A. MURRAY/J. Chela
7‑6, 7‑5, 6‑2
ANDY MURRAY
Q. How do you explain the sort of strange pattern of that match? Was it the wind? Was it the way that obviously the last few days have gone for you?
ANDY MURRAY: It was just very up and down. The wind obviously doesn't help, but it was just a really scrappy match. I didn't start particularly well and then got a little bit better, started moving a bit better towards the end of the first set.
Then I got up in the second, sort of maybe lost concentration a little bit, which you can't afford to do against someone like Juan who has a lot of experience on this surface. Something I definitely won't get away with against Rafa.
Then in the third set I played better, but it was just very scrappy. I didn't think the standard of tennis was particularly good. Struggled a bit with my rhythm, but I got through in straight sets.
Q. How far did this seem away on Saturday night?
ANDY MURRAY: You know, I'm surprised I'm here, to be honest, because I haven't actually played that well. You know, aside from everything else that's happened, I haven't played particularly well.
You know, that's a very good sign for me, because, you know, a few months ago I was not playing well and losing badly. I haven't been playing that well. I'm in the semis of a slam. That's a good sign.
Glad that I'm here, but, you know, I've got two days to rest up, recover, and get ready for Rafa, which is always one of the most exciting matches for me on the tour.
Q. Andy, you agree if I say that this is the first year your level on clay is high enough to win the French Open?
ANDY MURRAY: I didn't hear the start of the question.
Q. If I said that this is the first year that you're level on clay is high enough to win the French Open?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I think in the buildup to the French I was playing very well, and now I'm going to have to get that level out on Friday and sustain it for a long period, you know, to beat Rafa.
But, you know, I feel I can do it. It's just, you know, making sure that come Friday I, you know, play my best tennis. I have to play a very consistent match, and I have to be mentally strong. Tactically I'm going to have to be very good.
So I can definitely win. I just need to play my best.
Q. You talked about nerves before affecting you during the Troicki match. Were the feelings a little similar did you feel today going into this one as well?
ANDY MURRAY: Not at all. No, the match with Troicki was before ‑‑ yeah, yesterday before the fifth set was, you know, I was nervous. Today I didn't really feel that way, but it was just because of the conditions it can sort of throw you off a little bit.
And, you know, you might have tactics going into the match, and, you know, the way that you're sort of visualizing yourself playing.
And then because of the conditions, you have to change that a little bit, play with a little bit more margin, which I didn't at the beginning of the match. I was sort of going for shots that weren't on, made a lot of mistakes early.
And then I started to do better after the beginning of the match. But, no, I wasn't that nervous today in comparison with yesterday.
Q. Seemed like you moved better today. Does the ankle feel like it's recovering?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, it's definitely getting better, you know, with each day and more sort of playing a match on it. You know, you gain confidence more with the movement each time.
I still, at times, wasn't moving great. I was moving a lot better forward today, definitely moved better forward. Sideways could still definitely be better. But I felt it a few times. Nothing major, but I just need to, in the next couple of days, do all the right things again. A lot of treatment, a lot of icing, and I'm sure it will get better.
Q. The last few days have been kind of full of drama, kind of the king of the Suzanne Lenglen. I don't know, maybe all the drama of all the matches. Do you think you're fresh now mentally to go with Rafa, or do you feel like you wasted so much energy in the first part of the tournament?
ANDY MURRAY: I mean, I don't think I wasted the energy. You know, I needed to fight back, you know, against Troicki in tough circumstances. I think all my matches except that one were straight sets.
You know, maybe, you know, it has been a tough few days for me mentally. I'm glad I've got tomorrow off where I can rest and recover. It does make a big difference, you know, in 48 hours ‑ or near enough ‑‑ 48 hours are enough to recover and calm myself down and take everything in and go from there.
Q. Do you think your match versus Djokovic in Rome was the best that you played on clay in your life, or recently at least? And to play at that level would be enough to compete at a high level the same with Nadal, or not?
ANDY MURRAY: They're different matches. It was definitely one of the best clay‑court matches I played. The tennis was very high level, you know. For the most part, it was very good. And also, my match with Rafa a couple weeks before in Monte‑Carlo was also very high level.
But, yeah, I mean, I have to maintain that for, like I say, a long period. I'll have to play as well as I did for those days to give myself a chance.
Q. You like a challenge. A guy with 43‑1 on the clay in Roland Garros, is that something that really gets you going?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, one of the best challenges in tennis. Obviously his record here is ‑‑ well, it's incredible. You know, yeah, definitely I look forward to it. I understand obviously it's going to be an incredibly difficult match for me.
But, you know, that's what I need to make sure the next sort of day and a half, two days, I do all the right things, watch some videos of matches that I played against him, and recover.
Because you're going to need all of your reserves to get through a match with Rafa at the French.
Q. It's the first time you're reaching semifinals in the French Open. Are you happy enough with that, or you want to go further?
ANDY MURRAY: I want to try and go further. You know, it's a good result for me. And like I say, I'm surprised a little bit because I haven't played as well on a surface that, you know, I haven't been as comfortable on, you know, the last few years.
So I'm happy that I'm in the semis. It's a good result. But I want to ‑‑ obviously want to go further. It's not worth going through what I've gone through the last four or five days to just sort of be happy getting to the semis.
Q. There's obviously been a lot of talk from Rafa himself about maybe the fact he's not feeling his best, he hasn't been playing his best. Do you take any confidence from that, or do you think it's sort of being a bit overplayed?
ANDY MURRAY: He's still playing pretty good, so I know Rafa will play excellent tennis against me on Friday. Pretty much every time we've played we've had some really good matches and he's always played well.
Even in practice he plays well against me, so I don't expect him to play badly on Friday.
Q. Haven't you been surprised the fact that the four top men are in the semifinals and in the women draw, none of the top four is in the semifinal? Before, women's tennis we're always respecting, you know, the rankings. Now it's completely the opposite. How do you explain it?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, I think because some of the most consistent ladies aren't here. Henin has retired; Clijsters was coming back for her first tournament for quite a long time; obviously Serena is not playing, and that's going to ‑‑ I mean, if you can imagine a men's Grand Slam without Federer and Nadal, then it's going to be a bit ‑‑ you know, everyone's not going to know what's going to happen. There's going to be some surprises.
So I think, yeah, it's a little bit surprising. But most of the names that are still in are very, very good players. So it's not ‑‑ I don't think, everyone knew going in there were going to be strange results and different people towards the end of the tournament.
Schiavone won last year, Na Li made the final of the Australian Open, and Sharapova is one of the best competitors in the game. So I don't think it's that surprising.
Q. Could you spend a couple of words about the other semifinal? Nadal said the best player of history against the best player of the moment. What's your opinion?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I mean, it's going to be a great match. I'm sure it will be interesting to see how they both play. I'm sure for Novak it will be a little bit strange; five days off in the middle of a Grand Slam is very rare. He definitely wouldn't have been through it before.
We were talking about it a little bit the last couple of days. Like what would you actually do if you had five days during a Grand Slam? Would you play some sets? Would you take it easy?
I know he's played a lot of tennis, but, you know, he's got to be switched on from the start against Roger, because he's playing Roger.
So it will be very interesting, and I think if the conditions are like they have been the last few days, it's going to be pretty unpredictable.
Q. Do you think that your poor start to the matches here over the past two days are in a way related to your ankle condition?
ANDY MURRAY: I think the match with Troicki, yeah, for sure; today, no, I don't think so. Because I hadn't really tested my ankle out before going out against Troicki, I didn't move particularly well. Not used to playing with heavy strapping on my ankle, so I moved badly. It was very stiff in my movement early.
But I don't think today it was anything to do with my ankle. I just didn't play well.
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