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AEGON CHAMPIONSHIPSJune 12, 2014Andy MurrayLONDON, ENGLAND R. STEPANEK/A. Murray THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. What are your thoughts on that, Andy? ANDY MURRAY: I thought the first set was a pretty high standard, to be honest. I thought he served pretty well throughout the whole match. Yeah, I have only got myself to blame that I lost the first set. I don't know how many set points I had, but quite a lot of them were on my serve. On this surface especially you shouldn't really be losing sets like that. For me, that's what's disappointing really about the match. And then, yeah, unfortunately got broke in the first game of the second set. I couldn't quite get it back. Yeah, the tiebreak was tough. Q. Did losing the tiebreak, did that carry over into that service game on the start of the second? ANDY MURRAY: I don't know, to be honest. I lost the first three points, but we had probably about a seven‑, eight‑minute break probably between the set finishing and then before I hit my first serve. Then, yeah, I obviously didn't start the set particularly well. You know, I don't know how many balls I missed, but I remember him playing a couple of good points to go Love‑30. Yeah, I don't know if it was to do with the tiebreak at all. Maybe. Q. How will this affect your preparations for Wimbledon? Will you be looking to get some more matches in than you would otherwise or not? ANDY MURRAY: No, I don't think so. I need to spend time on the courts practicing some things. You know, the difference between this year and last year is obviously I played a lot of matches the last couple of weeks, you know, at the French Open. Whereas coming in last year I probably had about a week, 10 days' preparation on the grass before I started here. So that obviously helped me during the tournament because not all the other players had that. Whereas this year it was two days to get ready for the tournament. So obviously I'm going to take a couple of days off now, because since the Monday before the French Open I have played every single day bar one up to now. So I will take a couple of days off. Then on Sunday I'll be back here for the charity match. Then I will start practicing Sunday evening and, yeah, start getting ready. Q. Is it a blessing in disguise? You'll have more time with Amélie now, a little extra time than you would have had? ANDY MURRAY: Well, we spoke before the start of the tournament. I was going to have a few days off as soon as I was finished here whether I won the tournament or not. So, you know, I would have taken ‑‑ if I had done well and reached the final, I would have taken Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday off probably, so in some ways, yeah, it can be good providing I use next week properly if I get some good practice in and work on the right things and get some good training done. That can obviously help. A lot of guys, you know, sometimes choose to do that before Wimbledon. Novak obviously doesn't play this week and only plays one match or so to get ready for the grass. Everyone's preparation is different. It's just about how you use the time that you've got available now. Q. What is it that you want to work on? ANDY MURRAY: Well, I mean, one of the differences between the clay and the grass is when you serve and the first ball that comes back, the ball is staying a lot lower. So you need to use your legs a lot better, you need to stay down on the court more, whereas on the clay courts the ball comes up around your shoulders so you use your legs in a very different way. I was a little bit upright on the court at times, especially when I was rushed today. And returns, that's the other thing. Returning first serves, I wasn't quite as sharp on that as I would have liked. I didn't win that many points when he made his first serve. Normally that's, you know, quite a strong part of my game. So I'll need to practice that a little bit over the next few days. Q. I think Rafa's losing in Halle at the moment. Roger won in three sets today. With what's happened to you today, does that show how next year and the extended grass court season can't come quickly enough? ANDY MURRAY: I don't know. To be honest, I just know that ‑‑I mean, a lot of people try to say that the surfaces, they are all very similar now, but from a player's perspective there is a huge difference between playing clay court and grass court tennis. The movement is totally different. Yeah, one or two days‑‑ well, in Rafa's case, like two days of practice on grass after playing for six or seven weeks on one surface is not enough time to prepare properly for a tournament. So I think with the extra week, that will help. That will help all of the players. They can prepare a bit better. The guys that lose early at the French can get more matches in, and the guys that do well at the French can take a little break before getting back into it and getting their body used to the surface. Q. This comes as a bit of surprise to all of us. How big of a blow is it to you personally today? ANDY MURRAY: I don't know. I haven't thought loads about the match yet. I went to the gym straight afterwards, so I was doing some weights in the gym. But I'm going to go and have a chat a little bit about the match now. Yeah, I played well on the grass over the last few years, so, you know, I would have hoped to have done a bit better. But like I said, it's more about how I kind of get myself ready for Wimbledon now and how I use the next sort of 10 days of preparation on the grass and hopefully I can do a good job of that. Q. (Question about the winning stretch on grass.) ANDY MURRAY: Yeah. Obviously, like I say, I have played well on the grass the last few years. My best tennis has been on this surface, so, you know, I just ‑‑I need to get on the practice court. I need to spend some time on this surface to get used to it. All of my best results on the grass last year came when I had obviously a decent amount of preparation time. When I played my best tennis at the Olympics, that was, you know, seven or eight weeks I spent on the grass courts and I played my best tennis after that. I need to spend time on the surface before I feel my most comfortable. That's what I will need to do over the next 10 days. Hopefully the weather will hold up well so I can get as much time as possible. Q. When you say you're going to take a couple of days off, you mean absolutely not touch a racquet, not do something else? What will you do for a couple of days? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I'll rest. Yeah, I won't hit any balls. I won't go to the gym. Then, like I said, on Sunday I'll start hitting balls again. I'll start training and start going to the gym. But the body needs a little break just now. A lot of the guys after the French Open‑‑ someone told me Novak was on holiday in Ibiza. I know normally Rafa, when he's finished the first week of the grass, goes and spends four or five days at home in Majorca and rests up. Sometimes the rest is as important as the training, because you don't want to go into a tournament like Wimbledon tired and not fresh. So I'll rest for a couple of days and then get myself a good week's preparation. I'm going to play one match at Hurlingham, which I have done‑‑ I did it last year. I normally play one exhibition match that week, and hopefully it will work out well. Q. Watch the World Cup? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, definitely will watch the World Cup. I think the first game is tonight at 9:00. Yeah, I will be watching. Q. Is there a grass court style that is least attractive to you as an opposition? Someone who comes in a bit like Radek who chips and charges, all that kind of stuff? ANDY MURRAY: To be honest, that's what I've enjoyed playing against over my career, guys like Feli, Lopez, Taylor Dent, those sort of players. I mean, obviously there isn't loads of them nowadays, but I have normally quite enjoyed that game. The problem was, for me today, was that he served well and I didn't return his first serve well at all. I think I only won like four points on his first serve return over, what was it, ten service games, something like that? You know, that's not enough to put any pressure on him. But again, like I said, I blew the first set and that was my fault. Q. You didn't have any injury issues today, did you? ANDY MURRAY: No, no. My body actually, you know, considering, you know, had only a couple of days to get ready felt pretty good. Little things, like you get like little pains in your body just because of the change of the surface. You know, you haven't been using certain muscles that you need to on this court. Obviously on the clay you don't use ‑‑you use muscles differently really, like I say, obviously with the ball bouncing high when you have to come down low. A lot of the lower back can get a bit stiff. Your butt can get a bit stiff and sometimes hamstrings and stuff. It's just different. On the clay I normally find my quads are the things that get the most tired from the sliding and things. But, no, my body felt pretty good, which is a good sign. Q. After you have been away for so long and back home, what things are you looking forward to doing back home, things you miss particularly when you're away on the circuit? ANDY MURRAY: Well, when the weather is like this, I love being here because , you know, it's a great country to be in when the weather is like this. There is lots to do. Obviously I get to spend some time with my friends which will be nice if all my friends are around, so I'll watch quite a lot of the football matches with them, get to go out for dinner and see them, which is nice. Yeah, I look forward to now going back to Wimbledon and getting myself ready and getting some practice and the peace and quiet for three or four days before‑‑ you know, obviously it's probably going to get quite hectic towards the end of next week. So the next sort of few days will be nice just to have a bit of peace and quiet and then get ready for Wimbledon. Q. Do you mow the lawn at home? ANDY MURRAY: I don't, actually. But my girlfriend actually likes gardening quite a lot. Q. Do you find peace and quiet pushing a lawnmower? ANDY MURRAY: Actually I have never done it in my life. I've never done it. Yeah, I have never done it. I know a lot of people ‑‑I know a lot of people do, but I have never‑‑ I have never given it a go. I wouldn't want to mess it up. The lawn wouldn't look great if I tried it. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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