Q. You seemed a little upset in the third set. Can you explain to us what was going on.
ANDY MURRAY: No, not really. I mean, I think the match overall was a pretty good match. You know, towards the end, obviously the match is getting away from you, it’s frustrating. And, yeah, there were a few things I would have liked to have done differently out there. The third, didn’t get off to the best start. Then obviously had a few opportunities in that last game to try to make it a bit more interesting, but couldn’t quite get the break. Didn’t return particularly well from the middle of the second through the third set till that last game. That cost me a bit.
Q. From outside it seemed like mentally you went out of this match at some point with the serve. Was there anything with the umpire or anything like this?
ANDY MURRAY: I think it’s harsh to say that. I did play one poor game on my serve at 3-1 I think it was. That can happen in a three-hour match. I didn’t feel like I played too many bad games out there. The first game of the third was a tough one to lose coming back from Love-40. I think I had the smash on the breakpoint, and he guessed the right way and hit the winner up the line. That was a tough game to lose. I mean, I kept fighting through to the end. But I did play one bad game at 3-1 in that set, for sure.
Q. What do you believe was the greatest difference between the first and second set in your game?
ANDY MURRAY: I didn’t serve well in the second. It was tough from sort of the clubhouse end with the sun there. I didn’t make hardly any first serves from that end. I served a little bit better from the far side of the court. But that was the biggest difference really. I was getting quite a lot of free points on my first serve in the first set, served a fairly high percentage. Obviously, you know, when you’re missing first serves, it gives your opponent the chance to start the point off a little bit more aggressively. I served I think under 40% in the second set. Obviously against the best players, it’s not easy to hold serve when that’s happening. That was the biggest difference really.
Q. Sky TV seemed to time Rafa taking 31 seconds between points. There seemed to be quite a sharp exchange at one point. Is that what your were complaining about?
ANDY MURRAY: There were a few things that happened in the match. Obviously towards the end, he got the time violation for obviously taking too long in that last game. There were a few things during the match. You guys were watching. And, yeah, you can draw your own conclusions from it. I don’t know how much of a bearing any of that had on the outcome. But that stuff always happens during matches. You know, it doesn’t always influence the outcome. But, you know, when you’re losing at the end, it’s easy to get frustrated at things. That was it.
Q. Nadal has not won a Masters 1000 since Madrid 2014. For the whole year, this year especially, but also part of last year, they’ve been saying, Nadal is not anymore who he was, he’s down. I’d like to know if today you noticed something peculiar about him, his resurgence? Do you think he was never so down? Maybe I’m not explaining well, but you understand what I’m saying.
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, no, I mean, he’s pretty honest, I would say, in press and stuff about how he’s been feeling. He did speak about not feeling good at all. Periods last year, he was low on confidence, didn’t feel he was playing well. He spoke about it. Now, yeah, he’s obviously played better this year, still with some moments where he’s not played as consistently as he used to. But, I mean, he’s playing well. He’s had good wins this week. He’s moving well. When the conditions got a bit quicker as the match went on, he was hitting the ball better and finished the match well today.
Q. At the start of the second set when you lost your serve, you were serving so well in the first set…
ANDY MURRAY: I spoke about it. It’s not easy at that time for the right-handers serving from that near end of the court, the clubhouse end of the court. I missed a bunch of first serves from that side in the second set. Like I said, when you do that, it gives your opponent a chance to be more aggressive in the rallies. That’s what happened at the beginning of the second set. Started to get a bit better for me towards the end of the second. But the beginning of that set, didn’t serve well. The serve is an extremely important part of the game. You’re serving at 20% or 25%, like I was at the start of that set, it’s not easy to hold serve.
Q. Back to the timing issue with the serve. Would you like to see a shot clock so everybody knows what’s going on so there’s not conversations with umpires and players?
ANDY MURRAY: I mean, it’s not up to me to decide.
Q. Would it help, though?
ANDY MURRAY: I don’t know, to be honest. I think the umpires obviously have an extremely difficult job because sometimes guys are ready to serve and the crowd is making noise. Sometimes, you know, things happen. If you ask for a towel, and the ball kid is picking balls up… Things happen that make people run over sometimes. If you have a shot clock, like when we play the IPTL and stuff, it’s fun. But sometimes you ask for a ball, and the balls are down the wrong end of the court. The ball kids have made a mistake. All of a sudden it’s like you just have to throw the ball up and serve. I mean, it can help in some situations. But I think the umpires are all very good and very experienced. Yeah, it’s up to them to make the call at the end of the day.
Q. Are you happy with your concentration today? You said yesterday against Raonic, that was a bit of a breakthrough in terms of concentration. Do you think that slipped up today or was it a continuation of the improvement?
ANDY MURRAY: I think it was positive. I played a good match today. It wasn’t perfect. But, you know, apart from the one game at 3-1 in the third, I mean, I played good. I missed some shots. But you have to obviously take chances against the best players. If I don’t do that, you know, then you lose anyway. There were a few games where I missed some shots. But that’s not always through poor concentration. The first game of the second I served badly. But that’s not just because of concentration. I do feel like I played a pretty good level match today for the most part. Obviously there was a few dips. But, I mean, that can happen. Also Rafa is allowed to play well sometimes, too. So you have to give your opponent credit. He’s one of the best, if not the best ever, on this surface. At times today he played very well. When he does, you can’t always decide the outcome. He played some good stuff today and deserved to win.
