Q. He was sort of swinging for a while, coming up with a lot of big winners.

ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I mean, I played him a few times, so I kind of knew what to expect. I was a bit disappointed to lose the second set, because I had a couple of chances. Didn't take them. Uhm, you know, he didn't really have any chances on my serve in the second.

Yeah, I mean, I was expecting him to come out, go for some big shots. He pulled some off at the end of the second set, and he served very well for three sets. You know, it was a tough match.

Q. What does Wimbledon mean for you?

ANDY MURRAY: Well, I mean, one of the four most important tournaments in the year. You know, for me it's extra special, you know, in comparison to the other Grand Slams 'cause, you know, it's at home. You get home support and stuff.

No, I love the tournament. I've always enjoyed playing here. You know, it's one of the most important tournaments in the year for me, obviously.

Q. You looked very calm out there. Were you?

ANDY MURRAY: Yeah. I mean, I like I say, I was disappointed I lost the second set. But, I mean, in the whole match, I think he had two breakpoints, you know, on my serve. You know, when you're serving like that and not giving someone too many opportunities, you know, it's easier to stay calm because you're the one that's always sort of creating the opportunities.

You know, sometimes, you know, in five‑set matches, and especially on grass, it takes a little bit longer than other courts to sort of get the breakthrough. But once I managed to in the third set, you know, I felt good.

But it was, you know, like I say, it wasn't an easy match. It was difficult. You know, staying calm was a huge part of winning that, 'cause, you know, he came up with some huge serves when he was down. And sometimes that can get frustrating.

Q. You're the only British male through to the second round, maybe the only British player. What's your reaction to that?

ANDY MURRAY: Uhm, it's not great. I mean, I don't know when the last time that's happened. If Baltacha loses, I don't know if that's going to be the first time in a long while that that's happened.

You know, but, yeah, it's disappointing. I think, uhm, you know, the depth needs to get way better. It's not acceptable. It's not sort of picking out any of the players in particular, because I watched some of them play, and some of them played well.

But, you know, they aren't at the same level as a lot of guys. They don't play at this level too often because they're not ranked that high, so when the tight moments come, they don't play as well.

But, yeah, it's not good.


Q. Does that put greater pressure on you, though, do you feel?

ANDY MURRAY: No. Because I'm not worrying about, you know, what those guys are doing. I'm worrying about my own games and, you know, my own tennis. You know, regardless of whether, you know, there's ten Brits in or, you know, just one, I'm still gonna just take care of my own business and not worry about, you know, what's going on with the other players.

I think when you start doing that is when, you know, you kind of get distracted and you're not putting a hundred percent focus on yourself, which is what I'm gonna need to do the next couple of weeks.

Q. Is it right you got a minor ticking off for drinking the wrong sort of water? That you drank some Highland Spring and you're apparently not allowed to do that?

ANDY MURRAY: No, definitely didn't get a ticking off. It's just the ‑‑ I use liter and a half bottles for my energy drink. The sachets I use are a liter and a half. I have Highland Spring ones, so I was still allowed to drink out of the bottles, you just needed to take the label off. He just asked me to take the label off, and I took it off straightaway.

Q. That's the rules, is it?

ANDY MURRAY: It happens at a lot of the tournaments where they have water sponsors. I mean, I've had to do it quite a lot of times this year. Normally we take them off before the match, but sometimes we forget.

Q. In an interview today, Pat Cash called you boring and said you had a monotonous voice. Do you have any response to that?

ANDY MURRAY: I don't really care, to be honest (smiling). I mean, I've said I don't think my voice is particularly interesting, but, you know, I don't need it to be. Uhm, I let my tennis do the talking. I think my tennis is exciting, so...

Q. It got slightly better. He also compared you to Wayne Rooney, saying you're the Wayne Rooney of tennis.

THE MODERATOR: Let's go on to the next one.

Q. A lot of players talking about slipping on the grass. How do you feel? Is it a big problem?

ANDY MURRAY: It takes time to get used to after playing on the clay, 'cause you can slide into the shots. But the courts, uhm, the Centre Court, it's quite slippy, you know, especially when the shadow comes over it.

It's coming over much quicker than it did before because of the roof. At the back of the court, yeah, it's slippy and it's quite difficult to move.

But, you know, I think ‑‑ all grass court tournaments the first couple of days, when, you know, no one's played on them, the grass is normally pretty slippy. Queen's is the same.

You know, every year I've played here, it's the same. They tend to get better as the tournament goes on.

Q. There's obviously a very long way to go between now and the final Sunday. Can you just outline from your perspective what it will take for you to make it that far.

ANDY MURRAY: Well, I'd have to play great tennis, you know. Obviously got to win five more matches, and they're gonna get tougher every round. I mean, for me, obviously know what I need to do to get there.

But I'm not going to start worrying about reaching the final yet. I need to focus on the next match. I've got a very tough opponent. Gulbis has caused some upsets in the past and is a huge hitter of the ball. I'm going to need to be on my game to beat him.

Q. What was the atmosphere like out there with the crowd?

ANDY MURRAY: I thought it was very good, you know, especially at the end of the match. You know, and to be fair, at the end of the second set, you know, it was very good. Every time I've played on the Centre Court, the atmosphere has been good. You know, it was kind of what I expected.


(via www.wimbledon.org, photo/Reuters Pictures)

Wimbledon 2009: Andy Murray 23. June Interview