Andy Murray: “When you're playing you tend to say things that you don't really mean” - UBITENNIS
Connect with us

ATP

Andy Murray: “When you’re playing you tend to say things that you don’t really mean”

Published

on

TENNIS AUSTRALIAN OPEN – 19th of January 2015. A. Murray d. Y. Bhanbri 6-3, 6-4, 7-6. An interview with Andy Murray

 

Q. What do you make of that?

ANDY MURRAY: I thought it was a tricky match. He played very close to the baseline on that court. I feel it’s quicker than Rod Laver and Hisense. He was coming forward a lot. Even when I was hitting good returns, he was changing the direction of the ball very quickly and coming to the net. He played well up at the net. He had good hands, solid volleys and made it tough. I thought I served well the whole match. I served well. I just got caught a few times the first shot after the serve. Could have been a little bit better my first shot after the return. I don’t know if that was something to do with me feeling like the court was a bit quicker. I felt a little bit rushed there. I served very well. That was good.

Q. You practiced on this court a couple days?

ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I practiced on it a couple days ago, but obviously the last couple days being pretty cold, very cloudy, and today obviously the sun was out. The court was livelier. Yeah, maybe the court isn’t way faster, but obviously when you play in quicker conditions, obviously when it’s dry as well — it didn’t feel humid at all — the ball travels through the air quicker. Also maybe down to the way he was playing as well. He was hitting the ball very flat and coming to the net a lot. So rushing me. He played a good match. I had never seen him play before, and never practiced with him. It was tough to know what to expect.

Q. You tweeted some kind words for Pliskova, watching her some point during this leadup. What is it about her that impressed you most in her game?

ANDY MURRAY: I just thought she was a little bit different to some of the other girls. She served well. She had a big serve. And then when the ball was in the middle of the court she was really taking the ball on. She was a very good ball striker. She’s got a long reach. Yeah, she was extremely aggressive on the return as well. Yeah, from just watching a little bit, you could see that she is obviously a very dangerous player for any of the women to play against. Yeah, just looked like if she could improve her movement a bit make her very difficult to beat.

Q. You were heard in the third set saying you weren’t particularly happy with your performance. Shocking movement was one of them. Is that something you need to improve on as the tournament progresses?

ANDY MURRAY: I think in some sense when you’re playing you tend to say things that you don’t really mean. That’s just how the brain works. I’ve learned a lot about that over the last couple years. That’s just a normal thing to say. I do feel like he made me feel that way because of the way he was playing. Like I said, he was rushing me. I was saying it was more my movement after the return or after the serve. I was a little bit slow there. Once I got into the rallies I was moving good. But because of the way he was playing, and also maybe just feeling that court was a bit quicker, I thought it was a little bit slow on the first shot of each rally. But, yeah, that will get better.

Q. Would you prefer an evening match? Are you happy with the early start?

ANDY MURRAY: I don’t really mind, to be honest. The conditions today were perfect playing conditions. Obviously in the evening that slows things down a little bit. When it’s cooler, you know, maybe doesn’t take as much away from you energy-wise. But obviously you can finish the matches quite late, and that can — can — affect you the next round. But I don’t really mind when I play.

Q. After the match you said that you were aware how tough a draw it is here this year. Is that something you often do, look through the draw at all?

ANDY MURRAY: No. I didn’t plan on looking through the draw. When I spoke to Mike the other day he told me my draw when I spoke to him immediately. So, yeah, I don’t always look at my draws. When I came to my press conference – I can’t remember who it was – but they basically read out the whole draw all the way through to the final. So whether you look at it or not, people talk about it. I think this is maybe the tenth, ninth or tenth year I’ve played here. I know how to deal with that and to just concentrate on each match. I’ve played tournaments where — I think that the year I won Wimbledon everyone was saying it was the hardest draw, and then a couple guys get knocked out and I was getting, If you don’t make the final this year you’ll never make the final again. A lot can change in a couple of days in sport. You just got to concentrate on your own matches, take care of business, and that’s it.

ATP

Alexander Zverev Deserves More Respect According To Boris Becker

According to Boris Becker, Alexander Zverev deserves more respect from tennis journalists.

Published

on

Alexander Zverev (@WeAreTennis - Twitter)

Boris Becker has claimed that Alexander Zverev deserves more respect despite Zverev failing to live up to his potential at Grand Slams.

 

Zverev has only reached one Grand Slam final in his career despite being a regular inside the world’s top ten as well as performing at regular ATP events.

This season Zverev played a limited schedule after recovering from an ankle injury but still managed to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals.

However most critics have been loud when judging Zverev’s career as it was looking likely that he would be a regular Grand Slam champion.

The German has failed to live up to expectations but former Grand Slam champion Boris Becker believes Zverev deserves more respect.

Speaking to Eurosport Becker also said that Zverev’s father being the coach is a more than successful approach when it comes to the former US Open finalist’s career, “In my opinion, he doesn’t get enough respect from the tennis experts internationally,” Becker explained.

“They’re all talking about the young three or four, but don’t give Zverev, Medvedev or Rublev enough respect. He’s playing with his fist in his pocket a little bit, wants everyone show that he is not a thing of the past, but that his best time is yet to come.

“Surely his father knows best what is good for his son, but if you look into the box at the competition, you can also see changes.”

Becker has followed Zverev for most of his career so knows that the best is yet to come from the German.

Alexander Zverev will look to prove himself next season when he starts his 2024 season when he represents Germany at the United Cup.

Continue Reading

ATP

Juan Carlos Ferrero Analyses Key Areas For Carlos Alcaraz’s Development

Juan Carlos Ferrero has outlined the next steps in Carlos Alcaraz’s development.

Published

on

(@tennisnewsbrazil - Twitter)

Carlos Alcaraz’s coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero has analysed the key areas for the Spaniard’s development heading into the 2024 season.

 

The former world number one’s season has come to an end after a successful year which saw him win the Wimbledon title as well as winning two Masters 1000 titles.

Alcaraz capped off an incredible season by reaching the semi-finals at the Nitto ATP Finals, where he lost to Novak Djokovic.

However there is a long way for the Spaniard to go if he wants to consistently go toe-to-toe with Novak Djokovic.

Speaking to Marca Alcaraz’s coach Juan Carlos Ferrero spoke about the Spaniard’s development and said that Alcaraz is too emotional, “Be more regular in games, not open doors. Sometimes there are mistakes and it is something that we have to improve a lot,” Ferrero commented.

“Although it is true that he opens doors, he always competes well and at the highest level. He knows it, the other day he already said that Novak doesn’t give you one. He has to improve his decision making and he will achieve that with experience. Carlos is very emotional and that sometimes helps him and other times not so much.”

It’s clear Alcaraz’s high-quality is there but to consistently do it against Djokovic is another task altogether as the Spaniard looks to go from strength-to strength next season.

One area that is clearly a priority for Alcaraz is physical conditioning especially considering what happened against Djokovic at Roland Garros earlier in the season.

Ferrero said that will be a clear focus heading into 2024 but couldn’t guarantee that Alcaraz will play a tournament before the Australian Open, “Because of the year and the fatigue he has been in, what he needs is rest and disconnecting for 8-10 days with his friends,” Ferrero stated.

“From there, the thinking must go back to working really hard, strong and well to start very strongly in Australia. One can never be sure of that. Sometimes you play a tournament and it doesn’t go well, you left home too early. There are many ways of thinking.

“This year we haven’t played Australia and he finishes number two. That means there is no urgency to play a tournament early. Carlos is a player who enters competition quickly, you don’t usually see him without rhythm.

“Although it is true that he becomes more dangerous from the round of 16, from the quarter-finals. I am confident that the two exhibition matches and the training sessions will help us play a good tournament.”

Alcaraz will be looking to play the Australian Open which starts on the 15th of January after the Spaniard missed last year’s tournament due to a leg injury.

Continue Reading

ATP

Australian Open Chief Confident Nadal Will Play But Kyrgios’ Participation Uncertain

Published

on

Nadal RG 2022 by Night (foto @RolandGarros)

The tournament director of the Australian Open says he is ‘certain’ that Rafael Nadal will play at the Grand Slam even though the Spaniard has yet to outline his comeback plans. 

 

Craig Tiley told reporters in Melbourne on Thursday he hopes to receive some clarity over Nadal’s intentions in the next couple of weeks but is confident he will play. However, the tennis official had previously claimed in October that the former world No.1 had already committed to play in the event before his team denied that statement.  

Nadal, who has won 22 Grand Slam titles, hasn’t played a Tour match since his second round defeat at the Australian Open in January due to a hip injury. He was originally expecting to take an eight-week break but the recovery didn’t go to plan and he ended up having surgery. In May he confirmed that he will take an extended break from the sport to heal his body and admitted that retirement next year is a possibility.

“Rafa has been training, I follow him closely, probably every day because he’s a massive drawcard for us,” the Reuters News Agency quoted Tiley as saying. 
“He wants to play, he’s obviously planning on playing. It all depends on how he pulls up.
“Hopefully in the next week or the next two weeks, we get some specific confirmation of that. I’m certain Rafa will be here because he’s not going to want to miss the opportunity to repeat what he did a couple of years ago.”

Earlier this month Nadal confirmed that he intends to return to the Tour but admits that he will continue to experience a degree of pain. Although he has yet to give any information about which tournament he will begin his comeback at. The 2024 season begins during the first week of January.

“I’m well, training, and happy. I’m at a good stage of my life,” atptour.com quoted Nadal as telling reporters in Barcelona.
“Until now I didn’t know if I would play tennis again someday, and now I genuinely believe I will. I’m still not ready to say when, but I’m able to train increasingly longer, and the progress is good.’

Will Kyrgios play?

Another player Tiley is eager to welcome back is home player and former Wimbledon Finalist Nick Kyrgios who has only played one Tour-level match this season due to injury. He underwent knee surgery in January and then tore a ligament in his wrist during the summer. As a result, the Australian currently doesn’t have an ATP ranking due to his inactivity. 

“We have spoken to Nick, and he obviously wants to do the best he possibly can to give him the best chance to play in January,” Tiley said of Kyrgios.
“Whether he’s playing, whether he’s doing something else, Nick will be here in January and to get him to play will be great. But we’ve got to take it as it comes and he’s got to make sure he takes care of his health …” 

Kyrgios recently worked as an analyst for the Tennis Channel during this year’s ATP Finals in Turin and gave a brief update on his ongoing recovery during a segment. 

“After last year, I had such a great year, and I’m so hungry to get back out there,” the 2022 Wimbledon finalist commented.
“So I’m doing everything I can to get back out there. Obviously, you know how injuries are every day, just doing the rehab, doing the gym work.”

The Australian Open will begin on Sunday 14th January. Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka are the defending champions. 

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

Trending