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QATAR EXXONMOBILE OPENDecember 30, 2013Andy MurrayDOHA, QATAR THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. What do you think of the courts in Qatar and the country itself? ANDY MURRAY: The courts? Q. Yeah. ANDY MURRAY: Well, it was quite fast. I mean, obviously in the evenings it can get quite cold, so that slows things down a little bit, but the courts are fairly quick. It's changed a lot here since the last time I was here. I mean, the skyline is ‑‑I mean, there are some pretty amazing buildings which weren't here the last time I was here. I guess it's only going to keep getting better, I would have thought, over the next few years' buildup to the World Cup. Q. For those of us who haven't seen you in a while since you had your surgery, could you tell us about the surgery and what kind it was and, you know, your process of ‑‑you seemed to heal pretty fast, and how are you feeling now? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I feel like I have recovered well from it, but it's still a process. You know, I don't know exactly how I'm going to wake up tomorrow but today was good in the match. You know, I'm sure over the next few weeks and months I'll know a little bit more about how well it's gone, but, you know, I got through all of my training pretty well and through the rehab pretty good with not really any setbacks. Yeah, I just need to play matches now, and that's when I will see whether it's been a real success or not, but it's been good so far and I'm not in any pain just now. Q. Tomorrow you face a player from Qatar. What expectations do you have from tomorrow's match? ANDY MURRAY: That's quite a hard question, because I know he lost 6‑Love, 6‑Love to a couple of British guys a few weeks ago, so I would expect to win the match. I haven't seen him play before, but I'll obviously see on the court tomorrow. Q. Taking the back situation into account, have you altered your schedule at all this coming year for the next few months or something to accommodate? More rest or something like that? ANDY MURRAY: No. I mean, I'll have to play it by ear a little bit, because like I say, I don't know. I don't know exactly how I'm going to feel, and the only way to know how you're going to feel is by playing matches. I don't want to take long periods off, and just now I'd like to try and play as many tournaments as I can and matches as I can. I'm playing Acapulco this year for the first time. I have never played there before. The last couple of years I haven't played between the Australian Open and Indian Wells, so that's something a bit different. But, yeah, apart from that I'll be doing pretty much the same stuff. Q. Could you talk a little about the coaching situation at the top of the game? You have Lendl helping you. Edberg is helping Federer. Becker with Novak. Can you talk a little about that, how good it is. ANDY MURRAY: Well, I think it's good for tennis. It's good for the players. I think it gives ‑‑I think it gives the sport a boost. I mean, you know, when those guys played they played in great eras. They were all great players. You know, there are still a few missing that it would be nice if they came back on the tour to coach (smiling). Yeah, it will be interesting to see how it works out for everyone. No one knows yet. We'll have to find out in the next few months. Q. The last couple of years I think you have been playing Adelaide. What brought you it Qatar this year? ANDY MURRAY: I played Brisbane. Yeah, it was because of the surgery. I wanted to play matches. I have also played well here in the past, but with Abu Dhabi next to it, I didn't want to play Abu Dhabi and travel over to Brisbane with my back, and I thought this was the best way to go. I was guaranteed to play a couple of matches in Abu Dhabi, and then to come here and obviously play singles and doubles, hopefully I can get‑‑ if I could get a total seven or eight matches under my belt between now and the Australian Open, that would be good. Q. Just a couple of days left of 2013, so it's pretty much over. Can you give a fast look back since it was a monumental year for you in winning Wimbledon? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, it's been ‑‑I learnt a lot this year, as well, because, you know, obviously I missed the French Open. That was a very difficult decision for me. But it was the right decision, and that's something I think I probably got better at. It can ‑‑ you know, sometimes to make an easy decision is easy but to make the right one can be difficult. I think by missing the French Open it was tough, but it was the right decision. You know, obviously the Australian Open was a good tournament for me. I played well there again, but I was a little bit disappointed not to win there. Wimbledon was obviously the highlight for me by far, something I have been working towards for a lot of years, a big goal of mine to try and do that. So to achieve that was nice. Then obviously after that I was having‑‑ you know, I was having some problems with my back and had to have the surgery and had to make that decision, which again was a tough decision but I think the right one to make at the time. Yeah, now we're here, and hopefully I have seen the last of my back problem and can move forward. Q. Just a couple of words maybe about young Kyle Edmund who you invited to come and train with you. He played very well today. He lost but played extremely well. And then perhaps a little bit about Evans who qualified here and seems to be ending the old year in a decent way? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I mean, Kyle obviously I know exactly what he was doing in the offseason. He worked hard. He's a really good kid. He's got the right attitude. He's very grounded. He loves tennis. He lives the life of a tennis player. I don't know exactly what his, you know, ceiling is, what his potential is, but I believe he'll achieve that because he worked hard and he has the correct attitude. And then Dan, I want him to reach his potential. That's what I would like to see from him. He's very talented. You know, he's obviously showed he can compete at this level, and you want to see him doing it week in, week out, not for two weeks and then a break for a couple of months and then two weeks on. You know, he has the chance to make a really good living for himself and to be on the tour and playing at the highest level week in and week out. That's what I would like for him, because I think he would enjoy it a lot. Q. Your high‑profile coach isn't here this week. How much time did Ivan put in through the Miami block with you? Are you linking up in a week in Melbourne? Will he be there when you get there? ANDY MURRAY: Yes. I haven't spoken to him for a few days, but he was going to go to Melbourne on ‑‑well, to leave on Thursday this week and have a few days playing golf there. Basically for the last two weeks in December just before I went on to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, he was there when basically I started increasing the tennis and playing more sets and points and things like that. So, I mean, I was out of it for a long time, so I didn't see him for probably eight to ten weeks. Q. When you started to doing the fitness, it was just Jez and those guys? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah. When I started, it was Matt Little and Mark Bender, and Joey De Beer did some of the stuff with me for the rehab. And then Jez came over to London when I started to go back on the court and do some tennis‑specific movements and hit a few balls just to see what was going on. But, yeah, I mean, I have a lot to thank them for, because they all did a really good job. You know, we always get asked about the, you know, the coaches when things go well and when you win matches and it's all about the coaches, but, you know, I have a very good team of people behind me and they all worked extremely hard, you know, did all of the right things and didn't rush me or push me too hard too early. They were very patient. I think‑‑ well, I'm hoping that it's all going to be well with my back, and I trust that they have done a good job rehabbing me. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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