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AUSTRALIAN OPENJanuary 14, 2012Andy MurrayMELBOURNE, VICTORIA THE MODERATOR: Questions for Andy. Q. How do you feel after yesterday's brief outing at Kooyong? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I feel good. Yeah, I had good practice today. Yesterday went well. So just looking forward to starting now. Q. You said it would take you a while to get the benefits of a new coaching partnership. When somebody new comes in, I guess in football it gives the team a lift. Does that apply in this situation? Does it give you a bit of a lift? ANDY MURRAY: I mean, normally when a new coach comes into football, the team is normally struggling. I was feeling good at the end of last year. But, yeah, like I say, I'm not going to get the benefits from having Ivan this week. I'm going to see it in six months, 12 months time, you know, when all the things we work on start falling into place. I mean, it's obviously good to have someone with his experience around the slams and these situations. But in terms of the actual improvements in my game, it's going to take a little bit longer than a week to make changes. Q. There's a convention that seems to be developing, don't blame an injury if you lose to a player you respect. Looking back to last year's final, were you fully fit? You never blamed an injury. A year on, can you tell us whether you were fully fit? Anything hampering you at all? ANDY MURRAY: No. I mean, I've always been more of the opinion if you want to step on the court, you know, you play. You don't make excuses about, you know, any injuries or whatever, bad line calls or anything else that goes on. You know, you win like a man, you lose like a man, and that's it. So the same's gonna apply this year. You know, I think pretty much every player goes into matches with niggles. Very rarely in the whole year, and I played around 80 matches last year, do you go onto the court feeling perfect. So it's one of the things you deal with being a professional athlete, is dealing with niggles and little injuries. You just got to get on with it. Q. Did you know Ivan that much before? ANDY MURRAY: No. I'd spoken to him once or twice about four or five years ago when I was working with Brad Gilbert, when I trained at Bollettieri's. He came and watched a couple of my practices then. I chatted to him a couple of times then, but nothing after that at all. I didn't really know him, no. Q. How have you found him personality‑wise? ANDY MURRAY: I really enjoy being around him. He's been good fun, good sense of humor. As you probably expect, he has a lot of great stories to tell. Yeah, he doesn't hang around all the time. When we get the work done, he leaves, does his own thing. Yeah, we've got on well so far. Hopefully that continues. Q. How have your preparations been different this year for Australia? What has it been like playing Brisbane compared to playing Hopman Cup? ANDY MURRAY: To be honest, it was quite, quite similar. You know, the only difference there is that you're not guaranteed the matches. You're not guaranteed the matches in Brisbane. It's an outdoor tournament, but there's basically a roof across the court. It's great conditions to play in. It was fairly warm and humid, which was good, similar to the conditions I trained in in Miami. Then we got here, got a couple good days practicing outdoors, getting used to the wind and stuff on the center court as well. Always plays a little bit different. It's been similar to the last few years. Q. Do the memories of the last few years come flooding back when you come here or does it take time? ANDY MURRAY: I mean, I've been here probably six, seven years now. Yeah, I've obviously enjoyed playing here. I've had good results. Yeah, I don't normally think too much about the past.  Just always try and concentrate on what's in front of you, what you're trying to achieve this year. I do like the conditions here. I've always, always enjoyed them. It's a good court for me, good surface. I like the surroundings. Q. Ivan was out of tennis for some years. He wasn't a personal coach. How did you get the idea? Why exactly Ivan? ANDY MURRAY: Well, I was looking for a coach and was thinking about it during last year, but was having good results. Didn't necessarily want to start something new in the middle of a season or right before a slam. I was also doing some work with the adidas team, with Darren Cahill. It was working well. I didn't necessarily want to change it. I spoke to Darren a little bit at the end of last year and said, What's it looking like for next year? What are your plans? He offered me the same things he did last year. He wasn't around enough at the Grand Slams, and that was something I wanted. So chatted with him, had a few names, spoke to a few people. And Ivan was one of them. After speaking with him, meeting him a couple times, spent a day on the court with him. It was pretty obvious that was the guy I wanted to work with, and that was it. Q. He was known in his playing days for his work ethic and his attention to detail. Have you noticed those attributes coming through in the work he's done for you? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, he is a very hard worker. I like hard work as well. I think he's like that, as well, so far in the time we've spent together. The last couple years especially my attention to detail has gotten much, much better. Obviously I was very young when he played. But, yeah, he's obviously had a great attitude towards trying to improve. He tried many new things and he was always in great shape. He's definitely going to help with that side of things, as well. Q. Do you actually remember watching him on TV at all? ANDY MURRAY: No. I mean, I would have been five, six at the time. I wasn't really watching TV that much. But I have watched him like in the past since I've got older and started to understand the history of tennis a little bit better. Obviously seen some of his matches, reruns, bits and pieces on YouTube. Q. He's not been trying to get you in a legionaires hat, hat with a flap? ANDY MURRAY: No, no, no, not yet. Q. How does he fit into the team you put around you? Have you noticed any change in the dynamic there? ANDY MURRAY: When you have sort of a more specified coach that's going to be there all the time, I mean, it's just an extra bit of leadership there. I think it's good for all the guys I work with as well. A lot of the stuff goes through him. I think we see a lot of things pretty similar. He doesn't need to be always coming to me and saying, Do you want this? Do you need this? Do you need this? So, yeah, he's probably sort of just given the team a bit of extra leadership, and it's been good for them to have him around, as well. Q. What sort of lesson did you learn from last year's final here with Djokovic? ANDY MURRAY: Oh, a few things. I need to play better mainly. Need to get physically stronger. Then the other things I'll keep to myself and talk with Ivan about, talk with the guys about, things that I need to improve in my game. If I get myself in that position this time around, I'll do things a bit differently. Q. You grew up with Novak Djokovic. Why do you think he jumped ahead so much of the others? ANDY MURRAY: Last year? Q. Yes. ANDY MURRAY: I think probably confidence. I don't think there were major changes in his game sort of technically. He did serve better than he had done in the previous year or two before then. Yeah, he got that belief. Obviously he struggled against Rafa in finals in the past. Once he got through the first one against him, he gained confidence and just had an incredible year. I mean, I don't think there's a special ingredient or one thing in particular. It's a lot of hard work, a lot of belief, a lot of confidence, playing well at the right moments. Q. Brisbane went very well. Do you think you're in perfect condition coming into this event? ANDY MURRAY: I get asked that before every slam, perfect condition, perfect preparation, is this the best you've ever been prepared for a slam. I prepare well for all of them. You make little changes here and there. Sometimes you can pick up niggles and whatnot. But I prepared perfectly for the last few Australian Opens. I've trained very hard in December and got over to Australia nice and early and played well because of that. Hopefully this year will be the same. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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