AUSTRALIAN OPEN
Date: 2008-01-18

AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 18, 2008

Andy Roddick
MELBOURNE, VICTORIA
The Moderator Questions, please.

Question Tough one, Andy. Talk about how you're feeling.
Andy Roddick: No, yeah, it's rough. You know, you play a match that long, you come out the wrong end, it doesn't feel good.
You know, I'm trying to think of a new and exciting way to say that. But, I don't know, it's not good. It's not fun.

Question His level was pretty high, though. Except for the second set, especially on his own service games, pretty good.
Andy Roddick: "Pretty good" is an understatement. I don't know that I've ever seen him play like that before, especially serving-wise. You know, it's unfortunate.

Question Have you ever played that well and lost?
Andy Roddick: Yeah.

Question The various things that annoyed you during the match, was that emotion that you were able to feed off or do you think it took away from what you were trying to do?
Andy Roddick: I don't think it had anything to do with it. I came out and served aces after I got mad at his little section. If anything, I needed something to get inside of me. It was a long time between me talking to the umpire and when the match actually finished.
I think it was pretty insignificant.

Question It was quite a bit steamier in there than it's been for other matches. Was it tough to stay alert, a hundred percent? You looked like you were sweating buckets.
Andy Roddick: Yeah, I was. I have like a sweating problem. It's been a real problem in my personal life.
But, I mean, it's what I do. I don't know how to prevent that really. You know, it's tough to keep fluids in you. But, you know, so be it. Thanks, dad.

Question Did 2003 go through your mind at all?
Andy Roddick: Yeah, I thought about it.

Question When did you think about it? In the fifth?
Andy Roddick: About 3-2 in the first set.

Question Can you give a view on what happened when he first had a match point and called the challenge.
Andy Roddick: I thought he played a shot and then maybe searched around and then challenged. I thought he played a shot. You know, his shot was obviously going out. So I was just trying to get my point across that he had played a shot.
I said, It's irrelevant whether he hit one more shot, you know, if I felt like he was going to miss that one.
I could have been right or I could have been wrong. Would have been an idiot at least to not put that seed in the umpire's mind at that point, right?

Question You tried a lot of ways to get into his service games. Especially the last set, seemed like you were climbing uphill the whole time trying to get the ball back in play, and then he was dictating pretty quickly.
Andy Roddick: Is that a question or are you having like a monologue here?

Question No. I don't need to monologue. I'm just asking how you approach.
Andy Roddick: I agree with what you said. I don't know -- I guess that's the best way for me to answer that. Yeah, you're right.

Question Was he that hard to read service-wise? He was hitting lines.
Andy Roddick: You show me what serve he wasn't hitting tonight, what serve he was favoring. He wasn't really favoring a serve. He was going flat out wide, on the deuce, on the ad side. He was hitting his slice serves around pretty well. He moving his second serves around pretty well.
I promise you, if there had been a pattern, four hours later, I would have gotten to it somehow - at least I'd like to think so.

Question Hindsight is always 20/20, but anything you would have done different if you had it to do all over?
Andy Roddick: You know, I don't really know. You can say, you know, you want to try to step in a little more to control the points. But when he's kind of swinging from the hips on the first ball, I don't know if I had two feet set all night.
You know, so I don't know. I don't know. I mean, I'd probably have to think about it more. But right now, you know, if you look at the stats of the match, and you look at first-serve percentages, 42 aces, three double-faults, 79 winners, 24 errors, you know.

Question 104 winners.
Andy Roddick: I was talking about me, not him. And he had 33 errors also. I'm aware of that.
I guess there's something you could always think that you would do differently, or maybe I'll just make something up to make myself feel better.
Bottom line is it was pretty high tennis from both of us, I think.

Question Do you feel a little on a rollercoaster after this fantastic Davis Cup win and now this one?
Andy Roddick: Yeah, I mean, but that's sports, man. You know, if you don't want like an emotional rollercoaster, if you want to be serene and kind of chilled out all day, then get a job serving Margaritas at the beach or something.
When you decide to be a pro athlete you're going to have ups, you're going to have downs, you're going to have extreme highs and extreme lows. That's just the nature of the beast.

Question Will you defend the title in the first round in Austria?
Andy Roddick: Will I defend the title? Are you asking for a prediction of the tie? Are you asking if I'm going to show up?

Question Yes.
Andy Roddick: Yes, of course I'm going to show up.

Question Where does that backhand fit in in the hierarchy of backhands in tennis, his shot?
Andy Roddick: Hierarchy? Let's call a spade a spade. Let's not put him in the hierarchy of tennis yet.

Question His backhand.
Andy Roddick: Let's let him get into the quarterfinal of a slam before we put him in the hierarchy of tennis. No disrespect, but I mean...

Question Well, let's go tonight.
Andy Roddick: Tonight he was great. There's no doubt about it. Tonight he was, you know -- I took his best stuff for five sets and I thought I was going to get him to break or to fold. I thought if I kept it on him long enough that that would happen.
Tonight he played like a great, great player. There's no doubt about that. And tonight his backhand was extremely impressive.

Question Is the disappointment more in the loss, or that you had kind of an up-and-comer just zone on you for that long?
Andy Roddick: I think we're the same age, but he's an up-and-comer (laughter).
It's tough because, you know, I think there's definite disappointment in the loss. And I guess if you're given a choice to play well in a loss or play, like, terrible in a loss, you want to choose to play well.
But, you know, that makes it pretty disheartening also. Being pissed off is a lot easier than being disappointed.

Question Now that you're out, any thoughts about the court? The speed slower than the past? Not quite as advantageous to your game?
Andy Roddick: You know, it's a court. I don't know if it's so much the court. I think, you know, the way the balls react to it. When you play with new balls it's like a different surface. Then all of a sudden seven, eight games later, it's just a lot different.
You know, but I guess that's the process that it takes to kind of get the surface you want. I don't know if you're going to get it perfect the first time out. But it is what it is, man. I don't mind the surface. I don't mind the effect that it has. It's just different.