THE STELLA ARTOIS CHAMPIONSHIPS
Date: 2006-06-17

THE STELLA ARTOIS CHAMPIONSHIPS

June 17, 2006

Andy Roddick
LONDON, ENGLAND

The Moderator Questions for Andy, please.

Question He made it tough for you, didn't he?
Answer Yeah. You know, I think a lot of credit should go to James today. It's not often I've served 77% first serves with one double-fault and gotten broken three times in a two-set match, especially serving with the pace that I was today.
You know, I hit a couple stupid shots. That overhead in the second set probably was a huge turning point.
But, you know, if someone can take full swings on my best serves all day and, you know, hit winners or hit forcing shots off of them, then it's too good.

Question The break in the second set was a bit bizarre, wasn't it?
Answer The break, yeah, it was unfortunate. I mean, I hit a pretty good volley, missed it by a little bit. The overhead was just -- that was my fault. I just missed it. I put myself in good position. And then he hit a return deep and it hit -- I don't know if it hit a patch of grass maybe that was lying about. You know, it kind of took a skid before I got a swing on it. But that's kind of the way my day felt.

Question How disappointing is it not to get the four in a row?
Answer It's disappointing, but I think you have to look, you know -- from my standpoint, I want preparation for Wimbledon and I want to build confidence for Wimbledon. I feel like I've done that this week. I've beaten some quality players and, you know, it took someone playing an amazing match to get me today.
I feel like I'm serving well. I feel like I'm returning well. You know, I'm a lot better off now than when I came in to this event. So at the end of the day, this tournament has to be considered a success just because I feel prepared for Wimbledon, which obviously is the big goal.

Question During the next week what will you do with your practice times, with whatever you've got to do off court? Is it just a matter of keeping it at an even keel, or picking things up, or what?
Answer No, I mean, you don't want to -- if you pick it up let's say Monday, then you have to keep that for three weeks. But I'm fine with my form from this week, you know. I feel like I played well. Even today, I missed a couple of shots that maybe I -- that overhead in the second set, I'm going to keep harping on that, but I feel like that was a really big point and that's one of the shots I blew.
But, overall, I didn't play that badly. You know, I think we had some great points, and I even played some great points that he came up with some great shots on.
I've done the off week before Wimbledon before. You just try to maintain pace, get a lot of sets in, and be ready to go come the starting day.

Question Is that here in London?
Answer Yeah, yeah.

Question How surprised were you with Blake's performance?
Answer I mean, I think a little bit. I mean, like I said, he returned unbelievable today. The way he was hitting the returns, it's not like he was just making them, he was, like I said, taking full cuts at my first serve, which I don't think I've ever had done before. Roger is effective at getting it back in play. But to have someone just tee off on it like that, it hasn't happened. I mean, in the eight times I played him before that, it hadn't happened.
That being said, he's had a great year, so you've come to expect a very high level from him.

Question What is your hope for the Wimbledon seeding?
Answer For the Wimbledon seeding?

Question Yeah.
Answer I don't know. I don't know the formula. I think I've proven over the last three years that I probably am the second best grass court player. But that being said, I haven't had the best of years so far this year, up to my standard at least. So it's interesting. I don't know.
I feel like I showed pretty good form here. And, you know, it's tricky because the guys -- I guess they use a formula from the last two years on grass or something like that. The guys that would be ahead of me, save Roger, haven't played that well, or outstanding on grass, in the last couple years. So it will be interesting. I'm glad I don't have to make that decision.

Question Would you be surprised if they didn't give you the No. 2 seeding?
Answer Uhm, I don't know if I'd be surprised. You know, I think it's a coin flip at this point. I mean, everybody else seems - that's brought it up, which is just a few - seems a lot more certain of it than I am. You know, I don't think you can discount what Nadal has done just because it's on other surfaces.
You know, I'm sure the seeding committee would have loved to have seen him, you know, at full strength and finish that match and kind of see where he ended up this week, but they don't have that luxury.
You know, I don't expect to be the No. 2 seed, but I would certainly feel deserving if I was given it.

Question Do you like that Wimbledon does that seeding?
Answer Yeah, I think it could be done for the French. I've gone into the French Open before as the No. 2 seed and, I mean, I'm not the second best clay court player in the world. So, you know, I think -- but I think also it's unique to grass because we only have three weeks on it a year, which is a travesty in itself. But I think they have to use a unique system just because it's such a unique surface and there's so little time actually spent on it.

Question From the performances you've seen at this championship, who do you think will win it?
Answer I think a lot of it depends on James. You know what Lleyton is going to give you: He's going to go out, be solid, he's going to return well, he's going to put balls in the court. If James plays like he did today, then, you know, I think it would take a really impressive effort to stop him.

Question Still watching World Cup in your off week?
Answer I am, yeah. We got a big game tonight. I don't know. We got screwed. We had to play Czech, and now we have to beat Italy to stay in the World Cup. But I'll put on my happy hat and try to cheer for them as much as possible tonight.

Question From what you've seen on TV, do you have a favorite commentator or favorite analyst?
Answer Favorite commentator or analyst? Not really. They're not the ones playing the games. I'm not really too concerned with them. You know what they say: It's like fill in the blank, everybody has one.
I don't pay much attention to the commentators. I'm more interested in the players and the games.

Question There's a big debate about HawkEye after the first semifinal. Where do you stand with it?
Answer I'm for it, for a lot of reasons. Not only because you hate walking off the court, you know, like Tim today. I mean, he got the -- he got a little bit of the raw end of the deal. It's a bad feeling walking off the court feeling like the match was affected by someone else besides the two guys on the court. That being one issue. And another one, when we played in Miami, it just adds another element for the fans. It's up on the video board. It gives the fans something else to watch. I mean, you cannot know anything about tennis and still understand the drama of a challenge and getting overturned. If the player is right, everybody screams; if the player's wrong, he's an idiot. It adds just another dynamic to the game which I think is great for the fans.

Question Would you like technology (inaudible) as well?
Answer Would I like it? If it's available, I don't see why you wouldn't want to get everything right. Just makes sense to me.

...