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A. Roddick Interview - Day 3
Wednesday, 28 June, 2006


Q. In this match, how much of you is saying you got into some tight
situations but served yourself out of trouble, and how much of you is saying
how did you let yourself get into the situations where you had to serve
yourself out of trouble?

ANDY RODDICK: You know what? My whole thing is survive and advance, you know.
I'm glad I served myself out of some big situations, because I haven't done
that really this year so far. My serve the last couple of weeks has gotten a
lot better. I'm just about, you know, survive and advance, that's it.



Q. Did he have you worried at any stage?

ANDY RODDICK: Oh, yeah, for sure. Obviously, you don't like losing, dropping
the first set. Even in the third set breaker, I lose that, and it's very
concerning.

So, yeah, for sure.



Q. Looking at the stats, I don't think he won one of nine breakpoints.

ANDY RODDICK: I didn't?



Q. No, he didn't. You seemed to step up to the plate particularly when you
were serving.

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, I came up with some big serves on his breakpoints. That
was key 'cause he was getting the better of me in some rallies, especially
earlier in the match. Later on in the match, I started hitting my forehand a
little bit better.

I'm glad I could rely on my serve today.



Q. Have you changed anything even in a small way with your serve to find it
again at this tournament?

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, a little bit. Just trying to keep my hand relaxed, not
really force it too much. I served pretty well at Queen's, as well. You know,
it's just finding that rhythm, you know. Sometimes you feel like you're
struggling with it. Today, you know, even through the practice weeks, I feel
like I've been hitting it okay. And that's huge. Today that's probably the
difference between a win and a loss.



Q. Did you expect a tough game when you looked at the draw? He picked up a
couple decent scalps last year, didn't he?

ANDY RODDICK: Did he? I don't know.



Q. You didn't look at that?

ANDY RODDICK: I didn't remember his tournament from last year. I knew he was
playing okay. I mean, I think he won a match or two at Queen's. He won a
match or two again at Nottingham. He came out firing from the first ball.
You're always concerned. I don't know if I've ever played a match where I
wasn't concerned about my opponent, especially at a tournament like this. You
have to yeah, I think you have to pay very close attention to everyone.



Q. You've often talked about competing well. In that third set breaker, you
seemed to win it because you were competing well. Was that a big part of just
winning the match?

ANDY RODDICK: I think so. I wasn't real happy when I was down 3 0 in that
breaker. You know, I tried to hang around. I didn't blow a fuse today at any
time out there, even when I lost the first set. I didn't get down on myself.
That and my serve probably allowed me to get through.

You know, I'm just happy to be alive and I'm looking forward to tomorrow.



Q. Were you also telling yourself out there, hit the forehand, hit the
forehand?

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, I needed to take some more swings at it. I thought I
started doing that a lot better later on in the match. I started really
giving it a go. It changed the dynamic of the points that we were having. He
was a little further back. Therefore, I wasn't able to step in and take balls
up the line as much.

Yeah, I mean, I definitely had to work hard to try to make that an effective
shot today.



Q. Is that a confidence thing with you? If you're playing well week after
week, you're probably just hitting the forehand.

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah.



Q. Now are you telling yourself, Now you have to hit the forehand and believe
it's going to come?

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, I mean, basically I was out there going, Okay, well,
you're missing some forehands right now and you're not hitting it. That's
like double negative. At least if you hit it and miss it, at least you're
hitting with a purpose.

My forehand's felt pretty good. It's just a matter of just bearing down and
going for it. Like I said, at least we're not sitting here talking about how
I didn't make the adjustment. That's good.



Q. The balance between playing with intensity and blowing a fuse is something
that is a fine line to walk sometimes. At 3 0 in the breaker, you tossed your
racquet. What are you thinking then? Looks like you might have had some words
with the umpire and then didn't.

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, I pump faked the argument with the umpire (laughter).

I don't know. I just tried to calm down as much as possible. I reminded
myself that talking to him probably wouldn't I mean, it wasn't going to
change anything at that point. Probably, if I would have heard his reasoning,
it probably would have pissed me off even more.

So, you know, I guess I just tried to mellow out. I'm thankful my racquet
didn't roll into the chair when I threw it.



Q. The look on your face when you won that tiebreaker was pretty fierce. How
good did that feel?

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, I mean, that was huge. That could have been the match. I
mean, we overuse the term "some points here and there," but if I lose two
points at 6 All as opposed to winning two points at 6 All, it's a different
match and at best case scenario, I'm out there still.

I wanted that one real bad.



Q. This match was a little bit remindful of last year when you had to really
sweat through some matches with Bracciali and Grosjean. Was that wearing last
year to go through those matches? You made the final. That was great. But was
it wearing to go through those matches on you?

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah. But you know what, with the exception of Roger probably,
you know, I don't know if any champion has just been able to sweep through
Grand Slams. You're going to have tough matches along the way. The rest of
us, we'd love to play well all the time. It's probably not going to happen.

You know, my coach when I was probably 10 years old said, "The difference
between good players and bad players is being able to win matches when you're
not feeling great on the court." I think there's a lot of truth to that.
Today was probably a testament. I didn't throw my best stuff out there, but I
played okay when it mattered. Like I said, I survived.

So if you would give me that option going into today, I would have taken it.



Q. Speaking of coaching, what is the status of your relationship with Jimmy?
Is he coming on board?

ANDY RODDICK: I'm going to say this again one time (smiling). We've talked on
the phone a couple of times. Nothing's going to happen here. We're both
intrigued by the prospect of working together. We've bounced the idea off of
each other. It's positive. But there are a lot of details that go into it.

We haven't had a face to face conversation yet. Who knows if we will during
this tournament. Obviously I kind of have a Wimbledon to play. It's not
something that would be farfetched in the future. There's a lot that needs to
happen between here and there.



Q. With Andre retiring, there's been a lot of reflection of his career. Could
you comment on what he's meant to tennis, and do you have a particular moment
of his that you remember most?

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, well, I think we all remember, it's tough to pinpoint one
moment because there's personal moments and then there's the moments where I
remember the spandex and the mullet. And then the match with Ivanisevic here
I think was the first time I actually sat down and watched a full five set
match. Just the way he's transformed himself. Selfishly, I'm going to miss a
guy who has been a mentor to me as far as trying to carry yourself with a
little bit of professionalism.

You know, I've gotten to see the real good side of him up close and personal.
You know, we'll miss tennis players, but I think we'll miss him as a person
more.



Q. Is there a piece of advice he gave you that has really had a transforming
effect or little stuff along the way?

ANDY RODDICK: You know what, I learned a lot by watching. I was able to be
close to him when I was 17, 18 years old, walking through the hallways. He
knows every doorman's name. Please and the thank yous at the transportation
area. Those things don't get reported on, but they probably make the man more
so than anybody. You'd be surprised how many guys will take off a grip on the
racquet, leave it in the locker room for the attendant to pick up. I bet my
life that wouldn't happen with him.

I think I learned a lot just by watching him go about his daily business.



Q. In defeat at the Carson Davis Cup tie, what did you learn about him or
what did he teach you there?

ANDY RODDICK: I don't know if any of us were up for long winded conversations
about how much we sucked then.

He handled it with class. I mean, he was pretty mad about it, you know. I
think I saw the competitor in him more so than anything. He's able to kind of
compose himself, be mature about it, then get mad to himself.

I don't know if that was the defining moment for me as far as Andre goes.



Q. Has he spoken to you about going through the normal ups and downs of a
career? Obviously, he had some huge ups and had his downs. You've had ups and
downs.

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, Andre, I mean, we're at kind of a weird place because
we're both playing. I've been a top player, he's been a top player. He's made
it known that if I ever need anything, need to talk to him about anything,
that he's a phone call away. I think, again, I learned more just by watching.
You know, if I think dropping to 5 is bad, I think about him dropping to 141
and making it back to No. 1 in the world. That puts a little bit of
perspective on things.

You know, I think he was the ultimate guy as far as proving people wrong over
and over again when they kind of stuck a fork in him.



Q. I think he said yesterday that he was talking to you about something and
you actually said to him, Why are you telling me this? I'm a competitor. Do
you recall that conversation?

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, I mean, not I don't know so much about that. It's just
I've been I don't know if it kind of went like that. I just told him I was
overwhelmed kind of with how much he was willing to help, and especially when
we're the two top Americans for a little while there.

You know, a lot of time you feel competitive rivalry. I never once felt like
he was in any way trying to keep me from doing my best. It's hard to explain.
I think he always had my best interest at heart, which selfishly is tough
sometimes, you know. I think he showed us a way, especially the younger
generation of players, on how to help each other. I think now we have a
pretty good base of guys who are there for each other.



Q. On court as a player, what were his strengths?

ANDY RODDICK: You know the answer to that. The on court stuff you can line up
numbers and you can look at it, you can see how impressive it is. I think the
most impressive thing is the versatility of it all, the every surface along
with the Olympic gold medal, all the Masters Series on different surfaces. He
kind of transformed the game as well. He was the first one to take full
swings at returns. He kind of was revolutionary in the way he played.

You can talk about all the tournaments he won, everybody knows about that,
but I think to do him justice you'd probably have to look beyond that.



Q. Roger was asked about what he thought of your status at this tournament.
He said, Andy Roddick, definitely a competitor, could get back to the final.
When he gets on this surface, he's a different player. Talk about that, what
your feelings are this year.

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, I feel the same, you know. This surface definitely helps
my game a lot. It's comfortable being here. I love this tournament. I love
playing here. If guys want to sleep on me, they can sleep on me. I probably
wouldn't encourage it here.


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