An interview with:

ANDY MURRAY

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.


Q. You must be very satisfied with that.

ANDY MURRAY: It was a good start. You know, he's a tough player. You know, he beat Djokovic before in Miami. He's won a tour event. So knew it wasn't going to be ‑‑ I wasn't expecting it to be easy.

I just got off to a good start, which helped. Broke him straightaway. That always makes a big difference.


Q. You played under the roof at Wimbledon with phenomenal noise. Was it very different under the roof here?

ANDY MURRAY: Not really. It's just, you know, you create your own atmosphere on the court, I guess.

But the conditions are similar to Wimbledon with the roof. It actually slows the court down. You know, it gets quite humid in there, whereas it's pretty dry heat normally, and it's just quite heavy.

It slows the court down a bit, so that was a bit different.


Q. Did the Hopman Cup experience help you under the dome, as well, mixing it around with the mixed doubles as well?

ANDY MURRAY: Well, I think it helped to get me ready for the tournament, yeah. I mean, I played eight matches in about five, six days. You know, so it was perfect to kind of get the body back used to playing again.

Uhm, and, yeah, maybe because that event was indoors, maybe I adjusted to the conditions a little bit quicker. But it's good to get the match out of the way today 'cause, uhm, it's a long day for a lot of the players because of the weather outside. Obviously good to get finished quickly.


Q. How much Bikram Yoga did you during your off‑season?

ANDY MURRAY: Only went once. Used to do a little bit more beforehand, but it's difficult to fit in 'cause you get very dehydrated doing it. You know, you can't really dehydrate yourself that much and then go and play. So you tend to do it at the end of the days.

And because the off‑season was a bit shorter, that wasn't one of the main priorities. So only once this time.


Q. Do you have a preference if it's closed or not? How much difference does it make to you whether you're going to play indoors or outdoors here?

ANDY MURRAY: Well, it definitely makes a difference. I mean, obviously, you know, it's pretty cool in there. It was cool outside today, as well. You know, but I guess today it's maybe a little bit easier to play indoors, because you know once you get on the court you're going to finish. You're not getting stopped.

And also I've watched, you know, some points of some of the matches on the outside courts, and it's pretty windy out there, too. Pretty tough conditions to play in.

Indoors, obviously it's a lot easier.


Q. Can you run us through your next opponents?

ANDY MURRAY: They're both good players. Gicquel I played once before. Not sure if he retired. I played him in Rotterdam last year. It was close. It went to three sets. I think he might have stopped at like 3‑Love in the third. He's a tough player, a lot of experience, pretty quick.

Bolelli is very talented. Can hit the ball huge from the back of the court. But I played really well against him the last couple times.

I don't know, expect a pretty close match, I think.


Q. Having changed your buildup to this Open, starting with a new sponsor, does it feel different this year in any particular way?

ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, a lot of things have changed, you know, especially in the buildup to the event. Obviously I got here a lot earlier. Today was the first, you know, match on the tour, I guess, after quite a long break.

So that changes things a little bit, whereas I've come in the last years having played a lot of matches in Doha. Obviously, play with new clothes and changed the weight and stuff of my racquet a little bit at the end of the year. Less people with me this year. So changed quite a few things up.
 

Can't find what you're looking for? Try Google Search!