Andy's thoughts in full looking ahead to the match:

Q. You have heard your draw for next week, have you?
A. No.

Q. Alberto Martin in the first round?
A. Uh-huh.

Q. The initial thoughts about that?
A. That's the first I've heard of it, so I don't know. All matches in Grand Slams are tough. He's obviously a very fit guy. You know, one of the advantages of getting seeded now is that you don't have to play one of the highest ranked guys in the world in the first couple of rounds. So I'm looking forward to the match. I'm sure it will be tough in this heat. But I feel like if I'm playing like I have been, you know, the last few weeks, and I can work on a few things I didn't do so well today, hopefully I'll be playing well going into it.

Q. How much stronger physically are you this year compared to last year?
A. How do you want me to scale it?

Q. Do you feel you will be able to get through quite easily?
A. Well, I don't want to say it's going to be easy. I don't think anybody finds it easy playing in 35 degrees heat, it's obviously going to be difficult, but I feel like I'm stronger physically, prepared better this year, and I've given myself five or six days to get used to the weather before the tournament starts. Obviously last year I arrived in here pretty late, so I think that I'll definitely be feeling better going into the tournament.

Q. 2006 was a pretty low year for British sport generally -- football, rugby, cricket. Do you feel you've got an opportunity to start off 2007 a lot better?
A. When I play, I don 't necessarily play for the whole of British sport. It's not for me to make British sport successful. There's loads of different teams and a lot of different sports that contribute to that. So even if I was to have a good 2007 and everybody else didn't, then I'm sure everybody would say it wasn't a success. I'm not playing for the whole of British sport, I'm playing for British tennis, and I hope that I can improve on how I did last year. Because obviously last year was very successful, but I want to keep getting better, I don't want to stop at 15 in the world, so I can push myself even higher.

Q. On the draw, as you haven't seen it yet, what interests you about it? What will you be looking at first when you get the draw?
A. I don't look at draws. I tried to mention that last year when I got asked about playing Lleyton Hewitt in the second round before I'd played my first round match. It's not something that you -- unless you're -- I'm sure, unless you're a Federer, I'm sure you could probably look a couple of rounds ahead. But for everyone else, every match is tough. You don't go in expecting to win, you go in expecting to play a tough match and compete your best and hopefully play well. And I feel if I do that I could play well here. But I don't want to get complacent, I want to concentrate on my first match and take it one step at a time and hopefully I can build on it from match to match. I don't want to just go out there and think about the third round match before I've even won my first one.

Q. Have you ever practised with Martin?
A. I think I practised with him once last year in Auckland. Apart from that I didn't practise with him when I was training in Barcelona, no.

Q. He's not someone you know or know much about, particularly off the court or anything?
A. Yes, I don't really know him too much off the court. I know his game well, I've watched him play quite a lot of times, like I watch most guys. So I know it's going to be a tough match. All the Spanish guys are in great shape, so the heat probably won't be a problem for him and it's up to me to try to use my sort of all-court game against his baseline game to my advantage.

Q. Do you hope for a show court or does that not bother you?
A. No, it doesn't really affect me what sort of court I play on. Obviously, playing on the big courts is nice but, you know, a lot of the outside courts, like show court 3, show court 2, you can get really good atmospheres on them because they tend to be pretty full, and you get the diehard tennis fans in there. So I'm not asking to play on one of the big ones. I'm fine with whatever they put me on.

Q. Do you keep your knowledge of opponents, do you keep it all in your head or have you got a little black book?
A. No, I don't write it down. You know, I've watched a lot of the guys play six, seven times at least, you know, and obviously the higher ranked guys I've seen play more. I think it's one of the things I do well, I take quite a big interest in tennis, so obviously I'm going to know how he plays. I know he plays from the back, he puts a high percentage of first serves in, kick serves, he's got a single-handed backhand, plays with a lot of top spin. But I just take an interest in tennis, so I know how a lot of the guys play.

Q. Would playing Federer the day before a Grand Slam or two days before a Grand Sla m have any extra meaning to you? Are you disappointed not t o have a chance to play him tomorrow?
A. No, it doesn't bother me. As I said -- well, I think I play Safin now, so it's not -- I'm still playing against a great player. It's not anything different, it's great practise before the Australian Open. I said that after my first match; I still feel the same today. I practised with Federer on Wednesday, I played sets with him then, so it's not like I haven't had a practise with him. I mean, it's almost better not to play him before. If he's going to start peaking before the Grand Slam, you don't really want to go on court with him when he's starting to up it.

Q. Even just to give you a sense of where you are, even practising with him, does it give you a better sense of how you're playing, how the ball is coming off the strings, than if you're practising with somebody else ?
A. I think obviously the intensity is maybe a bit different playing with him. Again, like I said after I played Ljubicic, I don't have a problem going on court losing 6-4, 6-4 or 7-6, 6-3 in a practice session. I don't want to go out and lose 1 and 1, because that shows the guy's got the edge over you. As long as I go on the court and perform well and keep it close, so that it's not like -- so the other guy doesn't have an edge the next time you go out and play against him, then that's the most important thing.

Q. Going into this tournament, are you feeling as good as possible for this tournamen t, do you feel as well as you ever have done going into a major tournament?
A. I don't know exactly, because I feel good. You know, obviously I had a cold last week, I twisted my ankle in Bollettieris the day before I left to come back, so I missed a few days practice. But I obviously worked pretty hard in the off season. You know, not everybody is as match tight as maybe they are going into the US Open. But actually, in terms of no niggling injuries, nothing like that, you know, I feel quick on the court, not getting tired during the point, I feel fast. So yeah, everything feels pretty good. But I'm probably not as match tight as I was going into the US Open, as I'm sure none of the guys on the tour are.

Ok, Anyone know which cout what horrible am time and which day this match is going to occur.

Are the Bookies offering odds on whether 'Licescore' will work moderately well for this match?   

Tim 

Madeline wrote:

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Won't be until Tuesday, Tim, so no OOP for Andy yet.

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Being seeded gives him a break!  That's good!  Thank you for the info!

According to Eurosport, Murray's match will be in the evening not before 08.30 GMT

nope, the schedule says Not Before 7:30 PM which works out as 8.30 GMT.

I wont be able to follow it cos i have an exam tomorrow morning but i hope to come back to a win!

Madeline wrote:

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Yes, Lloyd and Bailey on BBCi confirm that Andy's match will be at 8.30 am UK time, or later if there are heat delays/long matches beforehand.

Anybody with Freeview wanting to record BBCi, the matches today are on channel 302. It may be possible to set advance recording this way; I haven't tried it, I have just assumed that you had to be present to press the little red button. . .could be worth a try for those that have to go to work.

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