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U.S. OPENAugust 29, 2012Andy MurrayNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK A. MURRAY/I. Dodig THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Happy with that performance? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, it was better than the first round, that's for sure. It was pretty comfortable conditions out there today. Not really any wind. It was fairly cool, as well. So, yeah, that helped. But I moved better than I did in the first match and served better than I did, so I was able to dictate more of the points because of that. Was much happier with the way I played today. Q. How did you unravel the challenge of him coming to the net so often early on? What was your strategy? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I knew he liked to come forward a lot. I've watched him play. Watched a few clips of him playing the last couple days. Knew he liked to come forward a lot. When he's up there, he likes to hit drop volleys as well. I tried, when I saw him coming into the net, to move forward in the court and managed to chase down a few of the drop volleys. You know, when you're expecting something, it makes it much easier to play against. When he first came on the tour, not many guys will have seen him. When someone serve‑volleys and comes into the net a lot, it's tough nowadays. You don't see it that often. But obviously over the last few months guys have started to understand his game a little bit better, and that's why his results this year probably haven't been as good as they were last year. Q. What makes you play so well under the lights? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I don't know. I mean, I always wanted to play the night matches at the US Open. I've always enjoyed them. Had some good wins against tough players. The conditions are nice. It's a good atmosphere to play in. There's a good energy on the court. Yeah, that's why I've played well. Q. Do you ever get distracted by the noise and movement in the crowd? ANDY MURRAY: Sometimes. I mean, especially the first time you play out there, for a while it can be hard to focus sometimes. There's a lot of noise. There's a lot of stuff going on. Also when you get in a winning position, sometimes you're wanting to keep that going and you don't want to let your opponent back into it. Sometimes you can lose focus rather than just concentrating on the next point. You're wanting to finish the match quickly because it's obviously going to be a late finish. By the time we get back into the hotel and in bed, it's going to be 1:30, 2:00 probably. That was after a straight‑sets match. You want to, if you can, get the match done as quickly as possible. Q. Did you have a chance to see any of Laura's match? ANDY MURRAY: I saw none of the first set and then most of the second set. I saw the end of the first set tiebreak. I saw from 4‑All in the first set tiebreak. Q. Thinking back to the Olympics, any tips or anything you gave her come to fruition there? Did you see a new maturity? ANDY MURRAY: When we were playing I didn't say too much. I mean, we just tried to play and not overthink it so much. You know, the one thing when I first played with her at the Hopman Cup, you know, she has a potential to move actually fairly well. She moved very well on the court today. But you need to want to chase balls down and believe that you can get to balls, and I think at the Olympics, you know, after the first match or so, she was getting to a lot of balls. She was moving, you know, much better than she had in the past. Today I thought, from what I saw, she moved very, very well. She hits the ball great when she's in good position. I think if she keeps improving on her movement, she's going to be a very, very good player. She's very good already, but she'll get to the top much quicker. Q. Can you think back to the sort of equivalent in your career when you took out a really named player in a Grand Slam? ANDY MURRAY: I don't know. I mean, I played Roddick at Wimbledon. That would have probably been my first big win at a major. You know, he'd obviously played very well at Wimbledon in the past. I'd say that was probably my first big win. It does give you confidence. She's had some close matches against top players before in the slams. She's played Sharapova I think a couple times at Wimbledon‑‑ maybe also at the Olympics as well. You know, she's good. She's very competitive when she plays against them. It's going to take a bit of time to get the consistency and whatnot, but she's a very good player. You saw that when she was playing against some of the guys at the Olympics she was returning the serve with ease sometimes. She's got very easy power and great timing. It's just going to take a little while for everything to click together. But if you look at how many teenagers there are in the top 100 compared with what there used to be, she's right up there with the best in the world for her age. She keeps improving, she's going to get very high. Q. Are you expecting to play on Saturday now? ANDY MURRAY: Saturday. Q. Is that break a problem at all? ANDY MURRAY: I don't think so. I mean, sometimes at Wimbledon it happens where you play Friday, Monday. Here it's not happened to me that often where I've had the two‑day break. I mean, a lot of the guys in the draw have had it in the first round from Monday to Thursday, then some from Tuesday to Friday. I have to view it as an advantage after what I've been through at some of the US Opens before, like last year and when I made the final as well. I had a lot of matches to play in a short space of time. I'd rather be in this position. Q. Did you find yourself singing along to the music like Laura did? ANDY MURRAY: No, I try not to. Like I said, it can be hard sometimes not to think about other things when you're out there. But I've played on that court many times now; I kind of know what to expect. Q. Can you talk a bit about your next potential opponent. Obviously López you know very well, and maybe Andujar. ANDY MURRAY: I know Andujar a lot, probably better than López. I practiced with him a lot. I grew up playing with him. He's one year older than me. Danny also knows him very well. They played a lot. They both played a lot of the same tournaments in the futures in Spain around the same time. I regularly practice with him. He's a very hard‑worker, very solid. He's having probably his best year on the tour. He's improved his game on hard courts. I think he beat Tipsarevic in Cincinnati or was on his way to beating him. I think maybe Janko pulled out. He's playing well. López I've played a lot. I do know his game well, too. He's got a big serve on him and he likes to come to the net, as well. Very different styles, the two of them. Q. López is one of the players you have the best record against. ANDY MURRAY: I've always played well against him. I've played him maybe here last year in a night match, as well. I have had good success against him in the past. But because of his style, he can make it very tricky if he plays well. Q. Do you know yet if it will be day or night? ANDY MURRAY: I would have thought I would be playing Saturday day. Q. Will that be a struggle in terms of the heat? ANDY MURRAY: Well, I hope not. I think there's a few things I'll do differently going into the match. I think this is a slightly different match. Possibly against López it would be a different match. Points are a lot shorter. Also if I serve like I did tonight, I'll be able to dictate a lot more of the points. Won't have to do as much running. Hopefully the next couple days I'll get some good practice in at those times as well and get more adjusted to the conditions. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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