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WIMBLEDONJune 23, 2012Andy MurrayLONDON, ENGLAND THE MODERATOR: Questions for Andy. Q. How do you feel about your form going in? ANDY MURRAY: We'll see when the tournament starts. The match at Queen's is the one I would look at. It was a close match that I lost there. The exhibition matches, the result is completely irrelevant. Practice has been good, though. I've trained well. Each day felt a bit better on the grass. Hopefully feel good on Tuesday. Q. What are your thoughts on the first‑round draw? Davydenko, a tough opponent. ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, it will be tough. He was in the top four or five players for a number years. He's won some big events. He's won the Tour Finals. He's won Masters Series. It's going to be a tough match. He hasn't played so well this year, but he has a lot of experience and has been a top player for a lot of years. Q. I know you don't like to look beyond the first round. Potentially you could play some big servers. Do you think with your return game you'd back yourself against them? ANDY MURRAY: It's always a tough match when you play against big servers. I've had a good record against them in the past. It can be quite mentally challenging playing against them because you can't really lose focus on your own serve, even if it's just for a few points. It can be tough to break them. Big servers usually play better when they're ahead, as well. It would be stupid for me to look past Davydenko. Although I'm sure many people will, I won't be making that mistake. Q. What do the Olympics mean to you? And this year what is added to it? ANDY MURRAY: Obviously I learned a lot from losing in the last Olympics how important it was to me. It hurt me a lot. You know, I'd never been to an Olympic Games before, before the one in Beijing. But when I lost, it hurt me. When I saw the reaction of the players up on the podium‑‑ you know, even Roger won a doubles gold medal. If he won a doubles Grand Slam I don't think he would have been as emotional. Even Novak winning a bronze medal and being in tears. You wouldn't see that losing the semifinals of a slam. So it means a lot to the players. Having it in London is going to make a difference to the support. Playing it at Wimbledon as well is going to make it special. Q. What would mean more to you, winning an Olympic medal or winning Wimbledon? ANDY MURRAY: I don't know. I've been asked that question loads over the last few days. I don't really know. To be honest, I would take either one. They're both different. But, yeah, I don't know. I mean, I think maybe 10 years ago a Grand Slam was probably viewed as being bigger in tennis. But now everybody's playing the Olympics, all the top players are playing the Olympic Games. No one is skipping it. So I think winning a medal for your country is a big achievement. Q. With Wimbledon being your home slam, does that create added pressure or something you don't really think about? ANDY MURRAY: Doesn't add any extra pressure. I think in all sports playing at home is viewed as being a huge advantage, whereas for some reason when it comes to Wimbledon everyone thinks it's a bad thing. There's more pressure on you and it doesn't help. But I haven't really found it that way. When I've played here, I've enjoyed the challenge, I've enjoyed playing in front of a passionate crowd, and it's helped me. Q. Has Ivan told you any stories about his time playing at Wimbledon, experiences he went through? ANDY MURRAY: No. I mean, I've spoken to him about all of the different tournaments. He was explaining to me why he sort of missed the French Open. He was more trying to say so long as you give it your all and you prepare as best you can and give yourself the best opportunity to win, you're not going to come off the court or end your career without any regrets. He was just talking to me a bit about why he decided to miss the French Open to try to prepare for Wimbledon. Even though he could have had more Grand Slams by playing at the French Open, he wanted to get on the grass and make sure he gave himself the best possible chance to win here. I haven't spoken to him that much about anything else to do with Wimbledon or when he played here. Q. After David Nalbandian's moment of madness, what is the worst thing you can remember doing on court? ANDY MURRAY: Worst thing I've done on court? I don't know. I mean, I haven't seen anything like that in tennis before. I mean, he obviously could have hurt himself. It was an unfortunate situation, a mistake that he's made. But, I mean, it does happen. Sometimes you've seen worse things in other sports. You know, like Eric Cantona karate kicking someone in the crowd, boxers biting people's ears off and stuff. He obviously made a mistake, but I haven't seen anything like that in tennis before. Q. How much of a role does confidence play in playing the way you play? ANDY MURRAY: A major part of it, I think, in individual sports more than in team sports. I mean, yeah, confidence, self‑belief, whatever you want to call it, I think it plays a huge part. Q. How would you describe your level of confidence? ANDY MURRAY: I always feel good going into the slams, especially the last few years, because that's what I've been trying to peak for and trying to play my best tennis at. Sometimes I might not have played my best in other tournaments because of it. I need to find a better job of trying to play my best all the time throughout the year. But coming into the slams, I've always felt good the last couple years. Q. I know you're a big football fan. You've been watching the Euros. Who are you tipping for the championship? ANDY MURRAY: I think Germany looked good yesterday. I mean, pretty much all the top teams, bar Holland, are left in it, so it could be anyone's, to be honest. I think in the knock‑out competitions, a bit of luck here or there can change things. Q. Are you planning any changes to your routine during this Wimbledon? ANDY MURRAY:  No. I'll do pretty much the same stuff as I've always done. I'll still stay at home and do the same stuff on the off days: come over here and practice on the back over at Aorangi for an hour, hour and a half. But nothing different. Q. Is there a little part of you or a big part of you that ever thinks, Gee, I wish I was playing in a different era, wasn't stuck with Federer, Nadal, Djokovic? ANDY MURRAY: No, not really. I've been asked that question loads over the last few weeks and months, but it's not something I think about, to be honest. I think I just try and work hard and try and make sure I'm in a position to compete for the big events. I've done a good job of putting myself in that position the last couple of years. I've always been there or thereabouts in the slams. I just need to make that final jump. Q. You've talked over the past year about controlling your emotions on court, whether it's good to let out your emotion or whether that is something that sometimes gets away from you. What do you come into this tournament feeling you need to do emotionally on the court to succeed? ANDY MURRAY: You need to make sure it's not affecting the following point if you win a point or losing a point. If you get too excited after winning a point, you make a silly mistake on the next point, or you get too down after losing a point and you therefore aren't putting all of your attention onto that following point. That's the most important thing. I think guys in the past, like, say, John McEnroe, have broken racquets, he's hit water bottles into the crowd, screamed at umpires, had horrific behavior on the court. I don't know whether that affected him the next point. He always seemed to be very focused the next point. If you're going to let your emotions out, don't let it drag on. Get it out in one big scream or shout, whatever it is, and then get on with it. Q. How do you deal with the pressure with both Wimbledon and the Olympics coming up, particularly in light of what happened at the Beijing Olympics? ANDY MURRAY: Well, nothing changes really. You just concentrate on Wimbledon just now. When Wimbledon is finished, I'll get on to preparing for the Olympics. There's so many big competitions for tennis players right now with Wimbledon, Olympics, and then a few weeks afterwards the US Open. You really need to make sure you don't get ahead of yourself or start thinking three, four weeks in advance. You need to make sure you stay in the present and stay concentrated on Wimbledon. When Wimbledon is finished, then get myself ready for the Olympics. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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