US Open 2014 – Andy Murray: “I don't know exactly why it happened today. I need to just try and find out what went wrong” - UBITENNIS

US Open 2014 – Andy Murray: “I don't know exactly why it happened today. I need to just try and find out what went wrong”

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10 Min Read

TENNIS US OPEN 2014 – 25th of August 2014. A. Murray d. R. Haase 6-3, 7-6, 1-6, 7-5. An interview with Andy Murray

Q. That was hard to watch. How hard was it to play?

ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, it was tough. I was just saying to Russell out there that, you know, sometimes it happens. Normally it’s kind of a gradual thing, but after maybe two-and-a-half, three hours maybe you start to feel like that. Just it came extremely early on and in a stage where, you know, sometimes nerves can bring it on. I certainly wasn’t nervous at the beginning of the third set after just winning a tough second set. So, yeah, it was tough.

Q. We spoke to you on Saturday. You emphasized just how good you’re feeling physically. When something comes out of the blue like that, were you quite concerned about finding out what the underlying issue is between now and your next match?

ANDY MURRAY: I mean, well, I can’t worry about it too much. There’s nothing I can do. This is the shape I’m in for the tournament. I feel or I felt extremely good before the match, and I did train very, very hard to get ready for the tournament. For me it was unexpected, and therefore, quite difficult mentally to deal with, because, like I say, sometimes it can happen one area of your body. But when it starts to kind of go everywhere, you don’t know exactly where it’s going to creep up next. When you stretch one muscle, something else then cramps, too. It was tough. Yeah, like I say, very unexpected, as well, especially after an hour and a half, an hour and 40 minutes. So it’s unlikely, I would say, that it’s down to maybe poor physical condition, because I have trained and played matches. Like in Toronto against Tsonga was longer than that and I felt absolutely fine at the end. I don’t know if it’s something I have done in the last few days that’s been wrong or not, but I need to try and find out why.

Q. What’s your level of concern physically going forward? Are you confident that you and your team can get yourself straightened out in the next couple of days?

ANDY MURRAY: Well, I don’t know. We won’t know until the next match or until I’m pushed and in those sort of conditions again. Like I say, I was very surprised when it happened. Then it’s hard because you want to be able to just, okay, focus your energy on trying to win the match, but you need to then have tactics as to how you’re going to deal with how you’re feeling. You know, do you try to finish the match in three sets after I had gone a break down at the beginning of the third? Do you try and conserve energy? It becomes tricky, and you start to think about the cramps rather than just actually what you’re trying to do on the court, which is obviously win the match. But, yeah, I managed to get through in the end.

Q. I suppose one of the puzzling things is you have actually been out here for kind of seven weeks, haven’t you? You have had the whole post-Wimbledon period in Miami. Does that add to the surprise of how the state of affairs has come about?

ANDY MURRAY: Well, I was surprised about that, and I trained very hard, so I don’t know exactly why it happened today. I need to just try and find out what went wrong, because, yeah, the conditions in Miami were significantly hotter and more humid than it was out there today. I mean, it was hot today, for sure, but I don’t think it was particularly humid. It felt very dry or fairly dry, anyway. And, yeah, at the time it happened I didn’t feel like — I wasn’t exhausted. I didn’t feel incredibly tired or anything. And, yeah, it just happened. The fact that it was the whole body would suggest that maybe it was something to do with my eating or drinking, because if it’s through fatigue in one part of your body, then, yeah, that would probably be down to conditioning. But cramping in my left forearm? I mean, I didn’t use my left forearm a whole lot today compared with other parts of my body, so I would expect it would be something to do with what I have eaten or something or not eaten.

Q. Did you consider retiring at any point?

ANDY MURRAY: No.

Q. Did you think that your experience playing matches in the past in quite a bit of discomfort…

ANDY MURRAY: Well, cramps, it hurts. It hurts a lot. And like I say, when it is the whole body, that’s when it — I mean, it’s not really scary, but it’s just like, you know, you don’t want to go into certain positions, because when the muscle totally goes into cramp, then it’s very, very painful. It’s very sore. So, yeah, just glad it didn’t really get to that stage where I actually couldn’t move.

Q. How much did your experience in the past through pain help you get through?

ANDY MURRAY: It’s happened before. It’s not the first time it’s happened. I’m sure all of the tennis players have experienced it at some stage. But like I say, it was just weird that it happened after like an hour and a half or an hour and 40 minutes. Because, I mean, even if I was in bad shape I would still be fine normally after that amount of time.

Q. You didn’t call for the trainer today. Was that because you didn’t feel there was anything the trainer could do for you? I know you said in the past you feel sometimes players abuse the rules for having treatment just for cramping.

ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I didn’t think you were allowed treatment for cramps. I mean, you can get the trainer on and say it’s something else, but it was pretty clear what was happening. And at that stage it was like, well, what does he come on and treat? I mean, my quads, my forearms, and my lats. One treatment I don’t think he would have been able to help. You just try to get as much fluid and eat as much as you can at the change of ends.

Q. Do you know what you will do to check it out? Will you have tests or anything like that you can do? Just go on in your preparation?

ANDY MURRAY: I mean, maybe speak to a nutritionist and look at what I had eaten the last three, four days. I don’t think I was that dehydrated, because I needed to go to the toilet when I got off the court. And not to be too graphic, but it wasn’t like it was like brown. You know, I was fine. I wasn’t particularly dehydrated. I don’t know exactly what happened, but I will try to get to the bottom of it before I play again.

Q. You mentioned having to change tactics because you knew you couldn’t do certain things. What were you trying to do? What do you think you did that was most effective that got you through?

ANDY MURRAY: I don’t know, actually. I don’t really know. Obviously couldn’t really get my free points on my serve. Obviously when you’re tired and struggling you want to be able to do that, but I couldn’t. Like my left lat was cramping, so I was struggling to throw the ball up and keep my left arm up. Just one of the things you need to do well in the serve. I mean, I tried to play more upright. I wasn’t using my legs as much. But, I mean, tactically when I got the chance to finish the point I just tried to go for a winner. When he missed the first serve I tried to be very aggressive on the second serve returns. That was it.

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