point of going a break down in the final set. How did you stop that and turn it round?
ANDY MURRAY: I just had to try and stay patient. I played great in the first set, and then had a chance early on in the second to go a break up and didn't take it.
Stan is unbelievably confident right now. He's playing the best tennis of his career. I needed to try to stay with him in the third. I hung on for a couple of games and, you know, managed to get the breakthrough.
When I played him in the past he's had a little bit of trouble sort of finishing matches off against me. We know each other really well and are very good friends. I don't know if that played a part.
But I just had to try and fight my way back into the match, and I did.

Q. What pleased you most about what you did?
ANDY MURRAY: Getting the win. I played great in the first set and didn't feel comfortable at all after that. Didn't feel like I was hitting the ball great.
You know, the way I served the match out, too, was good. You know, it was a tight match against someone who's ranked I think one spot behind me in the rankings.
Whoever won, he would have jumped me in the rankings, and I managed to come up with some big serves in the last games. That was probably the two most pleasing things.

Q. It sounded as though you were criticizing yourself for lack of focus. Is that partly what happened in the second set, or not?
ANDY MURRAY: I think in the middle of the second set, towards the start of the third, you know, I lost -- I mean, my mind was still there, I just sort of lost track of the way I was supposed to be playing against him. I didn't stick to the tactics which were working really well in the first set.
Yeah, against someone as good as him you need to try and be there for the whole match. Four or five games I wasn't, and he capitalized on it.

Q. What do you take into your next match with Djokovic, which will be just as tough probably?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, he's playing great this year, obviously. I think this is his best surface as well. I saw a little bit of his match today.
It was a good match against a tough player, so, you know, I'm going to need to -- if I play the way I did in the first set I got a chance of winning. If I play like I did, you know, in the second set I'm going to get killed.
Got to try and concentrate from the start and try and play my best tennis.

Q. How do you regroup mentally after a set like the second set?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, I mean, the good thing about obviously being a set up, is even if you lose the second, you know, it just goes into a one-set shootout; whereas if you lose the first set you're basically back to square one again.
So kind of leveled the match up a bit. I knew I was going to have to stay tough early in the third. You just got to keep telling yourself to - even though you're not hitting the ball well - to look for some big first serves and make a lot balls and hope he misses a lot balls, which happened in the middle of the third set.

Q. You seem to play a lot of tough matches against Wawrinka. Is it because like you said you're friends and you just battle each other harder, or is it something about his games that you have problems with?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, I mean we're 3-3. I've beaten him three times this year and lost to him once on the clay.
No, I mean, he's one of the best players in the world. He's a top 10 player. I think a lot of people forget that.
He's really tough to play against, and I'm not so much better that I expected it to be an easy match when I go on the court. I don't know if being friends plays any part in them being tough matches. But, you know, I just think he's a very tough player.

Q. Seemed to be huge variations in the conditions. When you started it was actually raining part of the time and then it was cloudy and then it became very hot. It ended cloudy and cool and windy. Did that affect how the match went at all?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, well, I think both of us played last night when the conditions were so dead. The ball wasn't really flying through the air at all and it was pretty windy, and then today then, yeah, I mean, it was hot out there.
You know, the ball was flying a bit more. I think it contributed to quite a few unforced errors and missed quite a lot of balls deep because of it.
I mean, that was probably the thing that made it the hardest, was we played late last night when conditions were completely different to what they were today.

Q. What time did you get back to the hotel last night?
ANDY MURRAY: About 12:45, so it was late a one. Pretty quick turnaround. Had to be here for 11:15 to practice this morning, so didn't have too much time to rest.

Q. Did you feel tired?
ANDY MURRAY: No, no. Not tired, just -- when you start warming up for the match you do feel a little bit lethargic. Once you get some only food in and you get some exercise you start to feel fine.

Q. Is there any buzz in the locker room today with Roger having lost yesterday?
ANDY MURRAY: I don't think so. I think everyone is obviously surprised. You know, I think it's just because he's been on such an incredible run for so long that, you know, he loses one, two matches and everyone starts saying that he's sort of lost his edge a little bit.
I still think he's playing great tennis. I just think the level of competition has got better over the last year and a half, two years. I haven't spoken to too many guys about it in the locker room.

Q. You have much more variety in your game in terms of the spins and the height and the pace that you put on the ball than many players at the same level. Does that make it hard for you to find a consistent pattern to play with, particularly during a match?
ANDY MURRAY: I just think -- you know, I got asked that a lot in the last year or so, and I just think it takes a little bit longer to get to your highest level of tennis. I think when I get to 23, 24 is when I'm going to be playing my best.
I think when you have a lot of options in your game, especially when you're young, you can make some more mistakes and get a little bit confused on the court sometimes.
With each match and each tournament I'm starting to getting closer and closer to understanding the best way to play my game. Sometimes I play a little bit inconsistent.
I'm sure in a couple years when I have that experience, you know, I'll be playing very good tennis.

End of FastScripts

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297