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AUSTRALIAN OPENJanuary 23, 2013Andy MurrayMELBOURNE, VICTORIA A. MURRAY/J. Chardy THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. You seemed to get stronger as that match went on. Was that your feeling? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I mean, I started the match pretty well I thought. Then when he got a break back in the first set, I became a bit tight. He's a tough guy to play against because of the nature of his game and his style. He goes for a lot of shots and, you know, he can play a couple of games where he misses and then, you know, three, four games he's hot and he makes very few errors and puts you under a lot of pressure. So, yeah, that's why it's tough to play against him. But I thought I did a pretty good job throughout the match. There were a couple of games I could have done a bit better on, but for the most part it was good. Q. Is it a relief for you to have that run of games at the end, to hit that sort of form going into the semifinals? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I mean, I think you have to trust yourself that, you know, when you are tested you're going to play better tennis. You never know for sure. But, you know, in the buildup to the tournament I played very well. I haven't lost a set here yet. So, you know, maybe I'm expecting to play too well or whatever. But I've done a good job so far in this tournament. I can't be disappointed with where my game's at. And, yeah, hope the next round I play better again. Q. Where do you stand on the idea that you could be undercooked going into the semifinal because you've only played three‑set matches so far? ANDY MURRAY: Well, I mean, it kind of depends. You know, Roger has not lost a set yet. He has played some tough players, you know, and a variety of different styles. So I'd say he's been tested pretty well. For me, I mean, today was a decent test. You know, really the last match was the one that was kind of a tough one just because, you know, normally against Simon, it's a lot of long rallies and it's a tough match against him.  It was just kind of a nothing match. There was nothing really going on. There was no real atmosphere between us on the court. That was a tough match for me. But, you know, who knows. I played a lot of tennis in December. I had some good matches in Brisbane. So, I mean, I can't be disappointed about being in the semis of a slam without dropping a set. That would be silly. Q. It seems more than likely, assuming Federer wins, it will be the top four seeds again. ANDY MURRAY: Don't assume that he's going to win. A few times in slams before I've been asked about playing Roger or Rafa. You know, it happens. The US Open last year is a good example. Tsonga's a tough, tough player. So, you know, it's going to be a tough match. Roger's the favorite for it, but you never know in individual sports. Anything can happen. If one guy has an off night and someone, especially with a style like Tsonga, if he plays his best, it's tough. Q. Three of the top four are in the semis already. Seems like that's happened with pretty good regularity on the ATP. Do you have any sense of why it happens on the men's tour but not on the women's tour? ANDY MURRAY: I think the five‑set matches are probably a good reason for that. You know, the longer the match goes on, you know, someone like a Ferrer, for example, his game is so solid all the time, that to beat him over five sets‑‑ you know, yesterday was a perfect example of that. Almagro probably should have won the match. For two, two and a half sets he was the better player, but you need to be the better player for three‑out‑of‑five. There are way more upsets in tournaments that are best‑of‑three sets in the men's just because you get off to a bad start and guys can get a quick win over you; whereas over best‑of‑five it often takes five hours sometimes to beat the top players in the world. It's not easy. Q. I think you're heading out to Hisense tonight for a hit. Is that as much for the lights? ANDY MURRAY: It's purely for the lights, yeah. I mean, I played in Brisbane a couple of matches in the evening, but it's slightly different there, as well, because there's a roof too. That's why I'll go out there. I'll hit under the lights tonight and do the same tomorrow. Q. Going into the semis, do you feel different from last year after what you've achieved mentally? ANDY MURRAY: Well, yeah, I mean, I feel probably a little bit calmer maybe than usual. But I still have an understanding of how difficult it is to win these events. You know, with the players that are still left in the tournament, it's going to be a very tough, tough few days if I want to do that. So, you know, I'll just stay focused, work hard in my next couple of practice sessions, and, yeah, hope I can finish the tournament well. Q. There's been a lot of talk about the scheduling. Does it concern you that you haven't played a night match on Laver yet? ANDY MURRAY: No. The scheduling for me is part and parcel of playing in really any tennis tournament. It's tough to make the schedule perfect for every single player. But, like I said, I'll go out and hit balls on the Hisense tonight under the lights. I'll do the same again tomorrow, and that's it. If I was the tournament director or the referee or whoever decides the schedule, I also would have put Federer against Tsonga on as the night match tonight because it's the best match of the day. So I have no complaints about the schedule at all, and I didn't complain about it the other day. I was asked a question about the schedule. I said that sometimes it works in your favor and sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes you have to make adjustments. And that's why tonight, rather than going and watching this match, I'll go out and hit some balls under the lights to be as best prepared as possible. Q. Ivan Lendl was invited to watch the Davis Cup final in Prague. Did you watch the match? ANDY MURRAY: I watched quite a bit of it. I was actually on holiday. I watched quite a lot of the fifth rubber. I saw none of the doubles. I saw a little bit of Ferrer's match with Berdych, not much. I'm obviously very close with Alex who is the captain of the Spanish team, so I was following it for that reason. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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