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U.S. OPEN

September 3, 2010

Andy Murray

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK

A. MURRAY/D. Brown
7-5, 6-3, 6-0

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. That seemed to go pretty much as well as you could have hoped.
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, it was good. I started well. Didn't really give him many chances. I returned well in the second and third set. Tough conditions.

Q. He stuck with you in the beginning, but you really began to pull away. Did you find something in his game and exploit it or did you find something in your own game today?
ANDY MURRAY: No, just started to read his game a bit better. I've not really ever seen him play before. You know, has very fast service action, so it took a few games to start to read the serve a little bit.
He started off very, very flashy. The first couple games, didn't have many chances. But towards the end of the set, started to, you know, have some opportunities. Had a breakpoint at 5-4; had Love-30 I think at 4-3; then I obviously got the break at the end of the set.

Q. Did you always get the sense it was just a question of him blowing himself out and it would be your opportunity to take control of the match?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, I just had to, you know, focus on playing solid and making as many returns as possible. You know, when you play as high-risk tennis as that, it's difficult over five sets to keep it up.
So I just needed to keep making a lot of balls, keep putting returns in play. Didn't give him many chances.

Q. I think 90% points won on your first serve, of which you got 59% in. Do statistics like that please you?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, it's just a statistic. It's winning the match that's important. You know, but I did serve well today. Served well in both matches actually. Something that will be important for the rest of the tournament.

Q. Is it a bit unnerving when you're playing someone who suddenly becomes a crowd favorite?
ANDY MURRAY: No, I mean, not really. You know, I kind of knew what to expect coming into the match. I've been told he likes to put on a bit of a show beforehand. The crowd obviously, you know, enjoy watching that.
But it went from being, you know, a great atmosphere at the end of the first set to just pretty quiet because there wasn't a whole lot going on out there.

Q. Have you ever played anyone before that never sits down at the changeover, marches out to play about 30 seconds before he has to? Does that unsettle you at all?
ANDY MURRAY: I didn't care. I mean, I just had to play. Doesn't really matter how fast he goes because I can take as much time as I want, you know, at the change of ends.
I haven't played anyone that does it before. It's a little bit different, but it doesn't really affect you.

Q. Did you talk to him at all?
ANDY MURRAY: Talk to him? No, no. No, just, Good match at the end, and that was it.

Q. Can you talk a little bit about his serve. Seemed like it surprised you, his first two attempts. Took you some time to read it.
ANDY MURRAY: Probably took about three games. It's a very fast action. So, you know, the split step is what is important when you're returning.
So if you don't know when they're going to make contact with the ball, makes it a little bit tough, you know, to get your split step in.
But after the first few games I started to see it a little bit quicker, returned well.

Q. I know you've done it before, but you went out, had a half hour or more on the practice court. Is that because you didn't think you had enough time on court?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, no rallies. Probably two rallies in the match that went past eight, nine shots. It's very windy on the court, so I just went out and hit for 45 minutes just to get, you know, a bit of a rhythm; hit a lot of balls.

Q. Is there any truth in the rumor that he would like to play for Great Britain or the LTA are courting him?
ANDY MURRAY: I have no idea. I've just been asked about it in here, but I haven't spoken to them. I don't know him at all, and I don't really speak to anyone at the LTA.
So, yeah, I have no idea.

Q. It's looking very much like Wawrinka in the next round. Can you speak about your record with him, what kind of test he's going to pose.
ANDY MURRAY: He's a very, very difficult player. Played him quite a few times in slams. You know, had a match with him at Wimbledon that was one of the best atmospheres I played in. I played him in a night match here, which was a little bit different.
But, you know, yeah, he's a very tough guy to play against. He's had a lot of close matches with top players before. So I'm going to have to play very well to win that one.

Q. It's a 5-3 record. You won five of the last six. Does that tell us anything?
ANDY MURRAY: Uhm, again, I played him a few times early in my career. I lost to him on clay a couple of times. But, yeah, the last few times I played against him I played well, played good tennis against him.
But he's a difficult guy to play.

Q. If Rafa were to win here and complete the career slam, how do you think that will change the way his record is looked at, his career is looked at, in comparison with Roger's?
ANDY MURRAY: I don't know. I hope he doesn't win the tournament this year (smiling). But, I mean, his record is incredible. You know, for someone so young, he's won pretty much everything, you know, bar here. You know, he's made a semifinal here a couple of times.
If he wins, that's obviously great for him. But, I mean, his career is pretty impressive as it is anyway. He's won on all the surfaces; he's won Olympic gold; he's won however many tournaments.
I'm sure he'd love to win here, but I don't think -- I mean, I'm sure for him it would be incredibly nice. It wouldn't change the way I view him as a player if he wins the US Open.
To me, he's one of the greatest ever right now. He's going to win more slams. He's going to get closer to however many Sampras won, however many Roger wins by the end of his career.

Q. What are your thoughts on the speed of this court versus the speed at Wimbledon and how that affects Rafa's game?
ANDY MURRAY: It's quite clear the balls are a lot faster, a little bit harder to control the balls. Guys are serving harder. But I think the court itself - I think grass is definitely still quicker than here. I just think because of the warm weather and obviously the balls being -- they seem very light in comparison to the Slazengers, which are pretty heavy. I think it's just a little bit harder to control the ball on the return.
Obviously guys serve a little bit bigger, which might make it a bit harder for Rafa to break.

Q. Did you get caught up watching the near hysteria of the hurricane coming on the news programs this morning?
ANDY MURRAY: No. I got up like 9:30, 10:00 and went to see the physio. I just had a look outside because I heard it wasn't meant to rain. But then I was told it wasn't going to come till later in the afternoon, so...
Wasn't too worried about it.

Q. You beat Wawrinka in straight sets in 2008 on your way to the final here. Thinking back, can you remember what you did particularly well that day to win quite comfortably?
ANDY MURRAY: I did everything well to beat him. I think it was likes 6-1, 6-3, 6-3. Yeah, I played very well to beat the guy. I think at the time he was sort of ranked top 20 in the world, you know, had been playing good tennis.
Have to do everything well against him to beat him that easily.

Q. Does he have any sort of real weapons or it more of his sort of all-around solid game?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, he does everything well. He serves well. He's got a solid return. You know, he can obviously play good doubles. He's won the Olympics with Roger, so, you know, he can volley well. Yeah, he plays good. Doesn't have one massive weakness, you know.
So I'm just going to have to play a little bit better than him. I'm going to have to serve well, go for my shots.

Q. If the fans from Murray Mount or Henman Hill were suddenly transposed and brought here to Ashe Stadium, how do you think they'd handle the New York fans? Do you think they'd stand up?
ANDY MURRAY: Stand up?

Q. Would they be just as enthusiastic and fit into the hysteria?
ANDY MURRAY: No, it's just a very different atmosphere here. Yeah, there's always a lot of noise. You know, the big screen always adds a little something to the atmosphere. There's a few sort of distractions here; whereas at Wimbledon, yeah, it's totally different.
I have no idea. It's never gonna happen. I have absolutely no idea how they'd deal with it.

Q. Do you think there will ever be a fight break out at Wimbledon like there was during the Djokovic match last night?
ANDY MURRAY: I have no idea. No idea.

End of FastScripts

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