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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 31, 2010

Andy Murray

MELBOURNE, VICTORIA

R. FEDERER/A. Murray
6-3, 6-4, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You had those chances in that third set.
ANDY MURRAY: I had chances in the first set as well. You know, I had a chance to go up a break. Maybe three chances to go up a break at 2-All. You know, he started to play a lot better after that second set. Second set he deserved to win for sure.
I thought third set I had more of the chances. I thought I deserved to take it into a fourth, but it didn't happen.

Q. You've played him 11 times. Did he show you anything different?
ANDY MURRAY: No. I mean, I think his level is a lot more consistent, you know, in the slams. You know, I don't know. Maybe, you know, in the other tournaments he tries a few more things out.
But, you know, the shots that he hits great, you know, all year round, they're still great. You know, he just makes fewer unforced errors I think than he does the rest of the year.

Q. How are you feeling now?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, I don't feel great. You know, obviously worked really hard, you know, to get to this stage. I wanted to win the tournament. You know, I think it was more the way the end of the match finished. You know, obviously it was pretty emotional end to the match.
If it was a complete blow-out, if I lost 3, 4, and 2, you know, it probably wouldn't have happened. But I had my chance to get back into the match. That was probably why I was upset.

Q. Was that tiebreak some of the hardest tennis you've played mentally?
ANDY MURRAY: No, I mean, throughout the match, it didn't -- I didn't feel nervous. It's obviously against him, he puts a lot of pressure on you with the way that he plays. You know, you need to focus really hard, you know, throughout the match.
I mean, obviously, you know, I wanted to win. I probably played, you know, I don't know, maybe more important tiebreaks. I mean, he was obviously still two sets to nothing. I would have obviously liked to have taken it into a fourth set.

Q. The end of the tiebreaker you were touching your left hip. Was there a problem there or just tightness?
ANDY MURRAY: It's not really a problem. It's not really my left hip. It's quite hard to explain. It's more sort of my lower back is just stiff, like I had most of the tournament. It's just where we play -- I wear cycling shorts, and sometimes they're quite tight, so you need to -- you know, Roddick does it a lot, it's kind of what Rafa does on his other side.
I don't really know what I'm trying to say, but basically my hip is fine. It was just the cycling shorts were tight (smiling).

Q. Is there a sense as matches go by that you feel closer to him in these terms? Are you getting closer in Grand Slam terms?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, yeah, I mean, obviously, you know, tonight's match was a lot closer than the one at Flushing Meadows. You know, like I say, I had a chance at the beginning of the match, and I had chances, you know, at the end of the match.
It's just the second set that didn't go my way. Not that any of them went my way. But obviously I felt like I had opportunities in the rest of them.
Yeah, I mean, obviously I'm getting closer. I mean, my results in the Grand Slams would show that. Just got to keep working hard.

Q. Was there one set point in particular you felt you should have taken?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, I mean, I would have rather served it out, you know, when I had the chance to do that. You know, obviously didn't. I don't think I had any set points in that game. But that was more of an opportunity; whereas, you know, in tiebreaks it's normally one in a row.
I had a chance. I don't even know what the score was, but I missed a forehand in the net that I probably should have taken into his backhand side.
But, I mean, on a couple of the others, you know, he served pretty well. You know, you can't really remember the points right now. Normally takes a bit of time.

Q. Everyone talked about your aggressive approach against Nadal, and others as well. How would you compare that match and your approach there with your approach tonight?
ANDY MURRAY: Uhm, I think the second set was not good in that respect. The third set was a lot better. I started playing closer to the baseline, taking more chances. You know, in the beginning of the match, like I said, I had chances as well.
It's a different match, you know, against Roger. You know, with Rafa, he can hit the ball short. You know, he plays a lot of topspin. Roger hits the ball a lot flatter. You know, the ball comes onto you a lot quicker, so it's harder to go for huge shots against him.
You know, whereas against, you know, like in the important points, he can come up with big first serves. And Rafa, you know, his serve is very good, but you always have opportunities, you know, when he's serving. Tonight I didn't have as many.
But, you know, I mean, I thought in terms of my game style, it was right for a lot of the match and wrong for a few parts.

Q. What did you learn about dealing with that weight of expectation from the UK?
ANDY MURRAY: I mean, I didn't feel it on the court. You know, you get a lot of good luck messages. You know, everyone wishing you well from back home. You know, that's obviously nice.
You know, once you get on the court, it's not what you're thinking about at all. And then obviously after the match, you know, I would have liked to have done it for everyone back home, you know, won the tournament. Obviously for myself and for the people I work with as well.
But it wasn't to be.

Q. What does this do to your mindset for the rest of the year and what's to come?
ANDY MURRAY: I don't know. I'll take some time off now and rest and see, you know, what I want to do, you know, in terms of my game, you know, what my priorities are going to be. Uhm, you know, but obviously it's pretty quick after the match, you know, to know exactly, you know, how my game's gonna feel or what this does for me.
But obviously, you know, getting to a second slam final, you know, it's a great achievement. So I've got to be proud of that.

Q. Does getting to the second one make you hungrier?
ANDY MURRAY: I'm hungry to win one. I haven't since I was 16, 17 years old when I started playing the junior Grand Slams. You know, I realized I wanted to win one of them, you know, when I was playing.
Like I say, I worked really, really hard to try to do it and give myself the opportunity. You know, so far it's not been good enough.
But I'm sure one day, uhm, it will be. When it comes, maybe because of the two losses, it will be even better.

Q. If you have one chance to go back again out there now, what would you do differently?
ANDY MURRAY: I probably would have gone for a bigger forehand at 2-All with the first set when I had breakpoint. He miss-hit a backhand; wasn't really expecting it. I hit like a high topspin forehand into his backhand and made a pretty long rally after that.
But probably would have gone for a bigger forehand at that stage. But, you know, it's a lot easier to say when you look back.

Q. Is there anything in your game that you were particularly disappointed with tonight?
ANDY MURRAY: I didn't serve well in the first set. You know, I served pretty well after that. You know, I mean, no. I thought it was a high-standard match. You know, the second set I just wasn't particularly happy with.
But, you know, the rest was pretty good. Obviously I need to improve, you know, and try and make my game better for these situations.

Q. You've fair enough to say you probably played some of your best tennis over the last fortnight. Is it dispiriting you've not been able to win a title after playing like that the last couple weeks?
ANDY MURRAY: I mean, I've just come off the court. I'm obviously very disappointed. But, you know, I mean, I think I'm getting closer and I'm playing better.
I mean, you know, I just spoke with my mum just now. You know, to have the opportunity to play in these tournaments, in these matches, is pretty incredible in the grand scheme of things.
I'm not going to be too disappointed. I got a pretty good life. I've got a long career ahead of me, and I'm going to have more opportunities, you know, to win them. I hope that I will.
But if I don't, there's a lot more important things to worry about than tennis.

Q. How painful was it to be standing on the stage for two or three minutes when Roger was joking with the crowd and making his speech and told you, Don't worry, you'll win a Grand Slam one day?
ANDY MURRAY: No, it was more -- no, I was fine when he was making his speech. I mean, I was disappointed to lose the match, of course. But when he was giving his speech, it didn't make it any more painful for me at all.
You know, it's not like it sinks in that quick. But you've got sort of 10, 15 minutes before you get out there on the stage before you know kind of what's happened. Didn't make me feel any worse.

Q. Agassi won his first slam when nobody expected on grass. Do you expect you can do it on clay, which is not your favorite surface?
ANDY MURRAY: I don't know. Last year, you know, I played a lot better on clay. But I need to get or make sure my preparation's right for the French Open to give myself a chance and make sure I have enough training weeks. Because there's still a lot of things I need to learn to play my best on clay.
But you never know. Soderling made the final last year. No one was really expecting that. So I don't know.

End of FastScripts

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