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AEGON CHAMPIONSHIPS

June 11, 2011

Andy Murray

LONDON, ENGLAND

A. MURRAY/A. Roddick
6-3, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You controlled the match really from start to finish. You must be thrilled with that.
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I played really well. Yeah, the start is very important against Andy, because he obviously serves very well and can put a lot of pressure on you if he can sort of get through quite a few easy service games. Obviously I got the break straightaway and I played very well.

Q. Did it feel like a day when you could do virtually nothing wrong?
ANDY MURRAY: Oh, I mean, towards the end of the match -- I mean, when you have two breaks, you know, especially on this surface, it's a lot easier to go for shots and try things out. And when I was trying sort of different shots, all of them were going in.
No, I mean, the first set, I mean, it was for me -- you know, it was one break, pretty competitive. There was quite a bit of long rallies, but I managed to win a lot of them.
I came up with a lot of really good passing shots, which, you know, on another day you're not going to make every single one. Today was just one of those days where everything went right.

Q. That must give you an enormous kind of sense of where your game is with Wimbledon on the horizon, the quality of your tennis today, the sublime way that you dealt with a very, very highly qualified grass court opponent?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah. Well, it was always going to be -- I was expecting, going in, it was always going to be a good match and a good test to sort of see where my game's at and know that I'm obviously playing well on this surface. I'm moving well. Ankle's feeling good. I served well.
Yeah, there's a few things that I'll just need to sort of top up on, make sure I do well in the week before Wimbledon. But, I mean, the week's been pretty much perfect so far. Came through a tough first two matches, and then today was, you know, a real test against someone that I might have to play if I want to go all the way at Wimbledon. Played great.

Q. You had a day off yesterday. Was the ankle already fine, or...
ANDY MURRAY: The ankle felt fine, but I don't know if it did help. I obviously played very well today, but I don't think it was to do with the day off. It was -- I sort of practiced for like 25 minutes indoors yesterday, and then I went outdoors for 20 minutes and it started raining, and then I went back indoors. It wasn't exactly ideal grass court practice yesterday.
But, you know, just to able to get out of the club sort at a decent time was nice, because like at the French Open I spent so much time at the courts getting treatment, seeing physios. It was obviously a long couple of weeks there, and obviously the first few days here because of the rain and stuff. It was quite a lot of hanging around, so it was quite nice to get out of here early yesterday.

Q. You said on the court, I just got lucky. Are you doing yourself a bit of a disservice there?
ANDY MURRAY: No. The thing is it was one of those days where everything is just sort of going your way. It's not -- you know, like if there was a net cord, it would have gone my way today. If he hit a good shot, it would miss by just a little bit. Everything I was trying, every passing shot I hit was always in the right spot. I hardly gave him a chance on anything.
Sometimes against Andy you guess on the serves. I guessed right every single time today. I don't really remember him acing me hardly in the match. I was just seeing the ball really early, and it's difficult to do that every single day.
So it was a little bit of luck involved, but it's taken many years of practice to be able to play like that. (Smiling.)

Q. Is he one of the players you enjoy playing against because he's always such a great matchup?
ANDY MURRAY: I enjoy playing against him. You know, I think it's a tough matchup for me, you know, but he's very competitive. That's why I always enjoy playing him, because he is one of the most competitive guys on the tour. It's always good, long rallies. Today was just my day.

Q. When you went on court you looked calm. You stayed calm the whole time. Do you know before you go on court how you're going to feel? Can you feel inside that everything was serene and lovely today?
ANDY MURRAY: No. I mean, I think sort of this week -- it can feel like that at Queen's because it's not so much pressure on you here. The pressure will start in about eight days' time. (Smiling.)
So you just have to enjoy it, realize the goal here is to win matches, to get, you know, as many sort of matches on the surface before Wimbledon.
Yeah, just felt nice and calmed. Didn't get flustered and played really good.

Q. When Darren comes in presumably this week to work with you, is one of the things with a man who has taken people to Grand Slams be to manage your expectations, knowing the expectation of the country will be carried by you again over the next three weeks? Is that something that he's important to you in that sense?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah. I mean, I think -- I mean, obviously he has a lot of experience dealing with guys that are going into slams with a chance to win. So if it's something I feel like I need to speak to him about, then I'll talk to him about it.
But, no, I mean, like even during the French Open if I spoke to him, you know, he's very much of the opinion that you're there to win the event. That's how you go into it, with that mentality. You don't get carried away with playing -- like a match today, I played great tennis, but, you know, not to get carried away. If you play great in the second round, it doesn't mean all of a sudden you're going to win the tournament. You just have to make sure every day you're switched on.
Yeah, you have to take a businesslike approach to every single match. Yeah, it's boring, but you've got to take it one step at a time, and that's what I'll do at Wimbledon.

Q. Before Wimbledon what sort of message do you think this kind of performance sends out?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, I mean, to myself it just sends out -- well, it gives me the message that I'm in a good place now. I'm playing well. I struggled at times this year, and I feel like now I'm playing really good tennis again.
Physically I feel good, which is important. My game's where it needs to be right now. That's all you can ask for. Regardless of how the match goes tomorrow, it's been the perfect week in many ways, and I'll use the next sort of five, six days to really work hard, get myself mentally and physically ready for Wimbledon.

Q. It's looking more and more like Tsonga the way things are going. You have a good record against him.
ANDY MURRAY: Again, I enjoy playing against him. He's a great athlete. He's similar in a few ways to Andy.
You know, he's very flashy, great shot maker, can be a little bit erratic at times, but he's one of the best grass court players in the world, for sure.

Q. You have a week before Wimbledon, but how much would it mean to actually win the tournament, win another title tomorrow? How much are you focused on that?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, it would be nice. I mean, like I say, it wasn't the priority coming into the tournament. It will be come Wimbledon.
But yeah. I mean, winning in any sport is good, you know. It gives you confidence. Winning titles is something that you look back on at the end of your career and remember. So obviously I'm going to try and win.

Q. You seemed very relaxed this week. Now, obviously a lot of that has been at home, sleeping in your own bed, being around, friends around. Can you give us a clue what you've been doing to chill out, what you've been watching on the telly, what sport you've been watching?
ANDY MURRAY: Yesterday I watched the Comedy Gala. It was on quite late, around 10:00 last night. I watched that. Watched a little bit of The Apprentice.
And then, yeah, I've watched quite a few of the matches, a little bit of James Ward's match last night.
I spent a lot of time with the dogs at home and that's it, just what everyone else does in day-to-day life. I haven't been to do the groceries yet. My girlfriend did that this week, so I'm sure next week it will be my job. (Laughter.)

Q. Have you been practicing your Go-Kart racing this week?
ANDY MURRAY: I haven't, but I'm really looking forward to that. Maybe tomorrow I'll take it easy on the court so that I'm fresh for that.

Q. You haven't been with Darren for that long a period, but how have you found working with him? Where would you rate him among the world's best coaches?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, I think he's a great coach. You know, like you say, I haven't spent much time with him, but just his approach to the team and the sort of role that he would play I think has been exceptional.
He doesn't have a big ego at all, which I think can happen a lot with ex-players that have been successful coaches. You know, he's very calm, but he has strong opinions. I think he explains things very, very well. He listens very well, which I think is one of the most important things for a coach to do.
I've learned from him in the brief time we've spent together, and I'm sure he can give me a lot more advice and help me a lot. I spoke to him for a good 15, 20 minutes last night about how I have been feeling about the match today. He's a very good coach, nice guy. I enjoy working with him.

Q. Which day does he get here?
ANDY MURRAY: I think he gets -- he's here for Monday. I don't know when he leaves or if he gets in Sunday, but he'll be there on Monday.

Q. Has he worked on your serve at all? It was pretty special today.
ANDY MURRAY: No, we haven't worked on it too much, but I think it's -- the thing is when you come onto the grass, it's sort of -- the way you approach the serve changes a little bit, because on the clay, if you miss your first serve, second serve is a lot easier for guys to attack. You have to use the first serve a lot to get a higher percentage in to sort of build the point up a little bit.
You still want to get free points off it, as well. But here, you know, I want to go for my first serve. I don't want to think about, oh, I don't want to miss it, or, you know, I'm going for aces every time I throw up for the first serve. That's a good attitude on the grass.

Q. Can you comment on James Ward sort of being in the spotlight?
ANDY MURRAY: I have seen him obviously around. I haven't spoken to him too much. I've seen him a lot of times sort of as I have been going on court just as he's been coming off or the other way around.
I was getting a little bit jealous of all the attention he was getting. I had to put in a good performance today to try and get some of the spotlight back. (Laughter.)
It's been great for him obviously to, you know, to get this far in an ATP tournament, and I think the big test for him will be after the grass court period is finished to make sure he pushes on from this, because he showed he can play against some of the best players in the world. But when the grass court season finishes is when, you know, it will be down to him to put in the hard work and push himself up the rankings.

Q. Is it a refreshing change for you to have the spotlight taken away for a few days? Does that make life a little bit easier? Obviously most of the time all eyes are on you, particularly when the grass court season starts here.
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, it does change things a little bit. But, you know, I'm sure over the next sort of four or five days, you know, the spotlight will be back on me going into Wimbledon.
But it's good for British tennis every time, you know, someone's doing well, and, you know, it would be nice to have someone else. The girls have been doing well. We've got a few young ones coming up.
Yeah, I think the British tennis is in a good place right now in the women's side. I think on the men's side I think it would be nice if someone like James could push on and get his ranking higher and be competing in these events more often.

Q. He's 4-2-up, so just in case the miracle happens, did you ever think in your lifetime there'd be a possibility of playing a final against a Brit, and if it did happen in this tournament?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I didn't think -- I mean, well, right now it wasn't something I would have expected going into the grass court tournament. But we've always had good juniors. So you never know, you know, what was going to happen, but that would be pretty amazing if he managed to come through that match.
I watched a little bit of the start. He looked a little bit nervous but played a little bit better towards the end of the first set. And if he could come through, it would be -- yeah, it would be amazing, yeah.

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