Andy Murray - 17.1.2013

TENNIS - AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2013. MURRAY d. Sousa 62 62 64

Q.  Have to feel pretty good after that.
ANDY MURRAY:  Yeah, it's actually all right when the sun was kind of behind the clouds.  It was fine.  When the sun came out, it got really hot really quickly.
A good match to get done in straight sets.

Q.  Is it sometimes harder to play a match like that because you'd be conserving energy?
ANDY MURRAY:  I got up a couple of breaks pretty quickly in the first two sets so I could kind of play, I don't mean loose points, but I could try to shorten the points, which helps.
I also served well today, too.  I got a lot of free points on my serve.
There was very few long rallies.  So it worked out well for me because it was really, really tough conditions.

Q.  Can you remember playing in tougher conditions anywhere?
ANDY MURRAY:  Yeah.  It wasn't that bad on the court, honestly.  When the sun came out, it was extremely hot.  When it wasn't, it was fine.  There was no humidity.
They said it was like 8% humidity.  When you get the combination of the heat and the humidity is when it's normally at its worst.
I've played in worse conditions, but it's still very hot.

Q.  Does heat pale with insignificance compared to the wind like the match you played against Berdych at the US Open?
ANDY MURRAY:  I think it depends on the match really.  Like I said, there was very few rallies today.  You know, if there was a lot of long rallies, the heat can become extremely difficult.
When I played in the wind at the US Open, it's tough on your footwork and your timing, so you need to stay calm and patient.
When you're playing in that heat, it's very, very difficult to focus when you're really out of breath.  That's the thing that's hard, is to remain focused.  When it's really hot, it can get very challenging.  I saw a couple of matches went five sets and really, really long.
I'm sure after three and a half hours in that heat, the shot selection is probably really not that great.

Q.  What do you think about Davydenko/Federer tonight?
ANDY MURRAY:  About the match?

Q.  Yes.
ANDY MURRAY:  I think it will be a good match.  I practiced with Nikolay before the tournament.  He's hitting the ball well.
He obviously had a good start to the year in Doha.  He's playing with the racquets that he was playing with when he had most of his success.
But I'd expect Roger to win.

Q.  Do you like meeting successful sports stars?  I'm wondering what you think of the appointment of Gordon Strachan in Scottish football?
ANDY MURRAY:  Well, we have a lot of great managers.  I mean, he's obviously one of them.  He's been very successful for a long time.  He's fun.  I enjoy listening to his interviews.  He's a fun guy.
I mean, obviously we'll have to wait and see how he does.  But Scotland have got I think some of the best managers in the world.

Q.  You hit with Berankis in Brisbane?
ANDY MURRAY:  I actually hit with him a lot.  I trained with him before the Australian Open last year.  I practiced with him in Brisbane and I practiced with him a couple times before the tournament here, before he started the qualifying last year.  I practiced with him again in Brisbane this year.
He works hard.  He's a really nice, really nice guy.  Nice to see him do well because we spent quite a bit of time practicing together.

Q.  He's obviously won four matches in a row now.  Is that something you think about?
ANDY MURRAY:  He's won five, unless he got a walkover (smiling).
But, yeah, he plays well.  He is not that tall and he hits the ball pretty big from the back of the court.  He plays aggressive.  He's a very flat hitter of the ball.
Yeah, he's obviously playing well to beat a guy like Mayer that comfortably.  It was a very good win.

Q.  Is it fun having the British women like Watson and Robson around?
ANDY MURRAY:  Fun?  I haven't spent that much time with them.  I obviously see them around, in the gym, whatnot.  But I just think it's nice to have more British players around the tournament.
We had Anne Keothavong in the qualifying, as well, the two young girls, Jamie Baker qualified.  We have five or six guys playing in the doubles, as well.
It's just nice to have more British players around the big events.  But I haven't spent too much time with the girls here.

Q.  You talked earlier about your new shirt, how it's tighter than the previous years.  Was that a conscious decision, to change your style on the court?
ANDY MURRAY:  No.  I didn't decide that.  I just let adidas decide those things.  I just play.

Q.  When it's extremely hot out, like today, is it more comfortable in that shirt or is it more comfortable in the old baggy ones?
ANDY MURRAY:  The only thing I don't like on shirts is if they come down too low and sometimes your elbows can get caught in the shirt.  I mean, the less material there is on the shirt I think probably the better.  There's less to get in the way.
But so long as they're tailored somewhat, I think there's no real problem.

Q.  On a fashion note, to be silly, Robredo and Berdych seem to be wearing shorter shorts.  It's like from the '70s.  Would you ever see yourself in those type of shorts?
ANDY MURRAY:  I actually wore a pair at Wimbledon when I was with Fred Perry that were short.  Not quite like what Ivan and those guys used to wear on the court.  I can't see a return to them, to be honest.
Yeah, they were a bit too short.  Didn't leave too much to the imagination (smiling).