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BARCLAYS DUBAI TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS MEN

February 24, 2010

Andy Murray

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

J. TIPSAREVIC/A. Murray
7-6, 4-6, 6-4

Q. Tough way to lose?
ANDY MURRAY: I guess in some respects. I would say I obviously would have liked to have won the match. But, you know, I was trying. First set I played, you know, very different game style. I'm used to serve and volleying a lot, trying to come forward. You know, working on some things.
So, you know, obviously disappointing to lose, but tried some things out. I think it was a good learning experience for me.

Q. After the win and everything the other night, how did you feel out there tonight?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I felt okay. It's a pretty different match. Like I said, I was going for a lot more. Until the end of the match there wasn't many long rallies. And the last set was a long one. But there were a lot of quick points early on, and I feel okay.

Q. Was it frustrating when you caught him at the finish?
ANDY MURRAY: No. I mean, like I said, I would have liked to have won, but it's not the end of the world.
You know, if it was a slam or something, my tactics and my game style would have been a bit different. You know, like I said, I wasn't necessarily coming in as well prepared as I have done in previous tournaments.
You know, I was trying different things. So I made more mistakes than normal, and I went for a lot tonight. Did a lot of winners, lot more than usual, and probably made more mistakes. So it was a different sort of match for me.

Q. Were you playing that way because of the way you'd felt the previous match that you felt you weren't in top fitness?
ANDY MURRAY: No. Because I need to make sure I'm playing my best tennis at Indian Wells and Miami. I need to be in top shape for there.
I said before the start of the tournament I hadn't trained as much and I can't expect to play my best tennis. So, you know, when it's like that, I'm pretty happy with the way that I fought.
A lot of the other guys that were going to be playing here, everyone's hurting and a little bit sore. I'm happy with the way I managed to fight.

Q. You're talking as if you used the match as a practice session?
ANDY MURRAY: I'm not using the match as a practice session. But I said at the start of the year that, you know, when I'm getting ready for the Slams and the big events, you know, that you need to try some things.
If you ask someone like Roger how he gets himself ready, it's not necessarily about winning the week before or playing your best the week before. It's playing your best at the right times of the year.
You know, I would have liked to have practiced and trained a little bit longer. Like I said, after Australia I took quite a long break. So I wasn't expecting to come and play my best. You know, I'm obviously disappointed to lose, but it's definitely not the end of the world.

Q. The end of the first set Hawkeye on set point you stayed on the baseline for a good 30 seconds. You didn't appear to be very happy with something or another. What was going through your mind then?
ANDY MURRAY: Just every time that rule kind of changes. It's basically a judgment from the umpire whether his call came before or after you made contact with it. If you get your racquet on the ball and miss it, a lot of times they'll say play a let. Sometimes you know they just take the point.
And I didn't know what was happening. Because Mohamed was speaking to him and I said tell me. And I was waiting for him, And I asked him about the call. He said he didn't think his call interrupted me. It probably didn't, but they just change the rules all the time.

Q. You made reference the other day that since Australia you've been thinking things through in your mind about what happened there. Is playing a match like this and trying to work a few things out, is that one of the things that you thought to yourself I need to start playing all the matches like that?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, a little bit. But they're the sort of things that if I was training this week I would have been doing.
You know, I could have withdrawn from the event, but I'd get a lot of stick for not playing. Then obviously I come. The stuff that I was doing in the matches here are similar to what I'd be doing if I was training this week. I'd be playing practice sets and working on serve-and-volley and coming forward, you know and taking more risks.
You know, normally when you come to the matches you tone everything down a little bit. You play your normal game and just try to add a few bits and pieces. Whereas, I think for pretty much all of the match tonight I was going for a lot, taking risks, and playing very aggressive.

Q. How did the body feel? How are the aches and pains?
ANDY MURRAY: Felt a lot better in the first, that's for sure. But like I said, it didn't take that long for the players to start feeling good again. You know, just takes a few matches, few long practice sessions, and you're back to how you were.

Q. Has Alex been here from the start?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah.

Q. So the prime concern now is Indian Wells and Miami where it's hot and sunny, and it's hot and sunny here. Are you going to stay here and practice hard for a few days?
ANDY MURRAY: No, we'll go home, you know, practice a little bit there. I'm going to Indian Wells on Saturday, the Saturday before the tournament. I'll play my first match on Friday or Saturday the following week. So I'll make sure I get five or six days there.
You know, it's a long stretch that one. If it goes well, it could be five, five-and-a-half weeks. So get home. Get my body right, and get ready to play well over there.

Q. What sort of work will you be doing at home? Will it be pretty much physical?
ANDY MURRAY: No, I'll hit a lot of balls. Coming in I was saying hour and 20 minutes, hour and 45 minutes a day, and try to get that up to two-and-a-half, three hours a day. And then go to the gym for an hour, hour-and-a-half, and make sure I'm doing sort of four to four-and-a-half hours worth of exercise before going. But I need to hit a lot of tennis balls.

Q. When you introduce what you suggested sort of kind of training exercises into a match, does that instill sort of any doubt in your mind about how to win the match? Does it give you confused objectives then in your head?
ANDY MURRAY: No, the objective is to work on things and try things out. And if they don't work, then they don't work. You know, going into the following tournaments you talk about things that went well and things that didn't go so well. Not everything that you try is going to work straightaway. And not everything that you try is going to work full stop.
Certain things I thought went very well tonight. My forehand went very well. I didn't play well when I was coming forward, which I had done when I was over in Australia. So that's something that I'll practice a lot. That's something that I need to work on a lot before I play a match in tournaments, because it's not something that I've done since a young age.

Q. Your backhand is sort of a meat-and-drink shot for you. You missed quite a few cross-courts today. Is it harder when you're trying to concentrate on developing new things? Is that possibly inevitably at the expense of your bread-and-butter shots?
ANDY MURRAY: No, I was just going for more. So I was hitting my backhand harder and going for bigger shots. I wasn't slicing as much as I normally do, and just taking more chances (smiling).
You know, you can ask the last three years. You've got to play more aggressive. You've got to play more aggressive. Why aren't you playing more aggressive? And then you play more aggressive, make a few more mistakes. That's kind of what's going to happen. It's bound to. You can't play ultra aggressive and not miss balls.
Like I said, I felt like I was hitting the ball clean tonight. I wasn't shanking. I wasn't hitting it early. Just maybe not getting to the balls as quickly as I would like, and I will do in a couple of weeks.

Q. In hindsight, do you think you were right or it was very much needed to just turn away from it for ten days?
ANDY MURRAY: No, perfect. I mean, I'm sure Roger didn't do a whole lot after Australia. I needed to take a break. My legs and stuff and what not were sore and hurting. And it would have been stupid to try and -- it would have been silly to have tried to play in Marseille last week. It was sort of a latish decision to play here. So definitely right to take the break. I'll feel really good going into Indian Wells, I'm sure.

Q. So you say latish decision. When did you decide for sure you were going to get on the plane to come here?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, we talked about it. I started training, so I came over here on Wednesday. I started training like late the week before, and then had Alex -- Alex came over on the Monday. Yeah, early in the week.

End of FastScripts

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