I was looking at the interviews at the U.S Open first day. This is the interview with Andrew Murray, the 19th seed on the men's side
A. MURRAY / P. Cuevas
6-2, 6-3, 6-0
THE MODERATORS: Questions.
Q. Must feel a lot better after that.
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, it was great. You know, it's quite hard to describe, but when you don't play for such a long time, you know, at an acceptable level, it's quite tough to stay positive. So, you know, although it was the first round and against, you know, an opponent that a lot of people won't know, that result meant, you know, so much to me -- more than a lot of the results I had earlier in the year. So, yeah, I was really happy to get through it and to play like that because, you know, it's been a long time since I've been able to do that.
Q. Didn't really show any signs of nerves, but were there any before the game?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I was nervous. You know, I don't normally get nervous before matches, but I actually like it when I do. I think it's a good thing. You know, it shows that you're up for the match. It shows that you care about it. You know, I didn't know exactly how I was going to play today. You know, a huge difference between playing well in practice and then when you go out in front of the cameras, you know, in front of the fans, you know, at a Grand Slam, it was difficult. But, you know, I dealt with it pretty well. I played one sloppy game at sort of 5-3 in the second set when I was serving for it. Missed a few shots. But, you know, served pretty well today, managed to get myself out of the tight situations.
Q. What pleased you most about your game?
ANDY MURRAY: The consistency. I wasn't making like too many mistakes. Once I was in the rallies I was moving well. Forehand return after the first set got much better. Hit a lot of winning returns. I was playing more aggressive. And my serve on the big points, you know, I was consistently serving 135 miles an hour. In the past I've been able to do that, but that wasn't really my, you know, average first serve speed. It would kind of go down to 120. You know, I wasn't keeping it up. On the big points, when I needed to, I was always around that mark. That's really important on these courts because, you know, they are pretty fast.
Q. In the third game, there was one particular big forehand winner. You looked particularly pleased with that for obvious reasons. Can you remember what went through your mind when you hit that shot?
ANDY MURRAY: There was one point, I remember it was -- I think it was 4-2, game point for me. I hit a running forehand passing shot. He slipped a little bit. That's the first time I'd really, really hit out on my forehand a hundred percent. You know, it's easy during practice when the ball's straight to you. But when you're on the run, it's a reaction, it's completely different. After that, I felt much more confident hitting out on it. I still need to get the average speed of my forehand up. It was a little bit slow today. But, yeah, with each match, I'm going to get more confidence. There were some shots in there that made me feel much more comfortable hitting out on it.
Q. Have you come across Jonas much before?
ANDY MURRAY: I actually know him quite well. I chat to him a lot. He's obviously been around for a long time. Never played him in a match. Actually, I played him once in doubles in Indian Wells, but I haven't really practiced with him that much. Obviously, never played against him. But I've seen him play a lot of matches because he's been around for a long time.
Q. We were all trying to find out who the chap in the sunglasses was who Brad was chatting to. Is it right that it's the Italian guy, the psychologist?
ANDY MURRAY: The guy in the sunglasses?
Q. The bald guy sitting next to Brad in the stands.
ANDY MURRAY: There was a bald guy, but I didn't see who he was sitting next to (laughter).
Q. Is it the psychologist?
ANDY MURRAY: I don't know. I didn't see who he was sitting next to. But the psychologist is bald, yeah.
Q. Is he here?
ANDY MURRAY: He's here, yeah. He arrived today, yup.
Q. You're coming back to the big stages, and Tim's retirement was announced obviously at this tournament. I just wondered if you could address how you feel the impact of Tim's retirement will be leaving you sort of alone, as it were? I know you've had some practice being under the microscope, but do you expect a big up tick in scrutiny and pressure?
ANDY MURRAY: I guess around Wimbledon time, yeah. I think that was always to be expected. You know, I knew that that was what was going to happen. You know, in terms of the other tournaments, no, I don't think, you know it's going to be much more pressure because I'm the only Brit playing. You don't think about it that much really when you're on the court. I'm not walking on the court thinking, you know, Tim Henman's not playing, you know, there's much more pressure on me. I'm just wanting to go out and play for myself. It's not really about anyone else; it's about, you know, your own career and your own matches. You know, you try not to worry about that sort of stuff.
Q. You did seem very in control and at ease with yourself on the court today.
ANDY MURRAY: Really (smiling)?
Q. That's how it looked. Anything to do with the psychologist, work you've done with him, or is it a concentrated effort to internalize stuff?
ANDY MURRAY: I think I sort of learned to appreciate playing tennis again. I was getting angry on court about things that weren't really necessary. I was playing great tennis this year and still wasn't really that happy when I was playing. I think the biggest thing for me was, you know, if you go and look at videos of my matches, you know, at Wimbledon 2005, when I played here in 2005, my attitude and my body language was excellent.
You know and then the last sort of year it's not been as good. I've been showing more negative signs than I have positive.
You know, I learnt just to enjoy playing again because I missed such a big chunk of this year. I can play great tennis, and I should enjoy it more. So, yeah, that was probably the reason why I was a bit more relaxed or looked calmer.
Q. Is that something you thought about consciously, Andy, during the summer while you haven't been playing much?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah. I wanted to -- you know, not at the start. Sort of wasn't particularly enjoying myself in Cincinnati and Montréal because it was I just wasn't really playing my tennis. I wasn't able to dictate points. I wasn't able to do the things I normally can on the court. You know, it's not that much fun. But, you know, now that I can do that again, you know, I'm just happy to be able to play like that because I think the way that I play should be fun for people to watch and for myself playing because it's a bit different. I use different shots than a lot of the players. I try to mix things up. You know, it's good fun. I think the way I play, I should be trying to annoy my opponents by the way I play rather than getting annoyed with the way I'm playing myself. That's what I tried to do today. You know, he got pretty frustrated in the end.
Q. Do you think in that context it will be a fascinating test against someone like Bjorkman, making you play different shots, quicker shots as well? Interesting contrast.
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I guess so, yeah. But, you know, a couple of the best parts of my game are my return and my passing shot. It will be interesting to see how he tries to play against me. I'm guessing he's not going to want to do too much running because he's getting on a bit (smiling). You know, he still plays really well. He's got a lot of experience, so he's going to have a game plan going into the match. I'm going to have to try and play really well if I want to beat him.
Q. Why do you think you lost that enjoyment temporarily?
ANDY MURRAY: I don't know. I don't know. It was just -- you know, I kind of got to a stage where, you know, I was almost trying to play too well, like I was getting annoyed when I was beating Chela in Australia when I was two sets and a break up, then the year before I was losing to that guy in straight sets. I've had to look at myself and say, What's the point? I'm playing great. I don't know exactly why I wasn't enjoying it. But I think that's one of the reasons: I was just trying to play too well, expecting too much of myself. Even when I was playing great I still wasn't happy. I didn't play my best match today, but I enjoyed myself on court. You feel so much better. I just wasn't enjoying winning as much as I used to either. You know, it's not that much fun playing a sport if you're not really enjoying winning too much, because that's the reason why you train and why you go out there. I think it's pretty important for me to have got that back.
Q. You had trouble physically in March at Indian Wells, then Miami, then the wrist problem. Djokovic has taken that jump ahead of you. You might have been considered to be about the same when you got hurt. Is t frustrating to see him go up like that, thinking that could have been you?
ANDY MURRAY: No, not really. You know, he's played great this year and deserves to be No. 3 in the world. No, it doesn't frustrate me. I've known him for a long time. We've been good friends. You know, I don't see why there's any point in being jealous towards someone that was doing great and is very good for the sport.
I've got on with him ever since I met him. It's not frustrating because, you know, I haven't really been able to push on myself. If I was playing the whole time, felt like I wasn't improving and he was getting much better, then, yeah, it would be disappointing. But I haven't been able to play. I haven't been able to work on things and play a lot of tournaments. So, no, it's not frustrating.
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AuthorTopic: US Open - 2007 (Read 1551 times)
December 12, 2006, 06:40:34 AM