ATP MEDIA CONFERENCE

June 18, 2004

Andy Roddick

GREG SHARKO: Good morning to everyone, afternoon for some, and thanks for joining us for today's teleconference with Andy Roddick, who joins us from London. Andy is the No. 2 seed in this years Wimbledon Championships and he'll be playing 19-year-old qualifier Yeu-Tzuoo Wang of Chinese Taipei in the first round on Tuesday. Last Sunday, Andy repeated his title performance at the Queen's Club in London to win his third ATP title of year. He comes into Wimbledon with a 38-8 match record on the season. I'll open it up to questions to the media.

ANDY RODDICK: I hadn't really thought about it, to be honest. You know, I think there are a couple more guys, I think Mardy is seeded in the top 16 for the first time here. I don't really think of my tennis -- I think he's been stepping up his game, playing well. I don't really look at my tennis in those terms. I just kind of go about and do my business. I don't really let those thoughts creep into my head too much.

ANDY RODDICK: I think a lot of it's between the ears. I was playing great tennis at Wimbledon last year. You know, I still think I was playing well enough to have a chance of winning. But I've experienced a lot more big matches in the last year than I probably experienced, you know, combined before that. So I think that's the biggest thing. And just the confidence, knowing that I can win a Grand Slam. My biggest fear was the fear of the unknown. It's a little bit easier this time along, I think.

ANDY RODDICK: Well, being that deep and having a set point against Roger, then watching him go on a couple days later... You know, my whole run through the US Open started at Queen's Club last year. That's when I first started playing, you know, elite caliber tennis on a consistent basis. I think that was definitely a stepping stone towards kind of reaching my goal at the US Open.

ANDY RODDICK: I'm not sure. I think people are a lot more adept on clay now than maybe before. It's just almost two different games. I think the men's game has become so specialized that it is tough to kind of swap back and forth.

ANDY RODDICK: Well, it's tough. I feel great on the grass. I've played as well on grass as I have on hard courts in the past year or so. But the grass, you only play a month out of the year, so it's still a little bit more foreign than a hard court which I've played on my whole life. But I love playing on grass, and I feel like it suits my game.

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, I think so. I think they're very comparable now.

ANDY RODDICK: I'm not sure. It's tough to say. I don't know if it's been that drastic. I mean, I've only been out here three years now. I haven't noticed it, but maybe that's just because I play against it every day.

ANDY RODDICK: No, you're absolutely right. I think Andre revolutionized the game by taking full cuts at returns. That's become almost more important than the serve itself. You know, if you look at guys from the Top 10 from last year, you'd be hard-pressed to find a guy who returns weakly. It's definitely almost become a bigger part of the game.

ANDY RODDICK: I think I'm just continuing to improve. You know, my backhand now as opposed to two years ago, at least I feel in my mind it almost feels like night and day right now. I have a lot more confidence in it. But coming into this grass court season, I really wanted to try to do something with my volleys a little bit more. That's kind of what you've been concentrating on, not just putting them in play. If I'm going to miss them, miss them aggressively or make them aggressively.

ANDY RODDICK: I don't see it happening any time soon because there's not a whole lot of movement being made to make that happen. But I would love to see it a little bit longer. I don't see how it makes much sense to have a Grand Slam on a surface, but not a Masters Series event on the surface. You know, I'd love to see it longer.

ANDY RODDICK: Absolutely. The junior slams were pivotal for me. Even though you are playing a juniors, you're not playing for the big prizes, this, that and the other. It's definitely awesome as a junior, being at the same tournaments. You know, the first time I won my -- when I won my first junior Grand Slam, I went on and watched Andre win the big boy Australian Open. So just to feel like you are part of the tournament like later in the week, it's a pretty invaluable experience.

ANDY RODDICK: It doesn't guarantee success. It doesn't guarantee Grand Slam success. If you win a junior, you're not automatically going to win the pro. Pretty much every professional on tour was a very good junior (laughter). But at the same time you give yourself chances. I mean, if you finish, in my case, I finished No. 1 in the world in jurors, and that gave me a lot of opportunities as far as wildcards and stuff like that. So it did create a lot of opportunities as a professional.

ANDY RODDICK: I don't think so. The pressure's not anywhere near as a big slam. Obviously, you're competing against the depth within probably two years of age as opposed to 10 or 12 years. So it's definitely I think a lot tougher to win a professional Grand Slam.

ANDY RODDICK: I think the players were ready to come regardless. But I think -- I'm pretty sure I'm correct in saying it's supposed to be the new National Training Center, as well. You know, if that is the case like I think it is, it just shows a commitment towards tennis. And that's obviously a big boost in itself.

ANDY RODDICK: I'm excited. I've had great results in Canada the last three years. You know, it's been very good to me. I'm definitely looking forward coming back to Toronto and seeing the new facilities.

ANDY RODDICK: I mean, they're all kind of relevant to each other. I mean, obviously if you play well in Cincinnati or Toronto, you know your confidence is going to be pretty high, or a lot higher going into the US Open. Last year I kind of gained a lot of momentum through the summer events. You know, that definitely helped me carry it over.

ANDY RODDICK: I'm so excited. You know, it's something I've been watching since I can remember. I'm definitely very pumped up to get there. It should be a great experience.

ANDY RODDICK: It's going to be tough. I mean, there's no doubt about it that there's a lot of tennis to be played this summer. But there aren't going to be any surprises. You know going in it's going to be a tough stretch and you just do your best to deal with it.

ANDY RODDICK: It's definitely an incentive. I wish they would have put it in place last year (laughter). No, I mean, I think it definitely generates kind of a buzz, you know, brings some more attention to the game. I don't see any downside for the players. So it should be good.

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, I mean, I don't think one year has relevance to another as far as confidence goes. It kind of just depends on how you're playing at the moment. But, you know, it was my first time there, I really enjoyed playing there. It's a good way to start off the summer season.

ANDY RODDICK: No, I sure hope there is. I think it's vital for the States to have interest and to have players at the top of the game. I mean, that goes without saying. But it's tough in the States. There's so many sports to choose from. You know, it's definitely tough to get your fair shake. But, you know, I can't really worry about, you know, what's out of my control. I know if I try to continue to win matches and if Mardy and Taylor step up and start winning matches, it definitely can't hurt, it can only help.

ANDY RODDICK: No, I'm definitely not saying they won't pay attention to foreign players. But it is a necessity to have a couple American players at the top. You know, obviously Becker was huge in the States. It's a definite necessity for American players to be playing well to promote interest.

ANDY RODDICK: No, I think it, you know, came down to a couple points here and there, then I ran into a person who was just playing great on the day. I thought I played very well at Wimbledon last year. Up to that point, that was by far the best I'd played in a Grand Slam event. I am a year wiser now. I've played in a lot of big matches since that semifinal last year. So I think that can only help.

ANDY RODDICK: (Audio difficulty.)