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U.S. OPEN

September 3, 2014

Andy Murray

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK

N. DJOKOVIC/A. Murray
7-6, 6-7, 6-2, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Was it the case in the end that the effort of the second or third sets just took so much out of you that you had nothing left towards the end?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, I'd say definitely physically he was fresher, but towards the end I tried to hang in as best I could in the fourth set. But, yeah, he was definitely -- well, he appeared fresher than me. Whether he was or not I don't know, but maybe he does a better job of hiding it than me. The pace of my serve slowed significantly towards the end of the third set.

Q. You had that period late in the second set where you were smashing your forehand very effectively. Seemed that you really had initiative then. Was it the effort of that that maybe led to you having a bit of a slow start to the third set?
ANDY MURRAY: I mean, in matches when you play against him or anyone at that level there's going to be periods in the match where, you know, they're going to play better, your level is going to drop a little bit. It happened to him as well a couple of times in the first set and in the second set, as well. Just over the course of the match he was a little bit more solid than me. Yeah, definitely was fresher at the end, as well. That helped him.

Q. Are you able to take any encouragement on how you were able to dictate against the top seeds?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I mean, I played well. I mean, especially the first couple of sets was some good tennis. I played a poor tiebreak in the first set definitely. I didn't play a very good tiebreak. Yeah, I was down in the first set and I fought back. I was down in the second set and a break and I fought back. So, you know, I fought hard. I played some good tennis. But, yeah, it wasn't enough.

Q. I know you hate to lose, but is that the best you've played in quite a while? Do you not take a lot from that performance?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I mean, right now I'm obviously disappointed. It's extremely late. You know, I'm tired. I don't feel particularly proud right now. I feel disappointed. But, yeah, I think there was some good tennis. I obviously haven't, you know, analyzed the match or had time to think about it yet, but I think there was some good tennis there. You know, hopefully I can build on that.

Q. Was there an issue with your back at the end or just fatigue?
ANDY MURRAY: I got stiff in my hips and my back towards the end of the third set. I don't know exactly why. I mean, it was certainly coolish, you know, but I'm certainly not injured. I didn't hurt anything. You know, it was just I think fatigue and I stiffened up towards the end of the third set.

Q. I know it's always a good atmosphere here. Seemed a perhaps a little bit more unruly than usual, people calling out.
ANDY MURRAY: No, not really. I mean, towards the end a little bit, but over the course of the match it was fine. But I think, you know, when you finish this late and when there was a delay going on to the court, as well, it gives the crowd time to get a few drinks in as well. By 2:00 in the morning you'd expect that, although I don't even know what -- is it 2:00? 1:30, 2:00, whatever it was. I don't know.

Q. Race to London. Beijing or Tokyo, are you thinking about tailoring your schedule to make sure you qualify?
ANDY MURRAY: No. To be honest, it was not a massive goal of mine. I mean, it's obviously nice to qualify for it. It's a good tournament. I played a number of years, you know, and enjoyed it. But, yeah, I don't want to overplay. I'll play the right schedule. I'll likely play probably a tournament before Shanghai. I'm not sure exactly which one yet. I mean, I won't expect to overplay just to try to qualify.

Q. How would you describe the physical and mental demands when you play Novak?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, physically it's extremely demanding. You know, we have had a lot of tough battles, you know, mainly in the slams, but even outside of them, as well. We have played some finals in Miami when it's been brutally hot. Finals in Shanghai, you know, when it was three hours for three sets. Just, yeah, most of the time when you play against him you need to be on it physically and mentally for a long period of time if you want to beat him.

Q. What do you think was the difference for you in this match?
ANDY MURRAY: I thought physically he was better than me in the end.

Q. Given how hard you worked after Wimbledon, training, getting physically fit in your training block, were you surprised or disappointed at all with how your body reacted?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, a little bit. I was a little bit disappointed, to be honest, because I did train very hard. I think what happened on the first Monday, that was strange. I don't think that was anything. I think that was down to conditioning. I obviously messed something up with my eating or drinking. But, yeah, obviously, you know, you do the work for these matches, you know, so I would have liked to have felt a little bit better towards the end.

Q. Do you think you'll reflect in a few days on a good tournament, that played as well as you possibly could and pushed the No. 1?
ANDY MURRAY: I think I can do better. I mean, yeah, it was a good tournament. Played some nice tennis at times. Definitely a few things I can do better to keep working on and improving. But, yeah, I mean, it's a shame. Obviously, you know, the slams are over for this year, so I have to wait a few months before the next one.

Q. Talking about the training block you did and maybe it didn't bring as much endurance as you hoped, is that still a question of how long it takes to build up each stage when you're coming back from a serious operation?
ANDY MURRAY: I don't know. To be honest, I have honestly only been through it once in my career. Maybe, you know, I haven't played enough matches at that level this year. I mean, it's obviously different playing at that level -- well, playing against the No. 1 in the world and the way that we play against each other, you know, it's just an extremely physical match. Whereas maybe when I play against Roger, for example, it's quicker points. You know, so physically that's not as demanding, but when me and Novak play against each other -- you obviously see a very tight, long rallies. Both of us do a lot of running. Yeah, maybe I'll gain a lot from playing a match like today. Because it doesn't matter how much training you do, when you get on the match court it's different. It's hard to -- I can't practice with the best player in the world, so it's tough to practice at that intensity.

Q. You didn't play on the tour after this tournament last year. How big of a goal are the two Masters 1000s?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, I haven't really -- I set my goals up to now basically and did everything after Wimbledon was to prepare for now, for the US Open. Then, yeah, I'll take a break now for a couple of weeks and then decide what the goals are and what I want to do between now and the end of the year:
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