ANDY MURRAY Q&A: LENDL IN SPANDEX?

Written by: Staff on 26th March 2012

ANDY MURRAY Q&A: LENDL IN SPANDEX?

Andy Murray of Great Britain returns to Novak Djokovic of Serbia during their men's single semi-final match at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 27 January 2012. EPA/BARBARA WALTON |

by Matt Fitzgerald

(originally from: http://www.sonyericssonopen.com/News/Tennis/2012/Tournament/Sunday/ATP-Miami-Sunday-Murray-Q-And-A.aspx)

World No. 4 Andy Murray moved into the fourth round of the Sony Ericsson Open, after receiving a walkover from 26th seed Milos Raonic, who withdrew from the tournament with a right ankle injury on Sunday. The Scotsman is looking to capture his second title at the ATP World Tour Masters event, having lifted the trophy in 2009.

SonyEricssonOpen.com sat down with the three-time Grand Slam finalist, where he talked about being labeled the messiest player on tour and which member of the Miami Heat he is most comparable to.

A few years ago, you decided to set up a training base in the Miami area. You have the personal connection with your best friend Dani Vallverdu having played at the University of Miami, but what is it about Crandon Park that makes this location an ideal environment for you to prepare off court?
The weather is for one. A lot of guys in Europe can train at home because the climate is pretty good year round. But for me, it’s different in the UK. I find that there’s a big difference between practicing indoors and outdoors, and the adjustment is quite hard. So I like to come here, because it very rarely rains, and when it does, the court dries quickly. And it’s very humid. Like today, it was roasting. Right after Wimbledon, they are really tough conditions to train in, so working in those conditions makes the matches feel a little bit easier.

In Sydney, your British buddies Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins declared you the messiest player in the locker room. How do you respond to those accusations? Feel free to name a pet peeve each for Colin and Rosco…
I’ve always been very messy, since I was a kid. Right before I came in to do the interviews today, I got changed. My stuff right now is everywhere. So I’ll put my hand up for that one.

Ross is a really heavy sweater. That’s probably his main weakness. He gets really bad sweat patches. Colin uses way too much product in his hair. And I’ve told him that as well, but he doesn’t listen to me, because my hand is normally all over the place.

In years past, you and your trainers Jez Green and Matt Little had ‘forfeits’, as you called them. Since bringing Ivan Lendl on as your coach, have you held any team challenges or have plans for any in the near future?
Not yet, but we’ve actually set up one. Ivan and I are going to play against Ross and Colin on clay. We’re going to play a doubles match for a forfeit, which hasn’t been set yet. Ivan rollerblades a lot and one of the potential forfeits if we lose was him rollerblading into Wimbledon, wearing his white spandex. We used to play football tennis all the time but we stopped doing that, and haven’t done as many forfeits the last couple years.

Your mother Judy is now the captain of the British Fed Cup team. How proud are you to see her expertise being utilized in such an important tennis role in the United Kingdom?
It’s great. It’s the first time she’s coached women. She always worked with kids. When Jamie and I were five or six, that’s when she really got into it, but never really worked with anyone past the age of 14 before, so for her, it’s a new challenge. I think it’s nice for the girls as well, as there are very few female coaches on the tour. I think that’s good to see since there’s not that many female coaches in high positions in British tennis, so that’s something that’s different and good for her. I hope she has good results. They had a really good start in Israeil and they’ve got a chance against Sweden as well.

Being a big Miami Heat fan, if you had to pick a member of the ‘Big 3’ that you most resemble athletically or personality wise, who would it be and why?
I would probably say Dwyane Wade, because the other two are absolute monsters. Bosh is 6’ 9’’ I think and LeBron is about 6’ 7’’. Wade is very quick. The other two are more powerful and that’s not one of my main strengths on court. It’s my quickness, so it would be Dwyane Wade.