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U.S. OPEN

September 4, 2011

Andy Murray

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK

A. MURRAY/F. Lopez
6-1, 6-4, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Have you brought a trainer in with you just in case?
ANDY MURRAY: No, I haven't, no. No, I should be all right.

Q. That was a bit of a different start to the last match.
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, it was better. Very tough conditions at the start, as well. It was pretty windy. Had to get the feet going early. Yeah, I mean, you know, when you can get an early break, I mean, it can kind of set the tone for the rest of the match.
Tonight that was the case. And it was important, because obviously after having a long match the other day, you don't want to sort of - especially playing late at night - if you don't have to play, you know, a three-, four-hour match because it's not that easy to recover.

Q. What is it about his game that seems so comfortable for you?
ANDY MURRAY: Uhm, I don't know. I mean, it's not like he's -- he's not an easy guy to play against. Like the second set he had a few chances; I had quite a few chances. He makes it very difficult for guys because, you know, he comes up with big serves. He serve and volleys sometimes. He does make quite a bit of mistakes at times.
But he just plays so different to anyone else nowadays. I've always quite enjoyed playing against guys that have come forward against me. But, you know, I think for a lot of other players it's different 'cause you don't see it very often.
That's why he's been a difficult guy for a lot of players over the last 10 years probably.

Q. You're now sort of experienced navigating your way through Grand Slams. Are you sort of feeling where you want to be at this stage entering the last 16?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I think sort of the first two matches were not great. I played some good tennis towards the end of the first match; the second match, like I said the other day, was poor. I didn't think it was great, but I found a way to get through. And then tonight was good.
But, you know, so much can change in a couple of days. You just need to make sure you stay focused, you know, on the next match. It's a big match for me because obviously what happened earlier in the year.
But I think energy-wise I'll be feeling good going into that one hopefully for a long second week.

Q. You said to Gimelstob on the court that you were looking for revenge. Are you the sort of guy that wants revenge?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah. Yeah, I do, yeah (smiling).
I was in a pretty bad place probably around Indian Wells, Miami time. It was a tough, tough part of the year for me. It's more sort of not so much revenge against Donald, it's more for the situation I was in there and making sure that, you know, I can kind of move on from that.
Winning against Bogomolov in Cincinnati was very important for me. The match against Young won't be any different.

Q. What are the challenges of playing late at night like this?
ANDY MURRAY: Uhm, I've always quite liked playing late. I don't mind that. But it's more like if you get through the match, like the recovery and making sure you do everything properly because, you know, by the time I get to bed tonight it's going to be probably past midnight.
Then, you know, that can throw off your timings and stuff a little bit. So you just need to make sure you're pretty prompt, do the right things at the right time, and it should be fine.
But the conditions at night are completely different to during the day. It's much slower, as well. That's something that you need to make sure, like tomorrow, to go out and hit enough balls. I think it might even rain tomorrow.
But during the day, if it's hot, just to get used to the conditions again because it's quite a big change.

Q. Did you see what happened to Rafa before?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I saw a little bit on the TV.

Q. Odd? Did it look odd?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, I don't think it's odd that someone's cramping. I mean, I'm sure a lot of people were surprised because it was him that was cramping, but Rafa's human. I think some people forget that sometimes.
And, yeah, I was saying, you know, you never know why it could've been. It was incredibly human today. I think around midday loads of people were struggling with the heat. He very rarely plays that early, you know, plays matches early.
So if you mess up like your eating or get it wrong or you're drinking wrong before the match -- and from the parts of the match I saw today he did quite a lot of running, as well -- you can get yourself in a bad way in these conditions.
I'm glad he's all right, but I'm sure it was a bit of a shock for him.

Q. You must have been particularly pleased not to drop a set today.
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, well, I served a bit differently than I had in my other matches. Served a high percentage, didn't go for big serves all the time, and served smart, which I worked out quite early in the match that was going to pay off if I did that. So I was happy I did that.

Q. Is that a tactic you might keep with?
ANDY MURRAY: No. It won't work with other guys. You play against someone like Rafa or Novak and you serve like 105 miles an hour, the ball is coming back about a millimeter from the baseline every time. Doesn't work against the better returners.

Q. What sort of player is Young in your mind?
ANDY MURRAY: He's talented, so he can hit winners from all parts of the court. He comes forward pretty well, he volleys good, he's got nice feel around the net, and he's got quite easy power which, you know, can be sometimes difficult. Guys look like they're not winding up to hit a big shot, and he can create quite a lot of power.
He's got a big first serve when he goes for it, but he can be a little bit inconsistent, as well. He can come and go in matches a little bit. A bit like Haase in some ways. That's why he's flashy. Can get on a roll, plays well. He's tough.

Q. When you start as well as you started tonight, does it make you wonder a little bit why you didn't start well in the previous two rounds?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, no. I mean, the first round is always going to be similar to that. I mean, it's happened many times to guys. You know, like I said, the nerves, the buildup to the tournament, just getting started can sometimes take a little bit of time. Your legs feel a little bit heavy so you're not moving as well. You know, then you might rush a little bit.
Then the second match, it was just one of those days where I wasn't feeling great on the court. Had to just find a way to win and come through it. It does happen sometimes, and you just have to find a way to deal with it.
But I knew tonight, after coming through the last match, I was going to feel better on the court than I did in the previous round. Getting off to a good start was going to be important.
So I was moving well early on. Had good intensity early in the match. That's something that I'll keep with the rest of the tournament.

Q. You put a message on Twitter about all the retirements. Are you convinced it is the length of the season?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I mean, sometimes it's -- you know, I think a lot of guys got sick. I don't know whether it was food poisoning or whatever. But, yeah, I mean, the season's too long; too many mandatory events.
It's maybe not the length of the season, but there's so many mandatory tournaments you have to play. You basically have like 16 mandatory events now during the year. It's just too long. And then obviously, like with Davis Cup, it always comes pretty much the week after the slams, too. You know, it's quite a long stretch.
I mean, like after here, I won't have been home since two, four, five, six, seven, it will be like nine weeks since I've been home. That's quite a long stretch, and it happens quite a few different times of the year.
I just think, yeah, guys get tired. If you don't look after your body properly and you don't have the right people around you. Like I'm lucky now to be in a position to have guys with me all the time.
But when I was younger, it's the same. If you don't have that luxury of being able to have guys, then it's going to be difficult to keep your body healthy throughout the year.

Q. Roger Federer sort of implied that some people were pulling out maybe when they didn't necessarily have to.
ANDY MURRAY: It's not so much -- I mean, the pull-outs, yeah, you can go -- I think I stopped one match when I couldn't hold a racquet. You always got to try and give it a go if you can.
But I'm sure, you know, Roger thinks as well the season's a little bit too long, as well. So whether guys are pulling out too quickly or not doesn't change the fact that the season's too long.

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