AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 20, 2006

Andy Roddick

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

ANDY RODDICK: Well, fortunately that's not my job. That's not really what I'm worried about, especially on days like today where it is pretty hot, you just try to get through. I don't really focus on time of matches. I'm just glad I'm hitting the ball well.

ANDY RODDICK: No. I don't really -- I don't really think I have the luxury of worrying about next week. I have to get there first. There's always upsets, as has been shown so far this week. You know, I go match by match. As boring as that is, it's kind of what I look at.

ANDY RODDICK: Yes, Bud. Thank you.

ANDY RODDICK: You know what, Bud, I don't really care how you guys take it. I'm not really concerned. I feel like I'm hitting the ball well. I feel like I'm moving well. I just want to keep getting through rounds.

ANDY RODDICK: You know what, not once during a match do I think, "Okay, I have to finish this in a certain time." I'm just looking, "Okay, let's get a break. Okay, let's make sure this set's over. Let's get another break." Then it starts over the next set, so on and so forth. That's kind of where my mindset is. I'm not really looking at the clock and thinking about time too much.

ANDY RODDICK: I'd rather have them leave it open, to be honest. I don't mind the heat. I grew up in some hot places.

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, I know. I don't mind. I think I was playing one out on Vodafone a couple years ago when they stopped all matches and stuff. I don't mind it too much. Obviously it's not fun. You know, I don't -- it doesn't really bother me too much.

ANDY RODDICK: No. It's the same deal. You know, I've played matches here both ways. You know, they're pretty good about it, about letting you know. They don't try to force it on you at the last second. You kind of know the standard rule. If the match finishes and it's over, what is it, 40, whatever it is.

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah. So you kind of know. You just kind of deal with it. I'll cross that when it gets there. We have a couple days.

ANDY RODDICK: I don't know. You know, who knows. Like I said, I don't mind it too much. I probably mind it a lot less than someone who has been training in cold weather or something like that. You know, I don't think about it too much.

ANDY RODDICK: Austin, it doesn't get super hot in December. I was in Florida for a while. I was in Hawaii for nine days, which is very, very hot.

ANDY RODDICK: 90 degrees Fahrenheit. It's pretty humid. I mean, you're sweating through your shoes. That was pretty good preparation.

ANDY RODDICK: There are a lot of reasons. They have similar court surface. They had Rebound Ace. The heat. The time difference isn't too drastic. It's on the way. It's nice (smiling). There wasn't a whole lot of downside to that decision.

ANDY RODDICK: Well, that's the idea. You hope it goes that smoothly. You hope it's as easy as you make it sound. You know, obviously all the work you do in November and December is to try to be as well-prepared for this as you can be.

ANDY RODDICK: I don't know. You know, I just think it's so senseless talking about Roger until I actually get there. That's you guys' job, is to forecast and predict and all that stuff. I'm worried about Baghdatis right now, if I'm being honest with you. That being said, you come to a tennis tournament to try to win a tennis tournament. I'll worry about that if it happens.

ANDY RODDICK: It probably started the day after Shanghai finished. By resting and making sure I was healthy, I probably got a two-week head start on physical conditioning and whatnot. Maybe it ended up being a blessing in disguise a little bit. Who knows.

ANDY RODDICK: Well, yeah, last year I had a very short off-season. You know, it was after Davis Cup, wasn't a whole lot of time to rest and then start a full training. You're just kind of -- you're trying to, you know, put a patch over things. I feel like I had a more professional agenda in the work that I was trying to do.

ANDY RODDICK: That's okay. I think it's good. I've seen the highlights. I think it's good. Credit to them, they even came and tried to heckle me a little bit today at the end of my match. I said, "Man, you guys can't show your hand before the end of it." You know that going in. You know they're going to do everything they can to help their guy. You know, that's the job of a good fan, and they certainly are.

ANDY RODDICK: I don't really care either way, to be honest.

ANDY RODDICK: I got some chicks out there, you know. He's got some sweaty dudes (smiling). No, I don't know. You know, it's just part of it. I think it's easier when you know what you're in for going into it. I'm going to expect the worst, you know, for me. I think they're great the way they support him. You can definitely appreciate that kind of loyal and passionate fan support, even if it's not for you.

ANDY RODDICK: The only thing I can think of is I hit a ball at him pretty hard last time we played and he threw his neck out. I don't know. But that was just in the middle of a match. I actually get along with Julien. I don't really know anything past that.

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, me, too.

ANDY RODDICK: In Canada? Which one? Today?

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, he did like this matrix thing to try to get out of the way of it. I don't know. He was TKO after that.

ANDY RODDICK: Jim is doing just fine. Maybe I'm just a little slow or a lot slow, I don't know.

ANDY RODDICK: Well, it's a different tournament.

ANDY RODDICK: That's the nature of the surface. It's a little slower, bounce is a little bit higher. That's the nature of Rebound Ace. I think I heard -- I don't want to misquote someone, but I think I heard McNamee say that's what makes it unique and that's what gives it a persona of its own. I don't know. I'm not the best judge of speed and balls. I think that requires feel or something, I don't know.

ANDY RODDICK: I'm fine, yeah. It's the same for everyone.

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, just 'cause Chela has been in those kind of situations before. But at 4-2 in the fourth, he kind of started grabbing his legs a little bit. I said, "Uh-oh, he's going to find a way." You never count Lleyton out. Chela, take nothing away from Robin Vik, he put up a hell of an effort the other day, but I just think Chela has been in that situation before, and maybe this situation wasn't too big for him.

ANDY RODDICK: I think so. You know, we're not a sport where you have your home team that you always cheer for. So you're looking for something different, something to kind of spark an interest. I don't really know Marcos personally. I don't even know if we've ever had a conversation. But just from watching him, he seems like he's always having a good time, he appreciates what he's doing, he's always smiling. I think that rubs people the right way. Seems like he has fun competing.

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, I've seen him. He's good. He's a shot-maker. He doesn't make a lot of stupid errors. I don't know if he's going to come beat the cover off the ball. But he's going to make you play, he's going to make you work. It seems like he's a pretty smart player. Solid all around. I'm going to have to go out and try to beat him. He's not a guy that's going to take himself out of a match.