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MONTE-CARLO ROLEX MASTERS

April 16, 2011

Andy Murray

MONTE CARLO, MONACO

R. NADAL/A. Murray
6-4, 2-6, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. I presume a very bittersweet end because you played some sensational tennis and we clearly saw you having some trouble with your elbow later on, maybe during the whole match.
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, well, it's been a tough day for me. I didn't know up until 5 past 3:00 whether I was going to play or not. I had a cortisone injection, whatever, local anesthetic in my elbow before the match.
I never had any problems with my elbow before. Yesterday, the beginning of the second set, I felt something. Managed to play through it. It was sort of on the inside. Then this morning, was hitting, warming up fine. Went to hit some serves; I couldn't serve.
The thing as well, I didn't know what it was. It wasn't until 20 past 2:00 I saw the doctor. Did an ultrasound scan at maybe 1:30 with the substitute doctor who said he couldn't see anything. Then the main doctor came, checked it. He said what it was. Had the decision at 2:35 to have the injection.
I went to practice at 3:00. I went out to see if I could play. You know, my elbow was numb, so I didn't feel anything. And then I don't know whether it wore off or what, but it was probably pretty much 2 hours, 40 minutes into the match when I felt it. So it was not like it was there throughout.
So I'm happy that I gave it my best, but I think I can do better. Yeah, it was disappointing because I felt like I was playing well. So have to see how it feels tomorrow and what I do from here.

Q. What did the doctor say it was?
ANDY MURRAY: I mean, certainly I'll have an MRI scan maybe tomorrow. You sometimes get like a bit of bone basically that sort of has fallen off. It sounds worse than it is, but it's basically floating around in the joint. So it was getting a lot of, like, every time I bend it, I get of a lot of like clicking.
Right now it's not really clicking, it just feels really bruised because I obviously had a couple of injections. There's blood and stuff going in there.
It was good because I managed to play. But, you know, I would have liked to have finished the match a bit better.
But it's happened the other way where I played Rafa a few times where he struggled at the end, has had some problems. You always want to try and finish the match.

Q. Was it quite a frightening decision whether to have the cortisone injection or not?
ANDY MURRAY: I've never done it before. So I was just saying like, because it was so late, I was saying, I feel really, really nervous. I was really like uptight about it. Like I said, never had one before. Didn't know what the feeling was going to be like.
The thing was, he said, the doctor said, that would probably be what would be suggested even if I didn't play the match, that they would suggest a cortisone injection, like an antiinflammatory to basically settle it down.
So what I decided to do was have the injection pretty late on and then go and hit just beforehand to see if I was going to play. Like I say, felt okay because I couldn't really feel anything. It's quite difficult to serve with a numb elbow.

Q. Given all that, you must be pretty pleased with how you played.
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah. The thing is, it was fine. It wasn't like I was feeling it loads. The only thing was on the serve, I was still going for the serve, it was just a little bit apprehensive when you're expecting pain, you know, the anticipation just sometimes is worse than the actual, you know, pain itself. I didn't really feel anything at all, just when I was bending it. It's obviously bruised.
Yeah, the third set, I felt the clicking start again literally before the first point. It was the same thing yesterday. In between the first and second set, I didn't hit a ball. I got up from the chair, and I was like, Oh. I didn't know what it was. Then the same thing was in between sets again.
I don't know if it's an adrenaline thing or whatever that when I just cooled down a little bit I felt something. Yeah, I mean, I not panicked, but it's just like...
I'm sure Rafa will tell you, when you do have an injury, it's sometimes difficult to concentrate. Especially against someone like him, you need to play every single point, concentrate from every single point to the last. You can't just throw games, hope to hang onto your serve. You need to play every single point to put pressure on him. Getting off to a 2-Love start wasn't ideal.

Q. Tactically, what did you feel you were doing well, especially in the second set, which you dominated?
ANDY MURRAY: I was being patient. I was playing a ball with good height. I think when you play the ball flat against Rafa on these courts, he dictates all of the points. I was able to play the ball high. When he left it a bit short, I was sort of stepping in, using the angles well. I was protecting my serve pretty well in the second set.
The games I was disappointed with in the match were the 4-All and 5-4 games in the first set. I played badly. Changed a little bit the way I was playing at 5-4. Started going for a bit too much.
I thought I played tactically a good match, but it can be better.

Q. There was some games that were extraordinarily long. In those circumstances, normally on clay, those are the games that he would win. You were the guy who won those games today. From that point of view, your patience and ability to see those games through for the long-term...
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, that's what I was trying to say. When you play against him, you literally have to play every single point. You can't lose your concentration. You can't give points away. There was four or five games that went, I don't know, six, seven deuces.
Especially in the second set, yeah, I managed to come through them. Sometimes they're going to go against you, sometimes they go for you. But you need to, against him, win games like that. You need to play long games and just accept that you're going to have unbelievably long points.
He returns very well on clay, gets pretty much every serve back. It's very tough to ace him. I think that's one of the things he does better on the clay than on the other surfaces. He returns very, very well.

Q. You wanted to have the treatment you got after the second game in the final set. What happened there? You seemed to be having a discussion with the guy. He wouldn't let you have the treatment.
ANDY MURRAY: I didn't know the rule. But apparently if it's an existing injury when you go on the court, you're not allowed to have treatment.
But I don't know why the umpire should know that. If I'd done the treatment off-site with someone else, they wouldn't have known. No one tells the umpire before the match exactly how they're feeling, what things are sore, which things aren't.
Yeah, I asked him after the first point of the second game, I asked him if I could have the trainer. He said yeah. When I went to sit down, he said, No, you have to wait till the changeover because it's an existing injury. That's it.

Q. Being so close to Nadal on clay is nice news for the coming weeks.
ANDY MURRAY: I thought it was a good match. I would have liked to have done better. I think I can play better. I mean, obviously it's good to know you're able to play at a similar level to what he does on the clay. To win against him, you need to be able to do that for three and a half hours, four hours. You know, the matches that he's lost on clay the last few years have been normally long ones. He's the best player in the world for a reason.
Yeah, it's good to be close to him, but I want to try to play better than that. I'll need to, if I want to beat him, because he's going to improve the next few weeks for sure the more he plays on clay.

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