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WESTERN & SOUTHERN FINANCIAL GROUP MASTERS

August 21, 2009

Andy Murray

CINCINNATI, OHIO

A. MURRAY/J. Benneteau
4-6, 6-3, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Questions please.

Q. How much did that long rally change the psychology of the match?
ANDY MURRAY: Oh, it made a big difference. You know, it was tough conditions out there. I played a really, really poor first set. I served really badly, and then, you know, I was obviously down there and ran all over the court.
You know, he was -- I mean, I think he was very tired after that rally as well. You know, I managed to stay strong after that, and, you know -- well, I only lost two more games, so obviously made a big difference.

Q. How important was it to win this match today? Did it matter a great deal or...
ANDY MURRAY: These are the matches that, you know, when you play badly and you don't feel great and you're not hitting the ball well, when you can come through matches like that's it's a lot better.
Everyone can win when you play really good tennis. It would have been easy to, you know, not given up, but to sort of mentally let him beat me. It's good for the confidence. And I think the other players see that, you know, you're fighting. You know, it was a big, big match.

Q. Julien didn't make it through qualifying. He got the lucky loser slot and then made it to the qualifies. When he has momentum like that, that does it factor into your preparation for the match?
ANDY MURRAY: No, not at all. You prepare the same as you do for any of the other matches. But, you know, if you have gotten in is as a lucky loser, you don't have much to lose. You know, you've got a second chance, and quite often lucky losers do do well in tournaments.
You know, it's not like he's never played in the Masters Series before. You know, he's been around a long time and he's very experienced, and obviously made in very difficult today.

Q. Can you remember another competitive match where you had more than a 53-shot rally?
ANDY MURRAY: No. That's probably the longest one I've had since I've been on tour. I mean, I don't know exactly -- I've had a lot of long rallies, but that one felt probably the longest that I've had.

Q. What goes through your mind during a point like that? Are you telling yourself to hang in there?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I mean, really you've got such little time to react between the shots that, you know, it's just sort of like -- I realized towards the end of the rally that it was starting to become pretty long. Then your legs start burning.
You know, but you're not really thinking anything. You're just concentrating on where you need to hit the ball.

Q. If he had won the point, how different do you think things might have been?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, I don't know. I mean, you never know. I could have broken him that game. You know, he was tired after that point. He slowed down a lot and he stopped chasing balls that he was chasing in the first set.
So, you know, I think that point affected him more than me. I probably still would have had some chances to get back into the match regardless. It was important because I got ahead after that, but I can't really answer that.

Q. I know you're asked this all the time, but if you do play Federer, what do you look forward to when you go on court against Roger?
ANDY MURRAY: It's a great experience obviously. You know, to get the chance to play against him is special most times you play against him. I've beaten him quite a lot of times, and I enjoy playing against him.
I understand it's gonna be a very difficult match. I just look toward forward to the challenge of playing one of the best ever.

Q. You mentioned the tough conditions out there.
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, it was actually similar I think in Roger's match yesterday. It got very windy. Then when I started my match with Stepanek, it was still windy but it had started to calmed down.
By the time the time the next match came on it was quite a bit calmer. It was just very, very windy and swirling, so it was tough.

Q. Apparently the record for the longest rally is 643 shots. Knowing how you felt after a 53-shot rally, could you even imagine that?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, well, I've seen long rallies before. I don't know when it was or who it was, but, I mean, a lot of it depends. It's quite easy to have a record rally of hitting a tennis ball over the net, if that was what it was for. I don't know if it was a competitive match or whatever.

Q. It was a WTA match in 1984.
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I mean, it's just different. I think the game physically has changed so much that, you know, your legs get I tired because you're always changing direction. If you're just sort of moonballing you don't get tired because you're not really putting anything into the shots. So you'll probably never see a rally like that on the men's tour?

Q. When you're in a 53-shot rally like that and you can hear the crowd a couple times thought the point was over, does that factor into how you're playing?
ANDY MURRAY: No, not really. You just try and stay focused. Doesn't make a huge, huge difference. But, you know, the reaction after that point was great. That's why you keep fighting in those long rallies.

Q. You've already qualified for the Masters. That must be pretty pleasing to get there so early.
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I was saying in my interview after the match that it just helps to get there, you know, qualify sooner rather than later. Because like a couple years ago I had to play a lot at the end of the year because of my wrist injury, and I just missed it by one match.
It was pretty stressful, because each match is counting towards that, and you have to play one or two extra tournaments. So I'll be able to go into London fresh. I know what my schedule is exactly after the US Open, and I can stick to it now.

End of FastScripts

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