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WIMBLEDONJuly 7, 2012Jonathan MarrayFrederik NielsenLONDON, ENGLAND MARRAY‑NIELSEN/Lindstedt‑Tecau THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Johnny, talk about that moment of sportsmanship in the third set tiebreak when you confessed to something no one had noticed. JONATHAN MARRAY: Yeah, well, Freddy had a great serve. I had a sitter on top of the net. As I hit the volley, I followed through and touched the top of the net. So basically it's their point. Q. Yeah, but nobody noticed. JONATHAN MARRAY: Yeah. FREDERIK NIELSEN: They would have been after me. JONATHAN MARRAY: We both knew it, so you own up to it. Q. Not something you see often in professional sport. FREDERIK NIELSEN: Do you see us winning Wimbledon often (laughter)? Q. How did you cope with the rain delay? JONATHAN MARRAY: I don't think it was that difficult. Fred had a bit of an issue with his wrist. It actually helped us a little bit. He could find out what it was. He had an ultrasound to check to see there wasn't any serious damage on it. We kind of went back out, he was thinking easier, not as much concerned about it. Probably helped us. Nice atmosphere under the roof as well. We were more than happy really. Q. Do you hope Andy Murray was watching and do you hope to have inspired him? JONATHAN MARRAY: Well, yeah, I suppose so. Yeah, I'm sure he was watching. He follows how all the guys do. We're friends and everything. I'm sure he was watching it. Yeah, if it gives him any kind of inspirational help, I'm sure it would be good. But I don't know. Q. Can you quite believe that you've won Wimbledon? JONATHAN MARRAY: Not really. I've been saying to Freddy, I don't feel any kind of different or anything. I don't know. It's just like winning another tennis match. I suppose it will take time to sink in. When I see my friends and family and speak to them about it, over the course of a few days, a few weeks, I'm sure it will sink in a bit more. Q. You've had some tough times over your career. You've talked about giving it up. Tonight it all seems worthwhile, doesn't it? JONATHAN MARRAY: Yeah, of course it does. Every kind of sportsperson has injuries I'm sure at a time in their career. When you're not really doing so well, those moments you kind of second guess yourself whether you want to carry on or not. But I felt like I had a bit of unfinished business and things like that, so I'm more than happy to have made the decision to carry on. Q. Did you have any sort of expectations at all coming into this tournament? JONATHAN MARRAY: Yeah, I thought we could do well because, like I said, I just missed out on entry with someone else to the tournament. I played with Freddy the week before. I know Freddy well, know his game, and thought we could play well together. After having a good week in Nottingham a couple weeks ago, I really thought we could do well here. Obviously I didn't think we could ever win it, but as the week went on we kept gaining confidence and coming through some tight matches. You know, your expectations kind of grow a little bit and your confidence grows, and obviously the end result is we got the win, so... Q. Have you considered the further implications of your victory, like the ATP Finals in November, increasing your rankings, prize money? JONATHAN MARRAY: Yeah, every round I won I was kind of keeping the tabs on where my ranking would be because it obviously gets me in better tournaments throughout the year. In regards to the O2 finals, I'm not sure we're actually officially qualified. Still waiting on that. I'm sure we'll find out in the next few days. Obviously, it's something I've always dreamed about playing, especially since it's at the O2 there in London. It would be a massive bonus if we could, but we'll just have to wait and see. Q. Who were you originally supposed to play with? JONATHAN MARRAY: I actually entered with Adil Shamasdin. We missed out by a couple spots in the entry list. Yeah, I thought, you know, basically I kind of had an option of who to kind of enter with 'cause there's a wild card kind of going. I had a good possibility of getting with whoever I kind of chose. It was my decision in the end, and I chose Freddy. Q. Are you going to give Freddy an equal share even though he had his serve broken in the first set? FREDERIK NIELSEN: It takes two to tango. Q. What are you going to do with the money? JONATHAN MARRAY: I haven't even thought about that, to be honest with you. FREDERIK NIELSEN: Buy you a new kit. You only have two playing shirts. JONATHAN MARRAY: I only have the one. Just had it washed every day. Superstition, all that. I haven't really thought about it, to be honest. Q. You're both battling against history. Did that wear on your mind at all? JONATHAN MARRAY: Sorry, I didn't get it. FREDERIK NIELSEN: Not at all. Obviously we get bombarded with the facts every time we do an interview because, like you said, it is historical. If you look at the history books, it hasn't happened a lot, especially from a pretty small tennis country as Denmark in my case. It's something we think about in the interviews when we get asked. On the court I didn't think about it at all, not a second. Q. 1936. JONATHAN MARRAY: I wasn't really thinking about it, to be honest with you. Just focusing on trying to perform, you know, and trying to prepare well and all that. Yeah, I didn't really think about that kind of stuff. Q. I don't know if either of you has a sponsorship contract with a racquet manufacturer or whatever, but if you do, is there a clause that says if you win a Grand Slam title you might get a bonus? JONATHAN MARRAY: I actually don't have a contract, unfortunately (smiling). FREDERIK NIELSEN: You can buy some new racquets. JONATHAN MARRAY: But Dunlop have been good to me over the years giving me free racquets even when I wasn't doing so well. Unfortunately, I don't have any kind of clause in the contract. FREDERIK NIELSEN: I think I have one for singles. I don't know if I have one for doubles. Q. Is there a message for Andy in there that the last time Britain had a doubles winner was '36, and for singles was '36? JONATHAN MARRAY: Yeah, well, obviously everyone's hoping for him to win. He's come so close in a lot of Grand Slams so many times before. He's working hard and he's right at the top of his game. I don't see why he can't. Q. Do you have any Davis Cup ambitions? JONATHAN MARRAY: Yeah, obviously I'd like to be part of the team. But, I mean, they've got kind of an established team with Ross and Colin at the moment. They've been doing great, have a great record. It would be hard to kind of shift them out of the team. It would be a great honor for me to represent Great Britain in Davis Cup, yeah. I was on the team in 2004, a few years back now. But I never actually got to play. Yeah, it would be something I'd definitely be interested in. Q. Does it mean more to you because of your family history here at Wimbledon? FREDERIK NIELSEN: I don't think particularly because of my family history. It means more because it's Wimbledon. Maybe because of my family history I have a different relationship with Wimbledon. That's possible. But I don't think the fact that my granddad used to do well is going to make it even more special. I think the fact that it is just Wimbledon, it carries its name by itself pretty well. I'm pretty sure that the fact that it's just Wimbledon is enough for me. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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