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SONY ERICSSON OPEN

April 5, 2009

Andy Murray

KEY BISCAYNE, FLORIDA

A. MURRAY/N. Djokovic
6-2, 7-5

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. At 2-5, you seemed physically to pep up suddenly, and then you ran through it. What was happening there? You seemed a little lethargic before that?
ANDY MURRAY: No, I mean, sometimes in matches like that it's tough. I was obviously -- I played a very good first set. Novak called the trainer after I broke him in the first game.
Had a little break, and, you know, then he started to come to the net on 60, 70% of the points. I started miss-hitting some balls and lost my rhythm for a little while.
But, you know, I obviously managed to find it when it was important at the end of that set.

Q. You've won what people sometimes call the fifth Grand Slam. Is this the most satisfying moment that you've had so far? Secondly, does it give you a better chance of winning one of the four real Grand Slams?
ANDY MURRAY: I think any time you win a tournament, obviously it gives you confidence. The Masters Series have always been -- after the slams, they're tough tournaments to win.
You know, Roger has won -- there's obviously a lot more Masters Series. I think he's won 14 -- he's won 13 slams. They're not the easiest tournaments to win.
I think the win in Cincinnati, I mean, you know, your first tour title is huge, then first Masters Series. This one still obviously means a lot. It's just a bit different than Cincinnati.
But, I guess like all of your wins, it contributes to your confidence going into the slams.

Q. How much do you feel your improvement is due to your improved fitness? And can you describe some of the fitness regimens you did at the University of Miami in the summer?
ANDY MURRAY: I think it was end of 2007 when I started basically traveling with a fitness trainer. I spent my off-season here and trained, yeah, at the university. I traveled all last year with a fitness trainer. It just makes a big difference.
I think every week, when you're traveling on your own, you can sort of go in the gym, but you don't really know the right things to do two, three days before a match.
Should you be lifting weights? Should you be on the treadmill? Should you be doing speed work and whatnot?
It's just given me sort of, I don't know, a bit more of a routine. I know the stuff I'm going to be doing, and that I've worked very hard on everything.
I got, you know, stronger, and I put on some muscle. I did a lot of running on the track, which I had never done before. Just gives you more confidence going into the matches knowing you're in good shape.

Q. Can you talk about during the match, how do you feel the difference doing all that training?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I think just mentally it makes a difference. Even if you're struggling, you know your opponent is going to be feeling the same, as well. Whereas before, you know, sometimes you could get tired and look over at the other side and the opponent seems fine.
A match like today, there's obviously points -- I mean, it was hot out there. A few long rallies and stuff I would be a little bit out of breath. I could look down the court and see him struggling, as well.

Q. Do the players know that Novak seems to have this problem over and over again? Do you feel like if you get him to that certain point that you got him?
ANDY MURRAY: I mean, I don't know. I think it's obviously -- he struggled with it a bit more this year than I think he has in the past. I've seen him play matches at the US Open that have been four or five hours that he managed to come through in those conditions.
Yeah, he's been struggle with it this year, but he's obviously a great player. You need to get him to that point where he feels like it's very tough and the points are long. You know, that's not an easy thing to do.
You know, if you look at the guys he's beaten this week, some really tough players. It's tough to do that to him.

Q. Considering you didn't know when you arrived in America how you were going to be physically and therefore how that would translate onto the court, how satisfying is it to have got to two Masters finals, and the only player that's beaten you is the world No. 1?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I mean, that's just something that -- you know, my fitness that I did in the the off-season and last year have obviously paid off. I spent a good part of a week in bed and, you know, didn't do anything for ten, eleven days, you know, before I came over to Indian Wells.
You know, yeah, I was expecting to feel very rough, which I didn't feel great the first few practices, but my fitness came back much quicker than I expected and much faster than it had done in the past when I had sort of, well, a decent period of break.
So obviously to win a Masters Series and make a final beating Federer, Del Potro, Verdasco, and Djokovic, it's four wins against top 10 players. It's been a great month for me.

Q. Now the clay season is starting. What are your expectations?
ANDY MURRAY: I want to do better than I did last year. You know, try and reach the quarterfinals of one of the big tournaments. You know, there's only two mandatory tournaments this year before the French. I'm planning on playing Monte-Carlo, and I can use that.
There's not as much pressure playing there as, you know, there was before, because it doesn't have to go towards your ranking.
So I'll just try and work on my game like I have done on all the other courts. I have found clay tough the last few years, but my game definitely got better last year. Try and do the same again.

Q. Did you lose concentration when he called out the trainer?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, well, it's difficult. You just never now how guys are gonna feel. You know, if he's struggling, you know, you sometimes can expect guys to stop playing. If you look at the next game or so, you know, next couple of games, he started rushing me. He started coming forward more, and he hadn't been doing that.
He went for broke a little bit and tried to shorten the points. He hit the ball well. You know, I struggled a little bit, but it wasn't just because of the timeout he took.

Q. You're a guy that obviously mixes it up a lot as far as pace and placement. Is that particularly important against a guy like Novak to do that?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I mean, I think against a lot of guys it works. Because, you know, majority of the players now, they play so well from the baseline from both sides, that if you can, you know, use some slice and dropshots, some high balls and stuff, it just takes them out of their comfort zone.
It's sort of my way of dictating how the match is getting played. You know, a lot of people might not necessarily think my game looks the most aggressive or offensive, but very few times will I sort of not have the points played how I like them to be played. Sort of slowing the pace down a little bit and using the slice. I don't often get guys sort of hitting through me.

Q. Is there a little bit of extra satisfaction to be the first British player to win this event?
ANDY MURRAY: Not really. I mean, I don't...

Q. It is for us. (Laughter.)
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I mean, any tournament you win is great. I mean, this is such a tough one to win that it's not just about sort of Britain all the time for me. Whether Tim and Greg got to No. 4 and I reached No. 3, it's not really what it's about.
I'm competing on the world stage, and I want to try and improve my world ranking and win the biggest tournaments in the world. It's not so much about what's happened in the past.

Q. What do you expect this year for your ranking?
ANDY MURRAY: I want to try and improve it. I think the clay court season will be very important for me. On the hardcourts, I think my game is up there with the top guys. On grass it definitely got better last year.
But on clay, it hasn't been the same as them, and that's where they have picked up sort of a lot of the points and stuff. If you got rid of the clay court season's points, I think I would be very close to Roger, and not too far behind Rafa.
I need to improve my results on clay. If I do that, there's a chance I'll get higher.

Q. When you closed out the eighth game with the world's slowest ace, 76 miles an hour, were you amused, or surprised?
ANDY MURRAY: No. Sometimes, you know -- I mea, if you hit a big -- obviously it didn't look that fast. If you watched it, there was a lot of kick and it landed pretty short in the box. I don't think I had used that serve once the whole match.
So, no, I mean, I don't know if he gave up on the serve or not, but I wasn't really thinking anything apart from I had won the game.

Q. Was there an extra benefit to staying at home in your own place?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, it's just nicer away from the court. I mean, I don't think it affects your performance too much when you're playing the matches. I just think it's much nicer sort of on your off days, which there are quite a few during these tournaments, that, yeah, you can just chill.
You don't have to be in a hotel. You can sort of have food at your apartment and you don't always have to go out for dinner. That's a big difference to most weeks on the tour.

Q. Do you feel when you were serving for the second set that that was basically almost like match point?
ANDY MURRAY: No, because, I mean, the wind did pick up in the second set as well from the end where I had to serve to stay in the set from at 5-4. The wind was right in my face.
Like I say, he was rushing me a bit. If he hit a few big shots it would have been tough for me. I knew that he was struggling there, and if I could keep points long and not make any silly mistakes...
You know, I think I hit a big ace at 30-All in that game. You know, that sort of calmed me down a little bit.

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