US OPEN
Date: 2006-08-28

US OPEN

August 28, 2006

Andy Roddick

The Moderator First question, please. Question Nice way to start things off, Andy? Feel pretty good about the way it went out there today?Answer Yeah, it felt clean. I didn't hit yesterday. I got a very short warm up. You know, but I feel like I've been hitting the ball pretty well. I've maintained the way I've been hitting the ball since Cincinnati. It's a lot better than last year. Better start. Question Coming off the results from Cincinnati, are you feeling very confident the way you're playing?Answer Yeah, I'm really, really confident right now. Feel good. Question Tonight's a very special evening for Andre Agassi, and some say for a lot of players that know him well. Where do you plan on being for that event? Plan on coming back?Answer As much as I would love to, uhm, I probably need to focus on my tournament a little bit. It will be a great night, and I hope I can grasp a little bit of the atmosphere by watching on TV with Billie Jean's ceremony and the electricity in the air for Andre's match I'm sure will be unparalleled. Question Can you comment a little bit on the renaming of the National Tennis Center to honor of Billie Jean?Answer I can't think of a more fitting person, you know. You have Arthur Ashe Stadium. What he stood for kind of went beyond tennis. Now they're kind of sticking with that motto with Billie Jean and what she was able to do for a lot of people, and especially women in sports. You know, she was she is revolutionary. I think, you know, in the understatement of the year, it's extremely deserved. Question Was this the second time that Connors was in the stadium? This is the second time that Jimmy Connors was in this stadium to watch you? Answer It was the second time? Question Yes. Answer That he was here to watch me? Question In the stadium. Answer Here? He was at a couple matches in LA.Question Only?Answer Yeah, he was only in LA and then he's been here all week.Question So this is the second tournament?Answer Second tournament where he's actually been in the stands, where his butt has been stuck to his seat. Question Can you tell us about the influence Jimmy Connors has on you? In what matter can he help you the best, do you think? Answer I don't know where to go with that. It's pretty vague. I don't know if I can do much with that question. I mean, it's just nice to I just enjoy his presence. I'm excited every morning when I wake up to go try to learn new things. You know, I've said it before, his passion for the game and, you know, for this process is huge. It's contagious. Question Andy when you broke his serve for the first time in the first set you showed a lot of emotion there with the fist pump. Kind of looking a little bit like the Jimmy Connors of old. Have you talked at all about showing that emotion on the court? What was going through your mind at that point?Answer We haven't talked about that once. Just felt it. I felt like, Okay, well, now the Open's started. I'm getting up. I feel like I'm playing okay. You know, wasn't forced by any means. I was just excited to get off to a good start.Question Did you say that to yourself, Now the Open has started? We heard a little bit of that. Answer I did. I felt like it had. Question Speaking of breaking, you feel like you're returning pretty well right now?Answer Yeah, I hit 'em well today. Little short in the first couple games, but I think I broke him more than he held serve today, and that's a large step for me. You know, I'm putting a lot of returns in the court and I'm doing something with them. It feels clean right now. Question Jimmy ever going to be a full time coach for you, do you think? Will you have to work something out?Answer He is a full time coach, he just watches on TV sometimes. Question How much of the time do you think he's watching TV?Answer I don't know. I don't know. I think he's more about preparation. You know, before Cincinnati he was with me for eight days in Austin. When it was time to go, he said, All right. Go put this on the court. He watched every match on TV. We talked probably 30 minutes after the completion of each match there. Beyond that, I don't know what else I got for you.Question When you're saying "put this on the court," can you explain more what he's teaching you specifically?Answer No (smiling).Question There's a Long Island band that's done a song dedicated to you. Have you heard it? What do you think about someone doing that?Answer The kind of reggae ish one? Yeah, I heard that. Question What do you think?Answer It's a little weird to hear it, to be honest. But it's fun and a little corny. I don't know. It was okay.Question It's a little weird, meaning for somebody to be writing something about that? Answer Yeah. Yeah. You know, the first time someone played it for me, I thought it was my friends like spoofing something, you know. It was a little weird, but kind of fun. Question What role does your brother, John, have now? Is he still working with you to some extent?Answer Yeah. I mean, I don't know I don't do titles that well. He's there. He's at practice every day. He sees what Jimmy and I are doing. You know, I don't know if I'd be at this point without his help as well. He takes care of a lot of the odds and ends, and maybe is a little bit more familiar with the tour right now as far as players and that type of thing. You know, it's all I guess we're all a team.Question The women are trying a thing with on court coaching. Does that work in tennis? Would that be a good idea to have coaching on court? Answer Well, I don't know. Personally, I don't really like it, because I think tennis is unique in the fact that you actually have to think for yourself. I don't really know any other sports you know, most other sports you got a coach talking to you or a caddy talking to you or a pit crew talking to you or something. I like the fact it's kind of one on one. Then you get into the argument if someone's 60 or 70 in the world and doesn't have a full time coach traveling with and someone else does, is that an advantage? I like the fact that the powers that be are thinking of things outside of the box, the challenge thing and, you know, different setups and how to present tennis in a different way. I like that. It's just I see a lot of holes in that idea, personally. Question Are you surprised that the challenges come out less than 50% in favor of the players? Answer Not really, because I've done it a couple times where, you know, it's breakpoint and the ball is really close and you're not really sure if it does either way. But it's 5 All in the first set or 5 All in the second set and you figure you might as well. I've challenged probably 60% of the times hoping as opposed to because I have two challenges. I think that stat's a little deceiving. Sometimes you go with your pot odds and, you know, hope for the best.Question Are you less likely to challenge in a match that's lopsided? If you're way ahead, third set in a Grand Slam?Answer Hell, no. If I think they're wrong, I'll challenge every time. That's what it's there for. I don't see why you would change it. You're still trying to win every point, right? Question How much does coaching really help? 10%? 20%? Answer I don't know. I don't know percentages. I don't know if we think along those lines. It's definitely I don't know. I think it definitely makes an impact.Question You still think the responsibility, a lot of it is on the player and execution?Answer Yeah, Jimmy can't go out there and play for me. That's what his career was for, you know. That being said, he can bring a lot to the table as far as preparation and different ideas and maybe seeing the game through his eyes a little bit more. You know, he knows a lot more about tennis than I did, and probably ever will. You know, you can only get better from something like that. Question What is the best piece of advice he's given you so far? Has anything been surprising about learning from him? Answer The best? I don't know what the best piece of advice has been. You know, I mean, I don't I don't know. I wish I could expand for you. I can't think of just one thing. Question Are you more confident with Jimmy as your coach than you were prior to that?Answer Yes. Question Why? Answer Because I'm winning. Question Do you watch Jimmy Connors tapes with Jimmy?Answer I don't have to watch the tape now. He goes out there and hits for about 25 minutes after I'm done with practice every day. I can sit there and watch it. We were close to the tape today. It was a rain delay for two hours. We almost saw Connors Krickstein again, right (laughing)? Question Does the challenge system change your emotional reaction to questionable calls?Answer Personally, for me, I think it's a good thing because I spend less time whining about calls because it's pretty much on my shoulders whether I challenge it or not. So, you know, I think you'll see less banter, though. I tried to challenge a let today, but they wouldn't let me. Question Does it change the character of matches at all? Maybe players don't get as upset or take much time to argue with the umpires?Answer Yeah, definitely. It's up to us now. I think it takes some heat off the umpires a little bit. Maybe takes human error out of it. If you have used both your challenges and you were wrong and a call comes, it's kind of your fault, isn't it?You know, so I like it. I like everything about it. I think it's great for the fans. I think it adds another dimension to watching it on TV, that three or four second clip where you see the ball going through, the crowd ooohhh... I think it's good. Question Last time you went Cincy, you went skydiving. Do you do anything like that to celebrate?Answer Yeah, I fell out of bed the first night I was sleeping here. That's about as close to skydiving I got this week.FastScripts by ASAP Sports...