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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 20, 2011

Andy Murray

MELBOURNE, VICTORIA

A. MURRAY/I. Marchenko
6-1, 6-3, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. It looked easy, but how hard was it?
ANDY MURRAY: There were parts of the match that were tight. Obviously the beginning of the second he started well. I was a little bit tentative. But I played well. A lot of the close games, a lot of 30-All games, deuce game, and I served well when I needed to really. That was the difference.

Q. 16 aces. Got yourself some free points, didn't you?
ANDY MURRAY: I got a lot of free points on the first serve, which is important because from pretty much the first game he was swinging quite big on first-serve returns and second serve. You know, I think once it got close, he started to miss more, because I didn't feel like I hit my second serve badly. A few of them I looked, the ball was bouncing so high, he was really trying to take them on. When it got close, he started missing a few more. But he was going big on the returns on first and second. It was important to get free points off the serve.

Q. You mentioned after the first match how comfortable you felt on Hisense and enjoyed playing it. Isn't there a bit more fun to be had out there with a tight-knit crowd?
ANDY MURRAY: No, it's great. The atmosphere on that court is great. It's one of the best in tennis I think. You know, I think Davis Cup crowds aside, for a slam, the atmosphere on that court is probably one of the most fun to play in because everyone gets into it. There was a lot of Brits supporting. It did feel like a Davis Cup match, which is nice. It definitely helps.

Q. You feed off that, as well?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah. I mean, I think it's a good atmosphere to be involved in. I played a match there last year. I played well. You know, it can get tricky in there because the wind will swirl a lot. It can be a tough court to play on, as well.
But in terms of the atmosphere, it's excellent.

Q. Your former coach, Brad Gilbert, is now working with Kei Nishikori. We Japanese are excited about that. Can you talk about Gilbert, what you learned from him, what kind of coach he is.
ANDY MURRAY: Well, I mean, he's obviously had very good results with everyone that he's worked with. He's a very tactical coach, not so technical. Obviously, you know, because of the way he played the game, he's very good at that. It definitely helped me when I was sort of coming onto the tour, you know, to learn how to win matches, even if it didn't look like you were playing great tennis, doing enough to win.
So I'm sure he'll help Kei a lot.

Q. Do you take time out to watch Rafa and Roger, their matches, keep an eye on what they're doing?
ANDY MURRAY: No, I don't normally watch the whole of the matches. Obviously, you know, I need to be taking care of ourselves. But, yeah, I mean, if they're on the TV and you're in the hotel, yeah, you're around, you'll definitely sit and watch some. You can learn a lot from those guys.

Q. Did you watch last night all the way through?
ANDY MURRAY: I didn't watch all of the match, but I was watching a bit of Djokovic and then I watched from sort of the middle of the fourth set to the end of the match with Federer.

Q. Do you think that tight run he had last night changes anything in the tournament at all?
ANDY MURRAY: No, I don't think so. I mean, last year he had quite a few tough matches early on in the tournament. Didn't really affect him. So I don't think it has a huge bearing on the outcome of the event, no.

Q. You played your next opponent once at Queen's. Anything in particular that makes him stand out in your memory?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, he's playing very well just now, the last sort of seven, eight months. I think, you know, his ranking has got a bit higher. He's getting seeded in the slams now. He beat Rafa at the end of last year in Bangkok. He's had a big win there.
He's a very solid player. He does everything well and he's improved his game on hard court. So it's going to be a tough match.

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