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U.S. OPEN

September 10, 2011

Andy Murray

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK

R. NADAL/A. Murray
6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Bad luck. Beginning of the fourth set, was it crucial to the general outcome? You've come back so well in the third. You had chances.
ANDY MURRAY: I think the first two sets were probably more crucial, you know, because I had chances to break and go up a break in the first and the second sets, and didn't.
And then, yeah, I was playing better in the third and fourth sets. I had a chance to go up in the fourth. Didn't quite get it. Obviously then, yeah, I managed to hang on relatively well right until the end.
Yeah, it was a tough match because I think both of us had quite a lot of chances.

Q. You went to the net 44 times.
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah.

Q. Won 33 points.
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah.

Q. Was that reacting to the circumstances, or was it a conscious strategy that you had worked out before?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, he was slicing a lot of returns at the start of the match, and then so when I went down I started serving and volleying a little bit more. Then once he started seeing I was serve volleying, he was hitting over the returns more - or as much as he could. Then it becomes harder to serve and volley against that.
But, yeah, I was trying to come in. The first two sets I just wasn't coming in on the right shots, and then I started picking my moments much better on the third and fourth sets.

Q. The Rafa you played today, how does he compare to other chances you've had against him? People have talked about, you know, he hasn't won as many titles as you this year.
ANDY MURRAY: He's playing well, yeah. He's playing well. I mean, he's had an incredible year, and I think he hasn't lost a set in this tournament until tonight.
That would suggest he's playing pretty well.

Q. Did you feel you had feel the momentum at the start of the fourth?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I was playing better and I was starting to get into more rallies and playing, I think, smarter tennis. I was maybe going for too many big shots at the beginning of the match.
And then the third and fourth sets I started being more patient, and, yeah, like I said, started picking the right moments to come forward. When you win a set and when the guy's been up, then -- you know, a bit like when I played against Isner yesterday. He probably had more of the momentum in the fourth set, but I managed to hang on.

Q. The Djokovic/Federer match, I presume you saw Djokovic's forehand on match point down deep in the fifth.
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah.

Q. Have you ever seen at crunch time in your experience on a big stage a shot quite like that where he unleashed and handed out that incredible winner?
ANDY MURRAY: I have seen Roger and Rafa hit some unbelievable shots over the last four or five years. I mean, I don't know what Novak said about his shot, but it's one of those where he just went for it. You know, out of ten you'll probably make two or three.
Yeah, I was watching the end of the match. He looked like he started shaking his head. It was more out of frustration than anything. He caught it clean and hit an unbelievable shot and managed to turn the match around.
I have seen those guys that are at the top of the game hit some unbelievable shots the last few years.

Q. You talked about the need to be patient after the last match.
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah.

Q. What sort of made you go for it a little bit too much?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, it's tough, because when you played a long match the day before, you need to sort of get a balance right. Anyone playing Rafa, you're gonna play a lot of long rallies. So if you can get some opportunities to try and shorten the points, then it would be good to do that.
And then, yeah, once I went behind, realized that kinda wasn't working. I was playing more longer rallies. Physically I felt decent considering the circumstances. We had quite a lot of points and long games. It was like three-and-a-half hours.
So, yeah, I just needed to, you know, especially in the second set I needed to be much more patient.

Q. Was the back a slight issue?
ANDY MURRAY: No, not until right at the end of the match. But it wasn't -- I didn't feel it at all until middle or end of the fourth set. It was just sore from playing a lot of tennis on the hard courts. I'm sure everyone has problems right now.
You know, obviously with playing three best of five-matches in three days you're gonna feel things sort of stiff and sore.

Q. Was it difficult at all to keep the belief that you can go out and beat Rafa on a stage like this?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, I have beaten him before twice, so, no, it's not the belief that's the problem. I just need to play the right way. You know, yeah, I feel like on the hard courts is my best matchup against him.
On the grass I definitely need to improve, and on the clay I definitely need to improve a lot to win against him.
So I don't feel like I'm far off on the hard courts.

Q. Tomorrow a lot of us will write about Andy Murray, the best player never to win a slam. Is that the kind of thing that bothers you? Is it an unfair media story? Do you have the confidence it's gonna happen in 2012?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, for me it's something I want to try and achieve, but if you -- I mean, if you want to judge someone's whole career based purely on slams, I would have had a terrible career.
But I don't really feel like I have. So, you know, there have been other things I've done well, and I've still got hopefully three or four more years where I'm playing the tennis in my peak. I need to stay healthy and, you know, improve.
Because if I don't, then it's gonna be difficult to win one. But if I do, then I'm getting a little bit closer each year. This year was the best year for me in the slams. Yeah, there is a few things I need to get better at to do it.

Q. Are you at all frustrated by the last few days of having to play those three days in a row and what it meant for you in terms of chances of winning a slam?
ANDY MURRAY: It wasn't ideal. Everyone like in my half of the draw would say it wasn't ideal. But you just gotta deal with it, because that was the situation we were in. We knew it was gonna be like that for a quite a few days, and just tried to get through it and deal with it the best way we could.
But it was never going to be easy.

Q. Do you feel like you will be fit to play Davis Cup?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah. Yeah.

Q. Is there something about Novak's game you think that matches up well against Rafa as compared with anybody else?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, I mean, like last year, I mean, Novak had never won against Rafa in a slam or in a final. But then, you know, things change, and a bit of confidence makes a huge difference in this sport. He's obviously beaten him what, five times this year?
So, I mean, Rafa can obviously still win against him, but Novak this year, he's playing much better tennis than he did last year.
That's something I have to look at and say, you know, It's not like it's impossible to improve, you know, at this stage and get better and turn those sort of results and head to heads, to turn them around.
So, you know, I'm sure the final will be a very good match. I don't see anyone as a major favorite.

Q. What does it mean to you to be able to go back and play in Scotland in a week's time?
ANDY MURRAY: It's nice. Yeah, I mean, it's not something I'm thinking about too much, but I'm sure I'll enjoy it again and enjoy being with the team. I always enjoy playing Davis Cup. I'm sure it will be fun again.

Q. Sam was saying before you that the city feels different this week because of the 10th anniversary of 9/11 tomorrow. Do you have a slightly different perspective of tennis and life playing just the day before the 10th anniversary?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I mean, tennis, at the end of the day it's just a game. That's why, you know, tomorrow and the day after you have to be more happy that we get the chance to do that for a living. You know, I have like a great family and a lot of very nice friends.
You know, obviously what happened 10 years ago -- well, yeah, I mean, it was shocking. More for me -- more the last couple of days rather than the whole week I think has been a bit different, especially around the tennis, a lot more security. It seemed maybe a little bit quieter around the city, I guess.
But, yeah, only the last couple of days, I think.

Q. What's your plan for the week now? When are you heading home?
ANDY MURRAY: I will probably leave tomorrow and then go straight up to Scotland. I might even fly directly there, because I think the team's meeting up tomorrow evening. I'll go as soon as I can.

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