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ROGERS CUP MEN

August 9, 2011

Andy Murray

MONTREAL, QUEBEC

K. ANDERSON/A. Murray
6-3, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Andy.

Q. Was it the 'real Andy' today on the court?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, yeah. I just felt very slow. The game seemed to be going so fast. Yeah, I mean, it's happened to me already once this year. I've trained really hard to get ready for the tournament. I've always played very well here.
Today I couldn't get anything going. I started both sets really, really badly which doesn't help against someone that serves like Kevin. I was down a break early. Yeah, didn't get anything going at all.

Q. What have your preparations been since playing Davis Cup after Wimbledon? How have you prepared for the latter part of the hard court swing?
ANDY MURRAY: I trained in Miami for two weeks before I came here on Thursday. Took probably a week, 10 days off after Davis Cup to rest. Yeah, been training for pretty much two and a half weeks. I started training for a few days at home before I came over to the States.

Q. Do you stick around now and practice here?
ANDY MURRAY: I'm playing doubles tomorrow with my brother.

Q. About the strategy, you're one of the best on the tour when you're playing defensively. When somebody goes to the net, you're going to pass. What was different today that you just couldn't do what you used to do?
ANDY MURRAY: I just felt like half a step slow. So every time he came to the net, I was a bit late getting to the ball. And, yeah, I was getting behind very early in all of the rallies.
He obviously serves very well, so normally you're going to be on the defensive when he's serving. But on my own service games, I served badly. My sort of first step after the serve wasn't great.
Just got behind in the rallies early and didn't move particularly well.

Q. Maybe outside of tennis, there were new riots in England today.
ANDY MURRAY: I've seen what's been happening, yep.

Q. What's your opinion?
ANDY MURRAY: It's terrible, terrible. No other words to describe it really.

Q. You've spoken a lot about your diet and fitness coming into this tournament. Is it a bit mystifying as to why you didn't feel good physically given you've been in such good shape in the buildup?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, a little bit. I mean, sometimes you can make mistakes with your preparation. But I've done pretty similar stuff to what I've always done coming in here. You know, it's just a really bad day. It's happened to me a couple times this year and also last year, as well.
Not sure exactly why because, you know, it's normal to be a little bit sort of like nervous and not play your best when you haven't played for four or five weeks. But I hoped to be playing better than that, especially with the amount I've been practicing.
Have to try and turn it round for next week.

Q. You mentioned you're playing doubles with your brother. You've obviously got Cincinnati next week. There's plenty of time to rectify things for Flushing Meadows.
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, obviously that's the goal, is to play my best tennis there. You know, the last few years I played probably my best tennis here and then at the US Open not played so well. I would still have rather played much better than I did today.
But I'll try and do well in the doubles with Jamie and then, yeah, get myself ready for Cincinnati because I'll need to get some matches in for the US Open.

Q. Do you think you overdid it in Miami? You put yourself through the paces out there in extreme heat, made it as hard as you could physically for yourself. Do you think you overcooked it a little?
ANDY MURRAY: I don't know. You never know. I'll have a look at it the next couple of days and see, you know, maybe. I should have played more points and more sets maybe. I don't know because I didn't feel that comfortable once the points got started.
But, yeah, you need to train hard these days to be at the top of the game. You know, it can be the difference of one or two days here or there, depending on when you play. I was told Friday I was a hundred percent playing on Wednesday. You can, you know, adjust things a little bit depending on that. Sometimes you can make mistakes.
I don't know exactly what it was.

Q. You were expecting to play tomorrow originally?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I was told I was playing doubles today, singles tomorrow. But that changed yesterday about 5:00.

Q. This is not the ideal moment to ask the question, but what is the advantage and disadvantage of traveling with a big entourage?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, I don't. I travel with the same amount as everyone else, less than a lot of people. I've got three people with me this week: coach, fitness trainer and my physio. That's all I have with me.
I have four people with me at the US Open.

Q. Could you imagine traveling by yourself?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, I've done it before. I used to do it when I first came on the tour. I traveled with just a coach.
You know, it's very intense. But I think the older you get, you know, if you start to play better, you need to take better care of your body. Sometimes I was getting injured, you know, but not really having a physio that knows my body to sort of help me out and get rid of niggles, and also traveling with a fitness trainer.
Like now I have five or six days before Cincinnati. I'll need to do some stuff in the gym, do some stuff on the courts. If you're on your own, you don't know exactly what you should be doing. That's why all the guys try to travel with a physio and a fitness trainer.

Q. You said you were supposed to play tomorrow. Was that something you were disappointed by the tournament that they changed that or it's normal?
ANDY MURRAY: No, it happens sometimes. You know, you'd rather know in advance when you're playing. But it happens quite a lot on the tour, every few tournaments.

Q. You mentioned playing doubles with Jamie. What difference does it make to play with him compared to playing with someone else?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, you know, for a singles guy, a lot of times when you play doubles, it's just for a bit of extra practice or to get some time on the match court. But when I play with Jamie, I obviously want to try to win because that's his career, where he makes his money.
Tournaments like this, there's a lot of big ranking points which aren't at stake at some of the other tournaments he plays. If we can do well here, it's really good for his ranking. I always try and play my best when I'm playing with Jamie.

Q. In some respect, also more pressure for you when you play with him?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, well, if I played doubles with someone else, I play to try and get time on the match court. Winning isn't necessarily always the most important thing. When I play with Jamie, I want to win. So that obviously adds a bit of pressure. Every time you're desperate to win at something, you put a bit more pressure on yourself.

Q. What sort of impressed you today about Anderson? Do you think he can go far in this tournament?
ANDY MURRAY: He served very well. Well, that's the best part of his game. When he serves well, he's difficult to break. Then the rest is your game. You can get a bit more confidence if you're holding service games comfortably. He was able to play a bit more aggressively maybe than normal today because he got up so early in both sets. If he serves well, it's a very fast court, it's tough to break. He'll be dangerous.

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