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AEGON CHAMPIONSHIPSJune 13, 2013Andy MurrayLONDON, ENGLAND A. MURRAY/M. Matosevic THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. In light of all the stops and starts and interruptions, how would you assess your game over the last couple of days? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I thought the first match it was pretty high standard of grass court tennis. He volleyed extremely well today. He made a lot of good pickups, and I just managed to come up with some good passing shots at the right time in the tiebreak. But this afternoon it was hard to judge. It was so windy out there. You know, you couldn't strike the ball that clean or really go for the lines. You just had to play high‑percentage tennis. But, yeah, it was good to get through in two sets. Q. Physically how do you feel? ANDY MURRAY: I feel good. You know, that was what was most pleasing about yesterday was a lot of stops, starts, having to warm up and cool down and stuff. Everything felt good, and I woke up this morning with no real stiffness, which is good. Q. You sent a tweet the other day. You said when you have been away from something for a while you realize how much you miss it and look forward to getting back on the court. Can you talk a bit more about that kind of feeling that you've had coming into Queen's? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I think, it can be easy to take things for granted sometimes. You know, I played pretty much every Slam for about seven years, you know, and I missed it. It was difficult watching and not being there. Yeah, you realize, you know, how much you love competing, and you love being around the tournaments when everything is good and you're healthy and you're playing every week. You know, you don't often think about it that much, and when you're away from it and you miss one of the biggest tournaments, one of the tournaments you prepare extremely hard for and put the hard work in for, then it's tough. I was really looking forward to getting back on the court again, and hopefully I can have a good week. Q. Do you think it's a possibility it may be a godsend, a bit more time on grass? ANDY MURRAY: I would have much rather have been playing the French Open. You have to look at the positives sometimes, and, yeah, the one positive is I got to spend more time on the grass to prepare for here, but if I had to make that decision 50 times, you know, I would have made the same decision, but, you know, I would way rather have been at the French Open than being at home for two weeks. Q. We noticed that you sort of seem to have got quite active on Twitter. I was wondering if that was a sign you were getting a bit impatient to get back into things and were missing being in the mainstream. ANDY MURRAY: It wasn't really for that reason. It's something I have obviously done a lot in the past, as well, and, you know, these days it's something that is kind of required of you a little bit, you know, to communicate with fans and people on social media, so it's something that I have tried to do a little bit more. Yeah, when I was sitting at home, it seemed like an appropriate time to start doing it again. Q. How about researching goats on YouTube? ANDY MURRAY: That was my girlfriend that showed me that video, but, yeah, that's what happens when you're bored. (Smiling.) Q. Do you follow anybody? And if so, who? Player‑wise I mean. ANDY MURRAY: No, I try not to follow, because when I go on it, I don't want to read necessarily about what all the tennis players are doing or what any of you guys are saying about me or my matches. So I try to follow a lot of boxers, I follow some footballers and other sports, sports people. But I try not to follow too many players or people involved in tennis just because, you know, they could be saying things about me and I'd rather not read it. Q. Do you follow your mum and her tour of the world? ANDY MURRAY: No, I don't follow my mum (smiling). Q. What part of the game are you most pleased with over the last few days? ANDY MURRAY: I thought I moved pretty well. I mean, normally the first couple of matches here, you know, the court is quite slippy, and that's something I have struggled with the last few years, first couple matches. I thought I moved pretty well. I haven't slipped down once. I've been pretty careful with my footing, even though yesterday was tough because the court was wet. That has been a good sign, and now it will keep getting better. Q. In the context of what happened to you on grass last summer, obviously fantastic memories, and you had a very long stint on grass. Is it kind of almost easier to get back on it this time in view of all the positive stuff that happened? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, well, when I started practicing again, it doesn't feel great straightaway normally, you know, the timing and stuff. It takes quite a few days. But, yeah, I probably feel a bit more confident coming into this grass court season because of how I played on it last year. I think because I managed to win some big matches and play well on the grass last year, you know, I know what I did well and what I need to keep doing. You know, this year if I want to have a chance of winning Wimbledon, you know, which, you know, if I had had a bad grass court season last year, you know, it's kind of hard to know exactly what to do, but, you know, I played well last year, I was aggressive, I moved well, you know, I practiced extremely well, too. You know, I think I've definitely got a bit more confidence on the grass this year than I did going in last year. Q. Taking that another step, you say it takes you a few days to get climatized to this surface. When you're going from clay to grass, what's tougher? Getting the mind around playing from clay to grass or is it getting that footwork going? ANDY MURRAY: I mean, this time is a combination of things, because normally I come in having hit loads of balls on the clay, and then you come to the grass and you've hit a lot. So it's just a matter of getting your timing, you know, and then obviously the movement, as well. Whereas this time I didn't hit a ball for nine, ten days and didn't do any training or anything. So, yeah, that takes also time to get over that, that little bit of rust, as well. Yeah, I mean, it's a combination of things. You know, it's one thing hitting balls and getting your timing. It's one thing working on your movement and training in practice, but playing matches is what you need to do to feel comfortable on it. It's completely different. Yeah, that's why I'm glad I've got through a few matches here, because it's important for me having missed, you know, a month pretty much. Q. You don't miss much in the game. What have you thought of Dan Evans's progress over the last couple of months and the way he's played in his matches here and at Nottingham last week? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, obviously I saw a little bit of his match today. I didn't get to see his match with Pella really or with Nieminen. The win against Nieminen is a very good win. Nieminen rarely loses to guys ranked below him. He's a very solid player and has a lot of experience, so that's a very good win. You know, also beating Ryan Harrison last week is a guy who is probably around his age, you know, I think. So that's a good sign. You know, he likes these courts, Dan. Likes playing on the faster surfaces, and his results have showed that. Now he needs to make sure he keeps it up for as long as possible, because no use just playing well for a few weeks. Q. How close are you to where you wanted to have been had you gone to the French Open? So you went to the French Open, you're at Queen's. How close to that level are you? ANDY MURRAY: That's impossible to say. I have no idea. You know, I need to just keep playing the matches and building confidence. You know, the first match today was a tough one. Like I said, it's kind of hard to judge the second one because it was so windy. I have been playing very well in practice. The few days before the tournament here I practiced extremely well, so, yeah, that's a good sign. But, you know, I have to wait and see when I start getting really tested in the matches and tight situations to see how I respond. Q. Do you have any sort of sense in the back of your mind when you're moving, move pretty quickly, the dropshot when you ran towards the net, did you have anything in the back of your mind that concerns or affects you when you're doing a sprint or running around the court? ANDY MURRAY: No. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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