TORONTO, Canada, JUAN CARLOS CORDERO, UNO International News Service.- It went as not even Andy Murray expected: 6-2, 6-2 so easy over Argentinean David Nalbandian, and now the British player go against a known rival: Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals at Roger Cup this Saturday August 14. “I am pleased with my game. Yeah, it was very good. I served well today and got the first good hits in a lot of rallies so I was able to dictate a lot of the points, yeah. When he did have a chance to get back into the first set 3 – 2, I served a really big ace. Yeah, it was a very good performance. Now, I am looking at the ATP Tour race and I will still try and move my ranking up a little bit”.
Well, in the middle of that, is Rafa Nadal, who after wining the German Phillip Kohlschreiber 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, is waiting for a really strong Andy Murray” Hardcourts are his specialty, I know. But I am confident, I have win 34 of my last 35 matches, it is a season as 2008 when I won the Beijing Olympics, and always try my best, and tomorrow I will do the same, he will play me at my limit, then you have to go point by point, playing aggressively”.
A. MURRAY / D.Naldandian
6-2, 6-2
A. MURRAY/G. Monfils
6-2, 0-6, 6-3
Q. You said you wanted to improve some things on yesterday. Did you feel that you did, your movement and so on?
ANDY MURRAY: First set, start of the match, I played really, really well, and in patches in the third set was very good.
But, yeah, I was just a bit up and down but some good rallies. He's a tough guy to play against. I was happy.
Q. It was up and down, is that because he's an unpredictable guy?
ANDY MURRAY: A bit of everything. I shouldn't get distracted, you know, by what your opponent is doing.
You know, when -- I don't know. Sometimes it happens. You just got to try and refocus, and I managed to do that in the third.
Q. How satisfying to come back as strong as you did from a pretty, by your standards, disastrous second set to finish off strongly in the third?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, it was good. You know, it's happened a few times, but I've always managed to turn it around in the end. You know, the start of that third set was important. You know, I was dictating a lot of the points in the first set and let him back in in the second and needed to make sure I started dictating again. And I came forward, came to the net a little bit more in the third and it helped.
Q. When you're out there without a coach, to whom do you turn? Is it yourself? Is it self-motivating? Is it a kind of different dynamic for you just at the moment?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, it was definitely a bit different. The guys in my box have been at most of my matches for the last three years, so, you know, it's nice to look over to them after most points, and that helps you calm down a little bit.
But, yeah, it's definitely different not having a coach.
Q. What about Nalbandian next, one of the form guys on the tour, 11-match unbeaten streak, just won a tournament?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, he's very tough. You know, I obviously played him at Wimbledon the first year I played there and lost in five sets, and then I played against him after -- I won the tournament in Madrid and St. Petersburg, and then I played him in Paris and I was pretty tired by then, but he's a very, very good player, on his day, one of the best in the world and it's gonna be tough.
Q. What goes through your mind during a set like that second one and then after it's over?
ANDY MURRAY: You just move on from it. It's not something you sort of dwell on. It obviously wasn't good, but, you know, I was -- it was difficult conditions out there, as well. You know, I just had to get back to playing my game like I did in the first set and obviously got up 4-1, a couple of breaks in the third, so you don't -- you know, that's the thing with tennis. At the end of the set, you can kind of regroup and start again and I managed to do that.
Q. How long would you last if you landed on the court as many times as he did in that third set today?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I don't know. You know, he does it in a lot of matches, and he has had a few injuries the last couple of years, and it's -- I mean, it's fun to watch. I'm sure it can be tough to concentrate sometimes against it, and, yeah, he's just -- you know, he's very entertaining to watch, but diving on a hardcourt is not -- unless it's sort of Grand Slam final, you know, I don't know if it's worth the risk.
Q. That's not in your repertoire except for maybe a Grand Slam final?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I won't be doing it any time soon.
Q. You mentioned that you were a bit maybe sluggish moving around the court yesterday. Seemed like you were running around fine today. Were you happy with how you were moving around in that aspect?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I moved better today, but at the start of the match especially, chased a lot of balls down, and a lot of long rallies, good rallies. Both of us did quite a bit of running. So it was definitely, in that department, better than yesterday.
A. MURRAY/X. Malisse
7-5, 6-2
Q. What are your thoughts on that as a beginning of your defense of your title?
ANDY MURRAY: It was decent. I mean, it was a difficult match. He's, you know, everyone knows, a very talented player and he -- he was hitting the ball very well at the start of the match, very flat with his forehand and didn't really give me that many chances.
I had I think three break points maybe his first service game, didn't take it, and then he started playing a lot better after that and just managed to hang in at the end of that set, came up with a couple of good shots at 5-4 and managed to turn it around.
But I guess I got better as the match went on, but it was tough.
Q. You turned it around actually very quickly, didn't you? You played that terrific game to break back, and it seemed to alter the whole feeling of the match.
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, that can be the case sometimes. You know, it was -- I think he was up 5-4, 30-Love, and played a couple of very good points, and then, yeah, after that he played a bad game at 6-5.
I didn't really have to do much for the break there, but yeah, that changed the momentum, and then I carried on at the beginning of the second.
Q. Playing a very good game, that one at 4-5, I mean, do you sort of think about trying to do that beforehand or does it happen? How did it come about?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, like I say, he was playing very well, and I needed to get a bit more energy into my performance, but sometimes it's difficult when a guy is hitting big balls, lot of winners, not that many long rallies. Just in that game I came up with a couple of very good passes.
There was a few long rallies in that game, and, yeah, that just does make you feel better when you start, get into more of a rhythm when you're hitting more balls. Yeah, just kind of settles you down a little bit, because the first match for anyone in any tournament is always difficult, and you don't normally feel that comfortable. Once I got that break, I settled down a bit.
Q. When was the last time that you feel you could turn a match around just quite so quickly as that?
ANDY MURRAY: Um, well, I don't know. It happens more than people think. It can be -- you know, when you're a break down, you get the break back, it's almost -- you know, when I played Querrey at Wimbledon, for example, I was up 5-4 serving for the first set and then got broken back and I was down Love-40 in my next service game.
Then after I hung on there to, you know, to fight back, I felt just way more comfortable, a lot more relaxed. It happens more than you think, but I don't know when the last time it was.
Q. After this win, what is your confidence level going into the third round of play?
ANDY MURRAY: I feel good. I mean, today could have been a little bit better from the start, but, you know, the first round is tough, and I was playing against a very good player.
I'm sure I'll feel better tomorrow, but I've got a difficult match against Monfils.
Q. Just a question about Nadal. You played him a lot of times. What are the two or three biggest differences between playing him on clay and playing him on hardcourts?
ANDY MURRAY: Um, well, I mean, it's the surface that makes it different, not necessarily the way that -- the way that he plays. You know, he -- he dictates -- it's easier for him to dictate points on clay with his forehand, and it's easier for him to return, as well.
So he gets into more long rallies. When he gets into long rallies is when he's -- you know, that's when he's the best in the world. Against him it's important to try to keep the points as short as you can, and it's a lot harder to do that on the clay compared with on the grass and the hardcourts.
Q. You said you could be a bit better. You said you felt good. Was there anything in your game today that you felt you need to improve for the rest of the tournament with such a strong field in front of you?
ANDY MURRAY: I felt I needed to move better. The start of the match, I didn't feel like I was moving that well and my footwork wasn't that good. Once I started moving better, you know, and got into a few longer rallies I started to feel better. So, you know, the movement does tend to help most of your game. You'll start to hit the ball a lot cleaner and feel a lot more comfortable on the ball if you're in the right position. If you feel you can chase down a lot of balls, you know, you'll feel more comfortable on the court.
So I did move better in the second set, but that's the one thing I'll need to do well in the next matches.
Q. What is it that influences whether you move well or not?
ANDY MURRAY: It comes from just playing matches. You start to move better, but, you know, like I said, I need to have a little bit more energy maybe right at the beginning of the match, you know, need to get a bit more -- just be more energetic from the start. That normally helps.
Sometimes when you aren't feeling your best, you need to force yourself to move and really, you know, put emphasis on your footwork and your movement, and I'll probably do that tomorrow.
