|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
DAVIS CUP BY BNP PARIBAS WORLD GROUP FIRST ROUND:GREAT BRITAIN v U.S.A.January 29, 2014Kyle EdmundColin FlemingAndy MurrayLeon SmithJames WardSAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA THE MODERATOR: We've got the British team. If you would like to ask a question, please raise your hand and we'll pass the microphone. Whomever would like to get it started. Q. How has training been so for, Leon? CAPTAIN SMITH: Yeah, it's good. We got here sort of different times obviously. Some were arriving from the U.K., some from Melbourne, some from Florida, some from Hawaii. So, everyone sort of got together over a sort of two‑, three‑day period. No, it's been very good. The venue is obviously very, very nice. Hotel is close by. Court is pretty good. Needs a bit of work. It's pretty slippery. But everyone is sort of adjusting as we go along the week, and hopefully it'll get better and better the next few days. Q. Any of you guys ever play tennis in a baseball stadium before? ALL: (Shaking heads no.) Q. And your thoughts on the configuration out there in left field. CAPTAIN SMITH: It looks really good. It's a great spectacle for people to come and watch Davis Cup tennis. It's pretty unique. I think whoever it was, the USTA or San Diego itself that put it together, it looks absolutely phenomenal. I think when the fans come along they'll have a great experience this weekend. Q. Leon, when you talk about the state of the court, what exactly do you think needs to be done to get it in perfect condition? CAPTAIN SMITH: I think the first few days there wasn't much moisture on the court, which is pretty normal when they're trying to make the clay embed itself and until it's a hard and (indiscernible) surface. It's very difficult for that to happen in a short space of time. It has got better over the last few days the more play that's been going on. I think they are definitely watering it a bit more, so it's helping a little bit. But it's not a true European red clay court. The Americansknow. You can tellby the (indiscernible) on the court that it's not European clay. They might say it, but you can see it when you pick it up that it's not. But same for everybody. Q. In tennis, how will it play as a result of that, not being a European clay court? CAPTAIN SMITH: Main thing is it's a slippery court. What's also interesting as you practice through the day is the conditions vary considerably from playing between 11:00 and 2:00 or 3:00 and then in the evening where it gets obviously quite cool. The court where it's positioned doesn't catch any of that sunlight towards the end of the day, and it goes cool pretty quickly. Of course that changes the surface as well. I think it's pretty challenging, but as we say, it's the same for everybody. Whoever adjusts best. Q. (No microphone.) CAPTAIN SMITH: I'm okay. I'm allowed to take sleeping pills. Q. (No microphone.) KYLE EDMUND: Actually, yeah, it's only three hours difference from Florida. I was in Florida, so coming over here hasn't been too bad for me. Q. (No microphone.) ANDY MURRAY: I felt fine during the day. I'm sleeping like an hour during the day most days and sleeping six, seven hours in the evening, so not too bad. Probably on a match day try and sleep a bit longer and obviously not be sleeping during the day. But, yeah. Q. Andy, could you speak to the international, the U.S. versus you guys? What's it mean to you to represent your country? It's always good fun between these two groups. ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I think I quite a lot of time since we've played against each other. We haven't been up in the World Group for a little while. But this competition has a great history between the two countries. Yeah, should be a fun match. Should be a fun match this weekend. Q. Okay. Just to bring a little bit of levity, someone says you tweeted out an item about getting married soon; is that true? ANDY MURRAY: That's not true. Q. Someone got to your account? ANDY MURRAY: No, someone didn't get to my account. I also said some other things in the same sort of hour period that were also not true. Sort of sense of humor that not everybody gets sometimes. (Laughter.) Q. Was it one of your teammates perhaps that was helping you with that? ANDY MURRAY: No, no. Sense of humor, yeah, that not everyone gets all the time, but it wasn't one of the teammates, no. Q. What do you feel about the state of the court and how it's likely to play? ANDY MURRAY: The court is really slippery, and that's the most challenging part about it. Played like 4:30, 5:00 some days and there is a lot of moisture in the air. It's like the difference from playing (indiscernible). When it gets a bit dark it's very significant as well. So the first match during the day will probably be playing faster, much faster than the second match. But, yeah, that's not the concern. That's something you have to adjust to. But being able to move properly and safely is the important thing. Q. Kyle. You've had a really good run over the last couple weeks on the futures circuit. How has that been for you? KYLE EDMUND: Yeah, it's been pretty good coming‑‑ I didn't play lots of matches at the end of last year, so to go to Chennai and then play one match, for me it was just trying to get as many matches as possible because I knew I was playing good tennis. So to come and get a lot of matches in and get some good points, for me personally it's pleasing. And then obviously coming into this weekend I've had a lot of matches, so puts me in good stead if I do get picked. Q. And how do you feel fitness‑wise? I know you had a really hard three weeks with Andy in Miami at the back end of last year. Did you feel strong throughout? KYLE EDMUND: Yeah, definitely. I mean, I had a six‑week pre‑season block. So that's why you do those pre‑season. Even times during the year where it's a little bit challenging, but that's what professional tennis is. You do get pushed, that drive to cope, and it's not something new. You knew it's going to be tough coming off playing a lot of matches. It's just all about managing the time you have before the next match. Q. (No microphone.) JAMES WARD: No, the day after (indiscernible) Hawaii, so I've been here since Thursday. Yeah, soon as possible. Me and Colin practiced on the clay at a different venue for a day as well. So, yeah. Q. (No microphone.) JAMES WARD: Yeah, it was a struggle the first few days in Hawaii as well because you go back a whole day. Been here like a week now, so... Q. This is for any of you guys. Do you approach Davis Cup play as opposed to playing professionally any different since you are representing your country? COLIN FLEMING: Yeah. Davis Cup, it's all a little bit different I think because you're, you know, like we are, sitting with our teammates besides us. You've obviously the one that goes out on the court and has to do the best for the whole nation, and especially the team that we spend the whole week with getting ready. Yeah, it's a special tournament. Everyone hopes to play their best when they come and step onto that court. Q. This question is for Andy. All the global stars that you're part of the inner circle with now, Nadal, Federer and Djokovic, where did you take the step career‑wise from a style standpoint to step inside that circle now to be mentioned in that sentence with them on a month‑by‑month, tournament‑by‑tournament basis? What changed in your game? ANDY MURRAY: I don't know like when that happened. I mean, the last few years my ranking has been in the top 4, 5 in the world. Yeah, but making the breakthrough at the majors was obviously something that I wanted to try and do. So made some changes to the coaching setup. Ivan Lendl helped me a lot with my mentality going into those matches. I just kept working hard. That was it. Just kept and training hard and trying to improve and find new ways to get better. I managed to do that, so now I need to make sure I continue to (indiscernible) if I want to try and win more. Every year it gets harder and harder. Q. To follow up, what was it like for you to do what you did at Wimbledon considering Great Britain, the pride? What was that like? ANDY MURRAY: Take a long time to kind of explain all of the things I felt, a lot of what it was like there is obviously‑‑ yeah, that's what you put in the effort in for. That's what you put the hours in for. I had been working towards that for a long, long time. I had come close quite a few times and had near misses. All those experiences made me want it more. I wanted to win more. Yeah, I mean, I could speak about it for a long, long time, but I won't. (Laughter.) Q. Leon, of the players and the coaches and the administrators, has there ever been any concept to taking the Davis Cup qualifier and putting it in one specific spot on the calendar like the World Cup in soccer so the whole global attention can be here rather than scatter‑gunned around the calendar year? Would that work? CAPTAIN SMITH: I guess there has been some discussions in the past. You know, it was pretty well documented that some of the captains got together and had a chat about some things just brainstorming, which isn't a bad thing at all. Certainly not me, but some of the other captains played Davis Cup and have been around it for decades and have good opinions on it that are worth listening to. I'm sure the the dialog between certainly those captains, players, administrators, and ITF should keep going. As the players even said, it's a brilliant competition. I mean, we absolutely love it. Every time we get together we have a great week. Okay, the focal point is obviously the match weekend. But to get a group of players together that are normally traveling together for a week is unique. That's what makes it so special. So there is no doubt that the players want this competition as part of the calendar. Just have to make sure that it grows and maintains and probably comes higher up the pecking order of world tennis. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|