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THE CHAMPIONSHIPS WIMBLEDONJuly 5, 2017Andy MurrayWimbledon, London, England A. MURRAY/D. Brown 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Given the importance of this and the circumstances around it, is that as pleasing of a performance you have had within the last year or so? ANDY MURRAY: No, I don't think so. I mean, it was a good match from my end. I mean, I served well until really the last few games. I returned well. I didn't make many mistakes. I hit a lot of good passing shots. So, I mean, I was really happy with it, obviously. But, I mean, I played quite a few big matches the last year. So I wouldn't say it was my best match more because maybe the importance of it, only second round and, you know, the scoreline. But it was definitely a good one. Q. This is the most Brits in the third round already, with hopefully one more to come, since for 20 years. Has there been a growing sense in the locker room today that this has been a good day for the country's tennis? ANDY MURRAY: I haven't spoken to anyone in the locker room about it, to be honest. It's obviously good to have more players playing in the slams and winning matches. You know, that's a positive thing. I know Heather and Jo won today. I saw Aljaz won, too. Hopefully we can keep going. You know, I wouldn't say, like, this is the target to get like five -- I don't know how many it is, maybe five players into the third round. I mean, obviously want to try and do better than that. Q. If you could go back in time and talk to your younger self, give him one advice or two, what would it be? ANDY MURRAY: I'd give more than two (smiling). I mean, there are so many things that you'd do differently. I think, to be honest, I mean, I think everyone is the same. I mean, maybe I would have changed some of the ways that I trained to maybe avoid the back surgery in the middle of my career. That was difficult and probably could have been avoided. I would have enjoyed the earlier part of my career more, for sure. You know, I wish I'd done that. I found, you know, the years maybe between like 21 and 24, 25 quite difficult at different stages. I mean, there are a couple of things. I definitely would enjoy my tennis more at the beginning part of my career, that's for sure. Yeah, there were a couple of things. Q. In 2013 when you finally won the title here, it was just unbelievable for the whole country. Now there is also a female player, Konta, who is probably able to win the title here. Could you imagine what would happen to the United Kingdom, to the whole country, if you and her would win the title in same year? ANDY MURRAY: Like, I have never thought about that, but obviously it's not impossible for that to happen. You know, it would be amazing if that was the case. I still say it's unlikely, but it's possible. I mean, Jo has played extremely well the last 18 months. She's certainly good enough to, you know, win the tournament here. She got through a great match today. You know, I believe that I can have a good run here, you know. I can win, for sure. It's going to be extremely difficult, but, you know, it's possible. That's obviously exciting for any tennis fans in the country to have players going deep on both the women's and the men's draw at slams. You know, that's really exciting. Q. Just wondering, can you remember a tournament or a slam where you have played sort of the first week three players of this kind of genre, kind of entertainers, if you like? Because you have obviously played two quite extrovert players and another one coming up now. ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I don't think so. I mean, certainly the first two rounds have been -- I mean, Fognini is an incredible shot maker, but he's a slightly different sort of player to Dustin and Sasha Bublik. In my opinion, he plays certainly a more orthodox style of tennis. He's more solid but can play some incredible shots. I mean, certainly first two matches have been, you know, difficult to come up with game plans, because you don't know exactly how the two guys are going to play. I think against Fabio, although he's been a better player over the years than the two guys I played first two matches, it's maybe easier to come up with a game plan because there will be a bit more structure and strategy in the match rather than just, you know, reacting and sort of more kind of instinctive points. So yeah, hopefully it will easier to prepare in that respect. Q. Having experienced fatherhood and knowing it's completely different than motherhood, what are your thoughts on Azarenka coming back as the mother of a young baby to the tour? ANDY MURRAY: I didn't understand the first bit of that question. Q. You're looking forward to a new baby coming and thinking about all of that and being a father. What are your thoughts on Azarenka coming back as the mother of a young baby to the tour as quickly as she has and with the early success that she's having? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I mean, look, obviously there is differences for the men and women coming back after having children. You know, the physical, you know, changes we don't have to go through. It is obviously a lot more challenging. Takes a little bit more time probably for the women. But, I mean, Azarenka seems to be doing really good. You know, Clijsters obviously is a player that I'm sure a lot of the women will look to, came back after giving birth and did fantastic. You know, physically was in excellent, excellent shape. So there is absolutely no reason why Vika can't get back right to the top of the game. I'm sure if and when it happens, if Serena wants to come back, I'm sure she will be able to get back to the top of the game, as well. Q. It was a disappointing day for people on Centre Court yesterday, the retirements, seven retirements total on the men's first round. Seems like some of the guys were stopping once the match seemed out of reach. They would pull out. Relatively small twinge. How much obligation do you think players have to push all the way to the finish line even of a best-of-five match when they feel there is no plausible way to come back and win it? ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, it's a difficult one to answer. I mean, I think there is a big difference if you get injured -- you know, if you're injured going into the match, then I think you need to be pretty certain you're going to be okay to, you know, play and be able to compete before stepping out there, because, one, you can do more damage to yourself. You're playing injured and you could potentially make it worse. But also, you know, for the tournament and the fans and the TV and everyone that's watching, it's not good to have guys going on the court already injured and knowing maybe they're not going to be able to complete the match. That's not ideal. But I think, you know, there is a way to fix that is by, you know, if you're indirectly that you get the prize money even if you're injured and the Lucky Loser comes in and has the opportunity to play for more prize money. But it's a bit frustrating, because, you know, for a long time there has been a lot of players asking, you know, wanting more prize money and trying to get more prize money in the early rounds of the slams. But then you get situations like there has been yesterday, and it's really not positive for the tour. Well, for tennis. Yeah, hopefully they will make some changes and avoid more situations like that. Q. What you said earlier about the number of Brits being through, you're saying it's not a cause for great celebration. What sort of level do you think we should be aiming at in terms of how many people we are getting through in Grand Slams and what, if anything, is your reaction to the announcement the LTA made last week about investing £250 million over 10 or so years into participation in tennis? ANDY MURRAY: I didn't actually see that. I wasn't aware of that. I don't know what the level is, but, like, aim as high as you can. Like why not try and get five, six players into the quarterfinals of slams? Why not? Like, it's better to set the goal as high as possible and fall a little bit short than go, Yeah, we're delighted with five or six players in the second or third round of a slam. You know, I'd rather set the goal at reaching second weeks and quarterfinals and contending for slams. Yeah, that's the goal of most players to have great runs in these events. It's not to say that getting to the third round is good, you know, but some of the players, like, Kyle and Heather and Jo, you know, they're capable of doing more than that. So let's aim to try and go further. You know, there is not a problem with falling short of high targets. But saying, I want to win one round at a slam, when you're capable of doing more, I don't agree with that. Q. I think it's maybe been a year or so since you chose to kind of spend more time closer to home, obviously with changes in your family and spending more time in Miami. How do you feel your preparation and your life in general, your working life, has changed now that you've got a bit of context on it? Does it help spending a bit more time here? ANDY MURRAY: I mean, I'm spending a little bit less time, a little bit less time in Miami, but, you know, not too much. You know, unfortunately this year I have spent more time at home than I actually would have liked because of the various issues that I have had this year and also early losses in tournaments, in Rome and Madrid, tournaments like that, where after I lost first round Rome on a Tuesday, I'm back home for four or five days before I head off to Paris. I would have liked to have been in Rome until the Sunday and going directly to Paris. But the positive of me not doing well is that I get to spend more time at home with my family. You know, I love that, as well. But I'm also still very dedicated to, you know, tennis and I want to do the best that I can with the time that I have left. If that means, you know, spending a little bit more time in warmer climates, you know, then that's what I've got to do. We make the compromise, you know, with my family and we certainly plan a little bit further in advance than I used to so that I could, you know, make sure that I see my family as much as possible. Q. A lot of players seem to be pestered by bugs on court today. I saw you swatting a couple. Is that normal at Wimbledon? ANDY MURRAY: I have never noticed that before. I mean, there was maybe one time today when there was a fly went just as I was about to serve, but I have never noticed that before, and I didn't realize that was an issue for some of the players. Never seen it before. Q. Flying ants, apparently. ANDY MURRAY: Flying ants. Okay. I didn't know there was such a thing, but okay (smiling). Q. I just wanted to tell you that, okay, Fognini has never went beyond the third round. Today he won in three straight sets without ever losing the serve versus Vesely was in the fourth round last year. What do you expect? Because you lost to him in Naples, you lost to him in Rome, which is clay, so completely different surface. Do you think he can play so well on some grass, and how dangerous do you think he is? ANDY MURRAY: I think he's always dangerous. Like I said, he's a shot maker and, you know, he's very solid off his forehand and backhand side, but he can also hit winners from both sides. I mean, a lot of guys maybe have a big forehand and are maybe more consistent on the opposite wing. Whereas Fabio, you know, can hit winners off both sides. He has good hands up at the net. I don't think I have ever played against him on grass. He moves extremely well on the other surfaces. I don't know how well he moves on the grass. I haven't played him on it. But, yeah, I mean, he certainly can play well. I remember watching, you know, he was up a couple of sets last year on Lopez. Lost in five sets. Lopez obviously a very good grass court player. He started the tournament well here. So I expect it to be very tough. You know, when Fabio is switched on, he's really, really tough to beat. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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