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SONY ERICSSON OPEN

March 30, 2009

Andy Murray

KEY BISCAYNE, FLORIDA

A. MURRAY/N. Massu
6-4, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. What did you make of that?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, the end and the start weren't particularly good, but the middle part was very good.
So, you know, obviously happy I managed to close the match out in two sets. I lost my concentration towards the end, but, yeah, I'll, you know, focus on what I did well.
Today I hit the ball much better from the baseline than I did in the first match. You know, just make sure that that sort of slip in concentration doesn't happen again.

Q. You said in the past it's just a case of really getting through these earlier rounds and that sometimes it might not be pretty. But if you're in the fourth round, that is what it's all about.
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I mean, providing you can obviously keep winning and upping your game each time you need to. Obviously I was behind in the match today in the first one, and I found a way to come back and played well when I needed to.
You know, obviously everyone would want to play their best all the time, but it's not, you know, always going to be the case. If you watched Nadal's match today he struggled a bit, but he finds a way to get through. He gets himself back in the match. That's what you need to do.
Hopefully come the later stages of the tournament you're going to be playing your best.

Q. Did you tailor what you did specifically to him? You didn't seem to give him much pace, for instance.
ANDY MURRAY: At the start of the match he was having some huge forehands, and I was directing a bit too many balls sort of towards his backhand.
Lost of the Spanish players and Argentinians, they like to hit their forehands from the backhand side of the court. You know, it's a tactic that most guys use on clay. You know, I was giving him that shot a little too often, so I started to play a few more balls into his forehand, and then opened up the rest of court to play to his backhand.
Once I got there, I managed to dictate a few more points and play a bit for aggressive when I got the first hit in.

Q. You said you lost concentration at the end. In hindsight, have you any idea why?
ANDY MURRAY: It happens sometimes. I mean, I'm sure sometimes when you're sort of writing a story or...

Q. No.
ANDY MURRAY: You know, your mind drifts a little bit, especially when it's coming -- it was obviously a long way -- the standard of the match had gone down a little bit. His head was down, and I just missed a few shots. Sometimes it happens. It's tough to concentrate all the time, and I lost my concentration.

Q. Can you recall the last time a guy served four successive doubles against you?
ANDY MURRAY: No. I didn't even realize he had done.

Q. The three in the 4-All and then the first game of the second set he served a double, as well.
ANDY MURRAY: No, probably hasn't happened for a while. You know, occasionally obviously, you know, guys will serve, you know, a whole game of doubles, and it probably happens once or twice a year. Yeah, first time it's happened to me.

Q. With both these opponents, did you have the sense that both of them could wobble mentally at certain times of the match, and it was a question of drawing the sting and waiting for them to mentally get a bit shaky?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, I mean, they've obviously both -- Monaco, before he got a bad illness last year, you know, was ranked around 40 or 50 in the world and was starting to come back a bit. Obviously it's tough sometimes to close matches out, you know. I think he's a pretty he mentally strong player.
Massu, obviously having won Olympics and stuff he can obviously play well in big matches. No, I mean, it's not something that you expect to happen. Sometimes, yeah, guys get a bit nervous towards the end of sets or when you get ahead a little bit, and you just have to make sure that you up your game at that moment.
It's not something that you expect to happen. I think if you do that it doesn't -- it's pretty easy to get sort of complacent and get behind.

Q. Obviously in the off-season you did a lot of training and got really fit, and so it Fernando Verdasco. Did you notice anything different about Fernando when you played him earlier this year, or maybe in the few years past? Did he improve any way mentally, physically in your opinion?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, I mean, he's a bit more consistent than he used to be. He's always been a dangerous player. If you look at his results against some of the higher-ranked guys, you know, sometimes he could lose comfortably and sometimes he would have some very close matches.
You know, when I played him again at the Australian Open, I mean, I didn't play my best match, but he obviously had a great tournament. You know, I think if you have worked very hard physically it improves -- you sort of mentally -- maybe he's feeling like he can stay in the point a bit longer so he doesn't have to go for huge winners like he used to.
But his technique and game and stuff hasn't changed a whole lot. I just think he's just more consistent. He was ranked in the top 20 beforehand, so he's obviously still a very good player. He's just upped it one level.

Q. We think you're playing on the grandstand tomorrow against Troicki. I think it's safe to say you've had a couple of indifferent performances out there. Is it much different playing in the boondocks compared to on center?
ANDY MURRAY: No, I don't think so. I didn't play particularly well there last year, you know. But, I mean, the first time I played here I was obviously still very, very young. You know, I think I lost to Ancic last year, and then I can't remember what happened the year -- I think I lost in the semis to Djokovic.
So I don't know what the indifferent performance was. Maybe the match last year. I had a match point against Ancic, and he's obviously a tough player, but I don't think that the court should make any difference on the outcome of the match.

Q. You've played Troicki once before?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah.

Q. What do you anticipate the match is going to be like?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, he's playing well this week. He obviously had a very good win against Nalbandian. He played well last year I think, as well. Or maybe the year before he had a close match with Roddick. You know, he's quick. He's got a big serve.
You know, I'll have to play solid and choose my moments to be aggressive, you know, try and change the pace of the ball. Because if you keep playing the same way against, him he's very solid. I'll have to do that.

End of FastScripts

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