Andy Murray Q&A - Karlovic, Watson & hamster called Whisky
- Published
Wimbledon 2015 |
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Dates: Until 12 July |
Play: 11:30 BST on outside courts and 13:00 on Centre Court and Court One |
BBC coverage: Across TV, radio and online with up to 15 live streams available. Read More: TV and radio schedules. |
Saturday's match against Andreas Seppi was a tough one but I got through it, and the crowd on Centre Court really made a difference.
I feel like I'm playing well right now and can't wait for the second week. I'll be back on Centre Court on Monday but before the action starts again, I thought I'd use this column to answer some of the questions you sent using Twitter and Facebook.
Q) What did Seppi say to you to make you laugh at the end? (John Parsons)
I didn't really hear exactly what he said, but he said it and then laughed, so I laughed as well.
Q) Does Ivo Karlovic have the best serve and how do you prepare for facing it? (Alan Bingle)
He has one of the best for sure. It's difficult to pick who has the best. To prepare for it I usually have my coach or whoever it is I'm hitting with stand just behind the service line and basically just serve from there and try to react.
I ask them to try and ace me for 10 minutes so I get used to seeing the ball go past me, and also reacting to a serve coming at me from that height.
Q) What do you think about Wimbledon's dress code? (Danyal Khan)
It is very strict but I do like that it's all white because it's different. We don't have that the rest of the year and that is one of the things that makes Wimbledon unique.
Q) Should the rules of tennis be changed since toilet breaks & medical time-outs are being increasingly used to break up sporting momentum, and the integrity of the sport? (James Walker)
Yes, they should be. Why not? They could get rid of the medical time-outs, for sure. You can't get rid of toilet breaks but you could have them at the end of the set.
Normally the toilets are right by the side of the court. Maybe on the outside courts it's not the case but normally they are right there and there's no reason for a toilet break to last 10 minutes.
But sometimes we play for four or five hours and you're drinking so many fluids, you can't get rid of them altogether - what if someone needs to go? You don't want to see what might happen on the court!
Q) What is your pet preference after dogs? (Alexander Broadbean)
That's a good question. We talked about having a cat before but none of my family ever had cats while I was growing up. I think with what I do for a living, having cats is actually not a bad thing because they don't need as much attention as dogs.
I had a hamster when I was a kid, called Whisky. He escaped down the floorboards never to be seen again and I was absolutely devastated.
Q) Who would win a fastest sausage-eater contest between your dogs Maggie May and Rusty? (Amanda C)
Rusty's a quicker eater. He's just bigger. He's a boy and wolfs his food down.
Q) Would you ever consider Grand Slam doubles? (Jake)
I would like to. I couldn't at Wimbledon because the doubles is best-of-five sets. You look at some of the matches, you can be out there for three-and-a-half or four hours. There's no way physically I would be able to do that here.
But I would like to play because I love the Grand Slams and doing well in the doubles is good. I respect the doubles players, my brother's one, and often doubles matches can be very exciting, especially in the latter stages of Grand Slams.
It is a part of our game that a lot of club players play and I think it should be shown more on the TV.
Q) Where did you watch Heather Watson's match against Serena Williams and were you on your feet shouting? (Rachel Grace)
I watched it at home. I watched the first set and the beginning of the second, and then I snoozed for 20 minutes and woke up at 5-4 in the second set. Then I watched the whole of the end of the match.
I don't really jump up and scream when I'm watching because of the dogs - Kim was doing that and the dogs were going crazy. I normally go very quiet and quite insular when I'm watching matches that I'm into. With boxing I do that as well - individual sports.
With team sports it's different, but with individual sports and when I care about the outcome, I tend to not say a whole lot.
Q) Who would play you in a movie and why? (Sandy)
Andrew Garfield - I've been told we look alike.
Q) Who was your sporting hero growing up? (Greg)
Andre Agassi. I loved watching him when I was a kid. He had a great personality - very charismatic, very different.
Q) Do you prefer scrambled eggs or fried? (Josh)
Scrambled. I've just got into cooking them on my own and I do them pretty well. I learned from watching Gordon Ramsay on the internet.
Andy Murray was speaking to BBC Sport's Piers Newbery. You can follow Murray on Twitter,, externalFacebook, external and Instagram., external
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