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AEGON CHAMPIONSHIPSJune 14, 2012Jamie MurrayLONDON, ENGLAND THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. What happened today? JAMIE MURRAY: Well, we lost. We were a bit slower to start off with, and then second set we had quite a few chances at the end. We were starting to play quite well. Made 5‑3 in the tiebreak, as well, and we lost four in a row, so that was a bit disappointing. But good thing I was able to get a few matches on grass. You know, those guys, top team out there. We were close, especially second set, but just didn't quite get over the line, which was a shame. You know, if we had got that set, then, just a tiebreak, and anyone can win those. Q. Quite a tough matchup for you guys. Relatively young pairing together, wasn't it? JAMIE MURRAY: Well, yeah, we never played together before. I mean, it's scratch pairing, but, you know, I don't think that necessarily should lose in the match. I don't think that's necessarily why we lost the match. Yeah, I'm sure it helps that those guys play a ton of matches and we played one match last night. In saying that, we still were close and, you know, with a little bit of luck or slightly done a couple shots, we would have won the second set. Q. Who are you playing with in Wimbledon? JAMIE MURRAY: Playing with Butorac. Playing him next week in Eastbourne as well. Q. How did that all get on again? JAMIE MURRAY: Well, him and his partner stopped after the French Open kind of unexpectedly, and he just wrote and asked me if I wanted to play. I was, like, Yeah, let's do it. Q. Any prospect of that being a long‑term arrangement? JAMIE MURRAY: Don't know, actually. Didn't talk about it or anything. I mean, I guess if we were to play, like our next tournament wouldn't be until almost US Open, anyway, because I think Booty is playing team tennis after Wimbledon, so that's three weeks, and Olympics is there and then the Masters Series, which we probably won't get into together. Yeah, I guess we'll see, maybe see how things go. I don't know. I don't know if he's set up something else already for after. Q. How do you get on together these days? JAMIE MURRAY: Good, yeah. Fine. Yeah, looking forward to playing next week. It will be good to get back out on court and play with someone I played with before and had success with. Yeah, something to look forward to, I think, for me. Q. Was it ever a consideration for you to play with Andy this week? JAMIE MURRAY: Well, yeah, we were entered into the tournament, but then he didn't want to play because of his back. So to find Marcos just two or three days before the tournament‑‑ but we were entered to play here, yeah. Q. You obviously know each other anyway, so it's not exactly match practice together to get to know each other before the Olympics, but it would have been nice? JAMIE MURRAY: Yeah, in an ideal world it would have been good to play here, especially being the Olympics is on grass. But, I mean, yeah, we played a lot I guess the last couple of years more and more. You know, we came close, you know, a lot of times with the top teams this year already, you know, played some good matches. We won Tokyo last year and Valencia the year before. We know how to play. I guess sometimes like when you come up against the guys who are playing ‑‑we played the Bryans in Monte‑Carlo. Those guys have played 10 million matches together, and we were playing once or twice every six months, like it's ‑‑ you know, there are important moments like that, for sure. But we know on our day, you know, we can beat anyone. We can lose to anyone, but we can beat anyone. Q. Are you a little bit concerned with Andy's back, that it might affect whether you play together at the Olympics? JAMIE MURRAY: No, I don't think his back's really giving him too much problems. I mean, stuff that happened at the French Open, I don't think that was ‑‑that was something different to what he hurt before. But, yeah, I think he's made it quite clear that his back has been fine. I think he just was kind of told by the doctor that, you know, you had your injections and now you probably need to have a time where you need to rest a little bit. So he's like, Well, I'd rather miss doubles here, but I guess maybe he might regret that now, you know. (Smiling.) I mean, I haven't thought about it. I don't really see it as a massive issue. I mean, yesterday he played fine. He didn't win, but it certainly wasn't his back that made him lose or anything like that. Q. What about mixed at Wimbledon? JAMIE MURRAY:  I think I'm going to play with Paola Suárez, a girl from Argentina. We signed up for the French Open even though we weren't high enough to get in. She asked me if I wanted to play Wimbledon, so, yeah, fine. We'll see how that goes. But, yeah, she plays good. Q. Presuming one or two of the British girls get into Wimbledon, into the Olympics, would you hope to play mixed at the Olympics? JAMIE MURRAY: I don't know. I haven't really thought about it. Really just thought about playing the men's with Andy. I mean, I guess Britain will probably get one pair in. I haven't thought about it. The mixed might be quite interesting to see which players turn up, because you could have some pretty tough teams playing the mixed doubles, I think. I haven't thought about it. Q. There's only 16 players, so I'd think about it if I were you. JAMIE MURRAY: Yeah, well, I mean, it's not going to be ‑‑I'm sure Britain, they're going to need a wildcard, anyway. So I think there's only 12 teams get in directly and then there's four wildcards. If you think if the teams that get in, you combine ranking to get in might be something like 15 or something. Q. A couple of wins you go on the podium, won't you? JAMIE MURRAY: That's the thing: you win two matches and then you get a medal chance. I think it's tough to play all three events, I guess. Never know. Q. Every time we talk to you, we sort of ask you about a kind of more permanent part in the deal. Is anything in the offing? JAMIE MURRAY: No, I guess not. It's difficult. I mean, of course I want to play with someone regular, and I tried to start the year with Paul Hanley but it was pretty rubbish. Then since then two or three tournaments with Andy, and then after that kind of played with random people. Q. Do you think that a prospective partner might be a little bit dubious in that they might be thinking, well, every time his brother asks him, he'll go off with him? JAMIE MURRAY: Well, no, because, you know, I play with Andy in the tournaments that I can't get into with someone else of my ranking, which normally is the Masters Series tournaments and maybe some of the 500 tournaments, as well, because they're pretty much like playing the Masters Series tournaments now. So, no, I wouldn't have thought so. I just don't think ‑‑there's not that many guys playing doubles anymore. You know, the top 25, 30 guys are all set up with each other. After that there's not a whole lot of guys to choose from. Say, well, I could play a few tournaments with a guy who is ranked 70 or 80, but then I wouldn't have any chance to get into the 500 tournaments or the Masters. So, yeah, it's difficult. It's not ideal, but it's been like this for the last 18 months. That's frustrating sometimes, but it's just the way it is. Yeah, hopefully, you know, I can find someone soon, but it would be nice to have a bit of peace of mind when I get around tournaments. Q. When you're sort of on the lookout for a new tournament, is it you that does it or... JAMIE MURRAY: No, I do it. Q. There is a sort of feeling that you and Eric were actually made for each other a few years ago, maybe like a relationship. Having been apart for a while you may see that, and do you think you could be pretty good again? JAMIE MURRAY: Yeah, I mean, probably he did ‑‑well, he did better than me, I guess, probably in the time that we ‑‑my ranking kind of fluctuated a bit for a while. Q. But together you... JAMIE MURRAY: Yeah, we did good for, yeah, a few months that we played together. Yeah, so hopefully if we play at Wimbledon, then, you know, things will go good again. Yeah, who knows? Maybe we'll keep going after that. Yeah, I mean, if we're successful where we feel good with each other on the court again, I'm sure it's a possibility. Q. You talked about the difficulties of finding a partner. Have you ever thought of suggesting to the ATP a transfer window for doubles players? JAMIE MURRAY: (Smiling.) Well, basically they have on their Internet or whatever that you can put up for looking for certain tournaments and stuff, which can sometimes be useful, sometimes not. Q. What do you plan to do in the three‑week stretch between Wimbledon and the Olympics? JAMIE MURRAY: I will probably go and play a couple of tournaments, I would have thought, probably in Europe, and then the week before just train back on grass again. Yeah, I couldn't see myself really sitting around for three weeks and practicing, like I'd rather go play tournaments and play matches and stuff, even though not necessarily on grass but at least it's better for me. I mean, practicing on grass for two weeks is pretty difficult. If you ask anyone that, they wouldn't choose to do that. Q. Does Lendl have any input into your play? JAMIE MURRAY: No, no. Q. Putting you and Andy together for the Olympics, is the fact that you won't have had a tournament negated by the fact that you inherently know what he might do on the court because you have been around so long? Does that help, given you have a short lead‑in? JAMIE MURRAY: Yeah. I mean, we played a lot of matches together. I have watched him play a lot of matches, as well. Pretty sure of what each other's trying to do on the court and how each other is playing. I mean, I think we will probably try and practice in the leadup to the Olympics, in that week before, and try and prepare. I mean, I'm sure not as much as he will be preparing for his singles, of course, but at least if we're able to play some practice matches against other teams, that's going to help us. But I think probably more importantly that we, you know, get on the court with a clear idea of what we're trying to do in terms of how we want to play and tactics and that sort of stuff rather than, you know, just turning up and winning it, you know, which we have done in the past. But, you know, sometimes win, sometimes lose. You know, I think probably our preparation for something as important as that, we'll probably try and do it a bit better than, you know, for a normal ATP tournament. Q. Are you always in charge of tactics? JAMIE MURRAY: Not really, no. A bit of both, yeah. Q. As a Grand Slam winner, of course, you're up there. JAMIE MURRAY: I don't know about that. (Smiling.) We get on fine on the court, and I think normally he's quite happy with me telling him what to do, or sometimes I'll ask him, like, you know, What should we be doing here or where should I serve or whatnot? Sometimes you've got a different feeling from the other player about what you should be doing. So it's good, you know, to clear things up or at least have the same sort of vision of what you want to do. Q. How big is the Olympics for you, considering it's here and all that sort of stuff? JAMIE MURRAY: I mean, it's a huge event. Yeah, Wimbledon is exciting because it's Wimbledon. You know, it's my favorite tournament of the year. The fact that we get to play the Olympic Games and that at Wimbledon is, you know, is totally unique and I'm sure it will never happen again in my lifetime. So, you know, I think the chance to play there and do it with Andy is pretty amazing. If you ask me what I'd rather do better in, I'd probably say the Olympics, yeah. Q. Would you have liked to have seen another European grass event between Wimbledon and the Olympics? Maybe that's an opportunity missed for guys to prepare? JAMIE MURRAY: I don't know. Difficult to say, because it's probably not many people, places that can host a grass court tournament. I mean, the calendar is probably done like three years in advance, maybe a couple years at least. So, I mean, maybe they thought about it, I don't know. But never really came into my head. Q. Do you and Andy ever talk about Beijing? JAMIE MURRAY: Not really. Q. Probably just as well. JAMIE MURRAY: Yeah, it's done, done and dusted. Can't change anything like that. Q. Did you enjoy the whole experience? Was that a good experience? JAMIE MURRAY: Yeah, I mean, it's cool being in the Olympic Village and all that stuff, seeing all the different athletes. I mean, the crap thing for us being at tennis is because as soon as we lost, you had to go all the way back to the States because it was the US Open. So nobody could really hang around and really enjoy or go to different events and that. So that was frustrating, but I guess with our sport, that's the thing week to week, isn't it? But year I don't know if I'll stay in the Village, because it's so far from where we need to be, and I live like a two‑minute drive from it, so probably doesn't really make sense. Will definitely go check it out, though. Q. Are you interested in seeing other sports, boxing and stuff, any particular thing? JAMIE MURRAY: I like all the stuff everyone else likes: swimming, gymnastics? Q.  Archery? JAMIE MURRAY: Archery, yeah. (Smiling.) Yeah, Scotland might have a few shooters, I think. I think the fun thing for us last time was kind of, you know, you've got your Great Britain residents, and coming back in the evening after practicing or playing, you know, they see who's won a medal or whatever, who's qualified for the finals of their event, things like that. That, for us, was sort of the fun part. Really made you think like you're a part of the team and, you know, everyone wants to kind of contribute something good. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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