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WESTERN & SOUTHERN OPENAugust 15, 2012Andy MurrayCINCINNATI, OHIO A. MURRAY/S. Querrey THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Can you talk about the match going into playing Querrey today. You had trouble in the past with him. What was your mindset going into the match today? ANDY MURRAY: I normally quite enjoy playing against him. I had a good record against him. He's never easy to play against because he's got a big serve, a big game. He likes the hard courts. He's obviously had a good few weeks. He won in LA and semis in Washington, quarters in Toronto. He's had some good wins, so I was expecting a tough match. I think that helped me. Was very sharp right at the beginning of the match. I needed to be, and it was a good start to the tournament. Q. What's the situation with the knee? How did it hold up? ANDY MURRAY: It felt fine. I moved well today. Still was giving me a little bit of trouble in practice for a couple of days before the tournament, but it felt much, much better on the court today. I moved well, so I'm hoping it won't be a problem. Q. I'm sure you heard that Rafa Nadal pulled out of the US Open with knee problems. What was your reaction when you heard that? ANDY MURRAY: Well, yeah, I mean, it's obviously a shame. I mean, I like Rafa a lot as a friend. Yeah, I'm disappointed for him. But I think for tennis and also a major competitions, it's a huge benefit when you have the top players playing. Yeah, it's obviously tough for him. He's had trouble with his knees in the past. So, you know, I hope he can rest, doesn't come back too early, and gets them fixed so he can get back to playing his best tennis. Q. How much of a disadvantage do you think it was for you and the other Olympians playing somebody like Sam or Mardy who has been playing here in the States playing hard courts all summer long? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I mean, that's why I was expecting a very tough match today and maybe the reason I played well, because I knew that Sam had had a really good stretch of tournaments. He's very, very good on the American hard courts. Yeah, I mean, you'd say it's a disadvantage. I have only played one hard court match in the last four months. That's why I was really happy with the way I played today against a very, very tough player. Q. I guess confidence matters for you, too, coming off the Olympics going into almost any match now. ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I think in the short term certainly. I mean, things change in tennis and in sport really, really quick. You know, in the immediate aftermath of, you know, big wins or good tournaments, normally you'll feel quite confident and comfortable going for your shots in the important moments and even at the beginning of matches. So, yeah, I'm hoping it helps me not only this week but going into the US Open and big matches in the future. I think it will give me that extra bit of confidence and probably feel a bit calmer going into them. Q. I'm curious if you pay any attention to the speed gun, either your serves or your opponent? Does it add anything, does it mean anything, or is it mostly for the fans? ANDY MURRAY: I think it's good for the players, as well. I mean, you know, when you know how hard you can serve and if you start a match and you're serving way below that or above it, you know, there's a speed that every player will be able to serve sort of consistently. If you start the match serving five, six miles an hour faster than that, you know it's probably a good time to sort of reel it in. You'll probably miss a few more if you're going much harder. But also on the second serve as well it's good to just see how hard you're hitting it and the speed that you're looking for and that. Also, I think I've always said I think they should do it more on the TV. They should have like a thing at the bottom like in baseball so that people can see how fast you're serving, because you don't get to see it unless the camera flicks to it at the end of the point. I think it would be very good during the matches that after each serve you can see how quick it was, because sometimes in the TV it can be tough to tell. Q. Do you think they're accurate, consistent? In other words, from here to the Open to Wimbledon, do you think it's pretty consistent stuff? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I think so. I mean, I think 138 has been my biggest ever serve, you know, and normally I'm probably around 133 to 135 is my biggest during a match. Obviously some conditions are quicker and slower than others. You know, if they weren't that accurate, you know, I'm sure I would have served a 145 at some point, and sometimes hit a big serve and, you know, and it's been 112. That doesn't often happen. Sometimes on the second serve it's a bit up and down maybe. You know, today I had a 70‑mile‑an‑hour second serve, but it felt much, much harder to me. So I don't know. Q. Do you think the number can intimidate an opponent at any time, just seeing the number? ANDY MURRAY: Personally I haven't been intimidated by the speed of a serve before. So I don't know. Q. Juan Martin was in here earlier saying after he lost to Roger, he just got a whirlwind of support from Argentinian athletes, actors, and that helped him to win the bronze. You mentioned in your pretournament interview after your Wimbledon loss to Roger you really were endeared by a lot of the Brits and the press and that that really helped you, the support you got. Can you elaborate on how that's helped you out, the positive tone that you've been getting? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I think, you know, after a match like that or, you know, losing in a Wimbledon final is obviously ‑‑ it was quite clearly quite emotional for me. It was tough, and the few days afterward were also pretty hard. But then, yeah, when people that you see and in the streets are positive, you know, the people that are around you, and then also, you know, when the press are behind you as well, it helped lift me when I was, you know, in quite a tough spot for a few days. It made me want to get back on the court and I start training much earlier than I ever have after losing in a slam final. My head was right much, much quicker. I think if people are being negative or criticizing you, you know, as a sportsman, it's hard to block it out all of the time. Sometimes it can take a little while before you start to feel better. But after Wimbledon, I felt much better much quicker, and, you know, a combination of having that support and also having a tournament like the Olympics coming up so soon after obviously helped give me a boost. The whole of the Olympics the support was unbelievable for all of the athletes. The press were so positive towards all of the sports and the Olympics in general. It helps. Q. Professional photographs take lots of pictures of you. What are your thoughts when you see some of those pictures? Like them? Dislike them? Something else? ANDY MURRAY: Actually I had a lady come up to me in Panera Bread yesterday and she said to me, she said, You look much better in person than you do behind the camera. I don't know if I like them that much. (Laughter.) I don't think when you're playing in sort of 100 degree heat on the tennis courts is when you're looking your best, I wouldn't have thought. Q. Gold medal run, confidence, everything you were talking about, how much of it is about your game improving to the point where you were actually ready to win a match like that? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I think I said at the start of the year when I started working with Ivan at the Australian Open I played very well, but I had done no work with Ivan, so having him there probably helped. But, you know, the reason why I had done well there was the work I had done in the past. I thought in six months', nine months' time I would start to see some results and the things I had been working on would start to pay off. I think over that grass court period and the way I played at Wimbledon, I was happy with the way that I played. I was going for my shots. I was aggressive. You know, I maybe made some bad choices in terms of going for too much maybe, but in the past I maybe held back too much. Even though I made some extra mistakes, I came off the court in the matches happy with the way that I played, and I hadn't sort of let my opponent dictate me the whole time. Then, yeah, I mean, I was a bit worried the week before the Olympics, because in the practice I hadn't normally played that well in the week before a big event, and I started playing really, really well in the five days really before the tournament. I was happy that I managed to carry it through. Yeah, I mean, I do feel like I'm playing better tennis, more understanding of how to play the big points and having more confidence in my game. I think Wimbledon helped with that. Even though I didn't win the final, that match gave me a bit of belief, which when I'd lost in slam finals beforehand that hadn't really been the case. Made me feel like I was further away. That time, it didn't. Q. With the increasing physicality of the game, after the success of the Olympics which were primarily a best‑of‑three event for the men, there has been some talk about possibly making Grand Slams best‑of‑three on the men's side someday. How would you feel about that change? ANDY MURRAY: I mean, I like the best‑of‑five format in the slams. I think, you know, that extra, I don't know, mental effort and physical effort, you see the rewards that you put in off the court in the slams really. When you play a best‑of‑three set match, you know, some of the matches here are like 50 minutes, an hour and 10 minutes, you know. You need to be very quick and agile, but you don't necessarily have to have great endurance. I think that is one of the added benefits of the best‑of‑five set matches. You get to see that from the players, and you get to see how much work they put in in the gym, as well. Q. Is it important at times to wear your heart on your sleeve as happened at the Australian Open, as happened at Wimbledon last month? I'm not saying that it was a deliberate thing. It was spontaneous. But how important are those sort of emotions for you for the public to see? ANDY MURRAY: Oh, I know from watching other athletes and stuff, I like watching, you know, people that are sort of emotional or characters, you know. Someone like Usain Bolt, for example. He does say some things that are quite out there. But, you know, when you watch him, you smile. You know, you enjoy watching him perform. Yeah, because when you see an athlete or, you know, people that are on TV or watching on TV, you normally just see their match. You don't see what they're like away from the court that much. Yeah, sometimes it's good to show some emotion, and you see a bit more of the personality of that person. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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