Q. What was your verdict on that performance?

ANDY MURRAY: I thought the second and third sets were very good. The first set I served very well, but made quite a lot of mistakes from the back. Hit the ball pretty short.

Yeah, obviously very happy to win in straight sets because, you know, the first set was tough. But I settled down after that.

Q. Physically you were happy?

ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I felt fine. I slipped once on the court, but apart from that I was not stiff at all from the match before. You know, the court today was playing very quick, so not that many long rallies, which was nice.

Q. Little bit of an adjustment Monday night being indoors to being in the breeze and sun?

ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, the court played, like I said, very quickly today. You know, so I got a lot of free points on my serve. You know, his shots were kind of shooting through the court a little bit lower than the other night.

Yeah, maybe it took me a few games to get used to that. But once I did, I hit the ball well.

Q. You have a winning career record against Roger Federer, but today he reached the semifinals for the 21st straight time. He's tied with Pete Sampras for the majors record. When you think of Roger Federer's accomplishments, what has made him the player he is? What stands out most for you?

ANDY MURRAY: Well, the consistency, right there, in the big tournaments is ridiculous. You know, no one will ever match that, I don't think. You know, that's it. The consistency is the one thing. I mean, I don't think it's been surprising that once he won a few slams, everyone was saying that he could be the best ever.

But, you know, just to have no slip‑ups, to have no injuries ‑ maybe he has, but covered that well ‑ to not be really sick or to miss one event, one slam through injury, it's pretty incredible.


Q. You seem to be dealing well with the hype and pressure surrounding you. That's building as we get towards the semifinal. How are you doing that? Do you feel you're handling it better than in previous years?

ANDY MURRAY: It doesn't make any difference the way you perform, the hype. If you spend the whole time ‑‑ if you work in the media and spend a lot of time reading the papers, watching everything on the TV, getting said ‑‑ all the things that are getting said on the radio, then you get caught up in it.

If you ignore it you don't realize it's happening. You don't take anything that's being said about you. You know, I don't read it because 90% of the stuff's gonna be pretty much untrue anyway.

So, you know, I just stay away from it (smiling). No, it's been fine.

Q. Having come through that, having won comfortably today, do you feel unstoppable now? Do you feel this is the best tennis of your life?

ANDY MURRAY: No, I understand that I can lose the next match if I don't play my best. That's been one of the things that I've learned, and it's made a huge difference to me over the last year or so.

I realize that if I don't bring my best game then I'm gonna lose to guys like Hewitt or Roddick. I feel confident because I've won a lot of matches on the grass. But every day when I get up to play the matches, I know that I'm gonna have to perform very well, and that gets the nerves and the adrenaline going and makes me play better.

Q. Is this the best consistency you've had in your career?

ANDY MURRAY: Since Wimbledon last year, my consistency has been very, very good. Bar one very poor match at the Olympics, I've not really lost any early matches, not lost to too many guys that I should have won against, and, you know, performed well in the slams.

Q. You're the youngest one in the final four. You're the only one whose age is under 25. Apparently you have two generations here. How do you assess the players of your age's performance compared to the older ones in this tournament?

ANDY MURRAY: Uhm, well, I mean, Djokovic obviously had a good tournament, making the quarters. I have had a very good tournament so far. I think the guys that are around my age, you can't just look at it, you know, at this tournament. There's a very young group of guys at the top.

You know, Roger has to managed play through both sort of both eras, and then you've got guys like Hewitt and Roddick and Roger that have been around for a long time. I think it's a very good time for tennis.

Q. Did you know that Miss Scotland was coming down to watch you?

ANDY MURRAY: No, I didn't.

Q. Are you pleased she made the effort to come and see you?

ANDY MURRAY: Well, she came to watch at Queen's. Yeah, I mean, any time any of my friends or people ‑‑ one of my best friends from school came to watch me the other night against Troicki, it's nice.

So regardless of whether it's a Miss Scotland, which I know is the angle you'll be going for, I'm happy that one of my school friends came to watch (smiling).

Q. Have you ever played tennis with her at all?

ANDY MURRAY: No. My mum used to coach her a bit, but I never played with her.

Q. Were you aware that Kate Winslet was there? Are you pleased she was cheering you on?

ANDY MURRAY: Like I say, I didn't know who was in the crowd or who was watching except the guys that came with me. But, yeah, any time you get ‑‑ I think it's good for tennis any time you get, you know, big stars or celebrities coming to watch. It makes it, I guess, cooler for kids and stuff, which is important in this country.

Q. Following from your messages from the Queen and Sean Connery, have you had any other notable messages this week?

ANDY MURRAY: I got a handwritten note from Cliff Richard this morning. Apart from that, no other ones.

Q. The weather forecast for Friday isn't great. Do you have any fears of playing under the roof again?

ANDY MURRAY: No, not at all. I mean, I was a bit disappointed. I think it was kind of made out I was complaining about the roof. I wasn't at all. I guess it was the first match ever to play under the roof, and I was asked how the conditions were. I gave an honest and pretty fair assessment of how it played. It does play slower, which is not a complaint. It's more humid.

It doesn't make a difference to how I'm going to approach the match. Just you have to alter your game style slightly because it's a slower court. But I don't mind if it's indoors or outdoors.

Q. Do you hope you get a bit more warning this time, though?

ANDY MURRAY: Well, that's the one thing that I think is important, is that if you are going to play under the roof, that you know half an hour in advance. That's all that I would ask for, which I don't think is unreasonable.

Q. What was your recovery like yesterday after the match on Monday?

ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I woke up around 10:00, had a big breakfast, and came over here and practiced perhaps for about an hour. Nothing too stressful. Went over to Roehampton to the national center there to have some massage and to go in the ice bath there, and then went home and spent some time, you know, playing with the dog, and went to bed.

Q. Were you surprised at all that the court was a third empty when you came on?

ANDY MURRAY: No. I mean, it was roasting outside, so I'm not surprised after Federer's match, that, you know, we were out pretty quickly after that match finished, that people would have gone inside to stay away from the heat.

I wouldn't recommend anyone sitting in that heat for five hours in a row, so didn't bother me.

Q. Do you think in any of your matches yet that your game has peaked, or do you think there's still another level you can reach?

ANDY MURRAY: Oh, we'll have to wait and see. You don't know until you get to that stage. If you have to raise your level or if you're way behind in a match or really tight situations, you never know.

But I served well in all of the matches, bar the Wawrinka one, where I've needed to. If I can keep serving like that I've got a good chance against anyone.

Q. I wanted to ask you about your serve today. You hit your fastest serve of the tournament today. Did you feel that was a platform for your success?

ANDY MURRAY: Well, it does make a big difference when you can get free points on your serve, because it's much easier to put pressure on your opponent, on his service games, if you're making a lot of returns and you're kind of cruising through your service games quickly.

Yeah, especially on grass, if you serve great, it makes a big difference to your confidence going, you know, throughout the match.

So, yeah, I thought the serve was a big part of my win.

Q. Ferrero just said the match very much turned in the 10 minutes of the second set when you broke him twice. He felt you raised the aggressivity of your game in returning to his serve. Was that a conscious decision, or did it just happen?

ANDY MURRAY: No. Well, I lost I think one point from 3‑1 and deuce in that set. Yeah, I started to serve better. I was hitting my returns a lot harder and was starting to read his serve.

Then, yeah, it happened very, very quickly from there in. I had a chance right at the start of the third set that I didn't quite take. But that was, yeah, a big point of the match there, because if he'd broken me again to go 4‑1, there's a good chance it would have been a set all.

Q. You mentioned your Ashes‑themed forfeits last week. Can I just ask how much of a fan of cricket are you, and who are you going to be supporting next week?

ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, let's go to the next one.

Q. How do you feel about Jamie going through today after the year he's had?

ANDY MURRAY: It's important for him to have a good run here. He looks confident on the court, from what I've seen of the last few matches, which is good. But, yeah, he struggled this year. I think the opponents that he would have had in the quarterfinals have withdrawn, so he's going to get a bye through to the semis.

He's a couple of matches away from winning Wimbledon again, which regardless of the year he's had, I'm sure he'd be ‑‑ you know, if he's lost six, seven, whatever, first rounds in a row in the doubles, I'm sure he'd be very happy with his year if he won another Wimbledon title.

Q. You spoke a moment ago about what strikes you most about Roger Federer. How about the Williams sisters? What goes through your mind when you consider their dominance?

ANDY MURRAY: Uhm, I guess it's a bit different with them because, I mean, I don't think they've had the consistency that Federer's had.

But I think with them, when they are on their game and they're playing their best, you expect them ‑‑ you do expect them to win, like Roger. You know, that's the one thing that's tough. I mean, they hit the ball harder. They serve harder than any of the other girls. I think they move the best. Their athleticism is very, very good.

You know, if they turn up in their best physical shape, then there's a good chance they're going to win the tournament.

Q. Given that Roddick and Hewitt are 4‑All in the third, would you talk about the challenge that each of those would pose for you.

ANDY MURRAY: Well, very different players. Obviously Roddick, along with Karlovic, is one of the best servers in the game. Hewitt is one of the best returners. So, you know, against Roddick I'll obviously need to return very well. Against Hewitt, more important that I serve well against him.

But both are obviously very tough matches. You know, Hewitt's won here. Roddick's made two finals. Both have been No. 1 in the world and are Grand Slam champions. Both are going to be tough.

Q. Looks like their match is going to be a tight one. Is it going to help you the fact you wrapped it up in three sets today?

ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, ideally going into the semis, if I had another five‑setter, you know, it's tough to recover from back‑to‑back five‑set matches. But I was only on for about an hour and a half, an hour and 45 today, so it's not going to take anything out of me physically, and I should be a hundred percent for the next match.

Q. Are you going to meet up and discuss your respective matches with Jamie, take some time to relax together?

ANDY MURRAY: No, I don't think so. You know, I'm going to get out of here pretty much as soon as I'm done. He'll go back to his flat and I'll go back to mine. We'll speak to each other if we see each other. But, no, I'm not gonna discuss the matches with him.


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

Wimbledon 2009: Andy Murray's 01. July Interview