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ROGERS CUP

July 25, 2008

Andy Murray

TORONTO, ONTARIO

A. MURRAY/N. Djokovic
6-3, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. How big of a breakthrough is this getting over Djokovic the first time?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, it's a big win mentally for me. You know, the last three times I played him I lost pretty badly.
First time I played him I was a set and a break up and lost. It was pretty much similar to tonight where -- I mean, he was going for more of the big shots tonight, but I felt like I was controlling the way the match was going in terms of changing the pace of the ball and what have you.
So to close out the match in the tiebreak when he's definitely, I think, probably got the best tiebreak record on tour was, you know, a really nice way to finish.

Q. Is it the kind of win that can carry you through maybe Cincinnati, but also into the big ones: the Olympics and the US Open and that kind of thing? Is it that big?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I mean, Nadal is now the only top guy that I haven't won against, you know, so to win against someone like Djokovic who has played great this year and is by far the third best player in the world behind Federer and Nadal is always going to be a big win.
It gives you confidence, especially when you've a lot to him three or four times beforehand. I want to try and keep this sort of form going and get through my first final of a Masters Series.

Q. Did you have a feeling from quite early on that this was going to be a really good chance to get him this time?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, I mean the first game was really key. You know, I saved, I think, a couple breakpoints. In the past against him he's got ahead of me early and stayed on top of me. I wanted to try and start well.
I mean, against the top guys you always expect them to come back, and he did that in the second set. But I've been playing well and I felt like I had a chance of winning. I just knew I had to play really well.

Q. Looked like you got the balance just right and various patterns mixed up just right. Did you think that, too?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, there was a come times in the second set I could have been more aggressive. I missed a lot of first serves in those stages and really needed to, you know, get a lot first serves in so I was able to dictate the play.
When you play against someone that returns as well as him and you miss a lot first serves, he's going to get the chance to make you do a lot of running.
But I have worked hard physically, and I needed to be very fit tonight because I did a lot of side-to-side moving and there was a lot of long points.

Q. Did you get much energy from the atmosphere?
ANDY MURRAY: The atmosphere was great out there. It was absolutely packed. The crowd were very good throughout the whole match.
You know, it can sometimes make you nervous, but tonight I didn't feel any nerves. I just went out there and played well.

Q. You broke him three times and scored a couple huge points off his serve in the tiebreak. He didn't like his serve tonight. What can you see that you could attack there so well?
ANDY MURRAY: I changed my position when I was returning his second serve a lot. He gave me, you know, maybe five or six double faults. I was just seeing the return. I have been seeing it well all week. I've broken serve a lot. It's always been one of the best parts of my game, and I was getting a good solid strike on it, which was pushing him back behind the baseline.
Normally when he makes his first he gets an easy ball, and I wasn't giving him that opportunity.

Q. Does this validate your decision to start your hard court season a week late?
ANDY MURRAY: I guess so. There's not going to be any issue the next couple of weeks of, you know, match fitness. Obviously the more matches you play the more confident you get, so I don't think that's going to be an issue anymore.

Q. You had two very late nights. Was that a problem at all or not a problem?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I mean, it was slightly disappointing. I was at the courts for about five and a half hours after my singles yesterday. We ended up playing very late with very few people watching a match on center court.
It would have been nice to play a bit earlier, especially having the late night before that. You know I'm going to get a little bit earlier to bed tonight and I think I'll probably play around the same time tomorrow.

Q. Do you sleep in when that happens, when you get back real late?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, I couldn't when I played against Wawrinka. But, yeah, I slept in a bit later than normal. Just took it easy this morning and didn't get up too early and do anything too stressful. Just spent a bit of time in the room, went out, grabbed some lunch, and got here around 4:00.
The last few days I've been waiting sort of five, six hours before I got on to the court because of the rain. And obviously because of the doubles last night as well. It was a little bit easier today.

Q. The ill-advised dropshots, was the shoe on the other foot tonight? Just joking.
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, well, it's a shot that he uses normally very often and plays it very well and it's worked against me in the past.
Tonight I was moving well and it was a shot that I was expecting to see from him. There was a couple times it worked, but it wasn't through -- hitting clean winners.
In a tiebreak as well, when someone is sort of as solid as him you don't really expect to get a couple cheap points like that, so it was nice for me.

Q. I didn't watch all the match, but it didn't seem like you used too many dropshots yourself. Were you being more judicious?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I used a lot of short slices. I think sometimes people get confused about the difference between a short slice and a dropshot.
You know, against someone like him, he's so comfortable from the back it's really important to change the pace and make him try and come forward a little bit as well.
Got a few errors like that, but, yeah, didn't have too many tonight.

Q. Did he say anything to you at the net or afterwards?
ANDY MURRAY: No, just, Good luck and well-played. Play well the rest of the tournament. I saw him in the locker room afterwards and had a little chat, but nothing too much.

Q. You mentioned a couple minutes ago that Nadal is the one guy you haven't beat yet. Don't know if you'll get him tomorrow. What has been your experience against him, and what has been the difference?
ANDY MURRAY: Last two times I played against him, you know, he was much better than me. Played really, really aggressive. The first two times I played him were really tight matches in the Australian Open and in Madrid. Both on hard courts and that's my best surface.
The guy is playing unbelievable this year. He's hitting his forehand so well and he moves great and his mental strength is, I think, the best on the tour.
So, you know, there's few guys that can sort of get up and play his game style every single day and never get tired of doing it. So that's one thing you know you got to expect him to play very well, and you have to play a great, great match to beat him.

Q. How did you feel you served today? Your percentage was quite low.
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, well, I mean, it's a tough one. If you get broken once in a match against, you know, someone who returns as well as Djokovic, you could argue that it's a good serving day.
You know, my second serve was the thing that pleased me most tonight. I don't think I served any double faults. In the latter stage of the second set when did I miss a lot of first serves he didn't really get the chance to attack it.
First serve could have been more consistent, but second serve was very good.

End of FastScripts

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