|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
AEGON CHAMPIONSHIPJune 19, 2016Andy MurrayLondon, England A. MURRAY/M. Raonic 6-7, 6-4, 6-3 THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. What are you going to do with the Champagne, Andy? ANDY MURRAY: I'll take it home, I guess, and hopefully maybe have something to celebrate in a few weeks. Yeah, keep it for after Wimbledon. Q. Have you found Ivan yet? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah. He said he had to go to the toilet and he watched from up on the balcony the presentation. Q. You have dug yourself out of holes before and we've seen you make great comebacks. Are you surprised sometimes when you do that? Do you draw on your past experiences? Like 3-Love down, it wasn't looking good at that stage, was it? ANDY MURRAY: No, it wasn't. I mean, I was actually playing pretty well. He was serving great, obviously. But, yeah, I had no chances on his serve at all. I hadn't created any break points. Then along came a few good returns and changed the match completely. You know, when you have not been broken for a whole tournament, you know, and then you lose serve -- and I did in that game, I had a couple of really good returns, especially the one to break, you know, it can throw you off a little bit. I capitalized on pretty much all the chances I had from there on in. Yeah, I played some really good stuff today. Even in the first set when I was serving I was playing good but just couldn't get any chance on his serve. But when I did get them, played some good stuff. Q. The historical aspect, the win, the fifth, a record fifth win? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, it feels good. I mean, I have spoke a little bit about that already this week, but to do it means a lot. Yeah. I don't know what else to say. It's a tournament that, you know, obviously means a lot to me. It's been my most successful tournament, by far, clearly. Yeah, to be the first player to win five times is -- you know, it's not an easy tournament to win. It always has a great field, and, you know, the players I have beaten in the finals, you know, a lot of times have been top players. It's not like I have had some sort of easy finals. They have been top, top players. Most of them top 10. Some of them Grand Slam winners, Grand Slam finalists. That's good. Q. Milos gave a nice speech with a few Father's Day references. Wonder if you had done anything in particular or will be doing anything later for Father's Day? ANDY MURRAY: I don't know. I obviously hadn't planned anything. I don't know if my wife has planned something or not. Could be a surprise. You know, I'm happy just to get, spend a night at home. I got to see my daughter a bit before the match this morning and then a little bit afterwards, as well. So that was nice, because, you know, even though I'm at home just now, when I come in here -- I left the house this morning at 8:30. Don't get back until 7:30. So, you know, you don't always -- I only get to see her for 20, 30 minutes a day. It was nice that she was able to come in today and got to spend a little bit of time with her. Q. You obviously played very well this week, but it's been a bit of a theme that it's almost taken a mini-crisis to bring out your best tennis. Is that something that you're aware of or at all concerned about or will work on? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, obviously you don't want to get yourself in tough situations. You know, today was the one match really where I was behind, and I wasn't really behind in any of the other matches. You know, I won the first set in all of the matches and the matches that went to three sets I got off to quick starts in the beginning of the third. That was also the case today, as well. But my best tennis is there. You know, I'm happy with that. I didn't come in, like I said, with hardly any preparation so maybe consistency could be better. But when I needed to this week, I stepped up and played my best tennis. That's a good sign. That's a good sign. Obviously, you know, when Wimbledon comes 'round, maybe a little bit more rested, a little bit more practice and preparation, you know, I won't give my opponents those opportunities that I have done this week. Q. Milos was a Wimbledon semifinalist two years ago. He's a better grass court player now, obviously, with the advice he's getting from John. Do we now regard him as a serious contender? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah. I mean, I think on the quicker courts -- well, on the hard courts and on the grass the last few years, you know, he's been in the latter stages of the slams. He was obviously in the semis of Wimbledon, semis in Australia this year, and we played a very tight match. He's beaten some top players in the slams, as well. You know, I would imagine that, you know, on the quicker courts, you know, that he would always be there or thereabouts because of his game style and always willing to learn, trying to improve. You know, he'll give himself opportunities to get to the latter stage of the slams more often than not, I would think. Q. Could you feel the McEnroe influence both in his net play but also -- he did say earlier in the week that John's encouraged me to impose myself and my presence, my bearing, that kind of thing. Did you see any change? ANDY MURRAY: I mean, I think at the start of the match, you know, he was up at the net more. But he was also playing that way at the Australian Open. You know, he was coming forward a lot, serve/volleying. Any time the ball was short he was hitting it and coming forward and maybe, you know, had gotten away from that a little bit the last few months. And, you know, here I'm sure with John's advice that, you know, he was trying to come up to the net more again this week. But that was one of the things I was really happy with, because of the way I hit the ball for the most part of the match, I wouldn't give him the chance to get up to the net much in the second and third sets and for large parts of the first set, as well. So, you know, he was coming forward a lot this week, but I was able to stop that today. I was happy with that. Q. You said earlier in the week that one of the things you liked about working with Ivan is that he doesn't try and kid you, give you a very unvarnished sort of opinion. I was wondering if the aftermath of this match, whether he's kind of given you a clap on the back or pointed out a few things or had a debriefing with him yet? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, we chatted with Ivan and Jamie just now. Mainly actually we spoke a little bit about today's match but more about next week and planning for Wimbledon, you know, how I'm going to prepare for that, which days I'm going to take off, who I'm going to be practicing with, the things that we're going to be working on. You know, I like that. It's sort of not concentrating too much on the win today. It's like, you know, okay, great, now what do we do tomorrow? What do we do to get better over these next few days to put myself in a better position for Wimbledon? You know, he was definitely happy with this week because of the way that I fought, the way that I played in the big moments and the preparation, getting five matches when, you know, I had literally zero preparation for this event. It's turned out to be a great week. Q. Do you think you enjoyed it? ANDY MURRAY: I hope so. I mean, I think, yeah, it's been a good week. I have enjoyed having him back with the team, and, you know, I think next week is a good week. You know, I get to spend more time on the court together, working on things, talking about stuff. You know, during a tournament week, you know, you're talking about the matches, tactics for the match, chatting about things that maybe could have gone a little bit better, but you don't have loads of time to really work on things, you know. I'm able to make adjustments during the matches, but if there is something that's not going as I would like, you don't really have time to work on those things. That's why next week is great that, you know, I get to spend four, five days on the court working together, working hard, like I said, trying to get better before Wimbledon starts. Q. How confident were you on that challenge that could have given Milos the 4-1 in the second set that ultimately turned the match around? ANDY MURRAY: Which challenge was it? Q. He was up 3-1 and the ball just missed the line. ANDY MURRAY: Oh, was that a volley? Yeah, well, I thought it was out. Normally obviously on the grass when the ball touches the line a bit, especially off a slice or a serve, the ball stops. And it didn't. And that was pretty much right in front of my eyes. It wasn't going particularly quick. I mean, I saw it wide, but it was obviously very, very close. Q. I know you don't like comparing previous years but you must feel good going to Wimbledon after a great clay court season. ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, it's obviously good preparation to win the event right beforehand, but I still have eight days until my first match there, so, you know, there's time to make things better and there is also time to mess things up. If I have five rubbish days of practice and don't put everything into it and concentrate on what I'm trying to do and get better, then, you know, I can go into Wimbledon feeling rubbish. So it's been great, but I'm aware that I need to stay on it these next seven days. If I do that, then, you know, I'll put myself in a good position. But things can change very, very quickly in an individual sport. You know, if I have a few rubbish days, I can't rely on anyone else to, you know, do those practice days for me. So I need to work hard next week. If I do that, I'm in a good position. Q. What construes a rubbish day? ANDY MURRAY: Well, I mean, if you're just not engaged in the practice or not mentally there for the practice, you know, then you're not really gaining anything from it. You know, also if you don't have any direction on the practice court, either, or there is no clarity in what you're doing, then you are just kind of hitting balls but you're not really aware of what you're working on, what shots or patterns of play you're trying to get better at. And, yeah, there is a bunch of things that go into it. No. 1 thing is that you're engaged in the practice, you're asking questions, trying to learn and that you work hard. That's my job for the next, you know, for the next week is to do that. But also to rest, as well. You know, I need to take that seriously, as well. It's not just -- you know, I can't just practice every single day for four hours and think I'll be absolutely fine at Wimbledon. You know, the next eight days or so is very important. Q. Given that they include two Masters 1000 and a Grand Slam, you have now been in four consecutive tournaments always reaching the final, winning two. Have you had a better run than that? ANDY MURRAY: I don't know, actually. Probably not. I probably haven't done that before. So, you know, that's again a good sign. Yeah, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have done that before. I hadn't thought about it, but, yeah, it's a sign that things are going the right direction the last few months. You know, even in Monte-Carlo I was pretty close there and to reach the final there too. But, yeah, I have given myself chances every week right now and winning a lot of matches. Yeah, it's been a good three months or so, and I need to try to keep that up between now and the end of the year. That's the goal. Q. You were just saying about those rest days, what do you do during those rest days? Do you do any work in the gym at all? Is it just sleeping a bit longer, playing with the baby? What do you do at that time? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I mean, I don't do any physical work. I don't go to the gym. Just full rest day. Sometimes I maybe see my physio for 45 minutes, an hour to get stretched, or if something is bothering me to have him look at that. But, yeah, most of the time it's just being around the family, go for a walk with the dogs, do normal stuff, you know, away from the court. Yeah, I'll have a couple of those days hopefully next week. That's the plan just now. Yeah, look forward to it. Q. Is that tomorrow and the day after or will that come about Thursday or so? ANDY MURRAY: No, on Tuesday and Saturday is the plan just now. I'm going to practice tomorrow over at Wimbledon and then Tuesday and Saturday, two days, providing -- it depends on the weather obviously a little bit. It's meant to be bad a few of the days next week, so I will have to make some adjustments potentially. But, yeah, I'll take a couple of off-days next week because I need it. 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
|