TENNIS MASTERS SERIES - ROMA

May 9, 2002

Andy Roddick

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Andy.

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah. I think Wayne was playing smart tennis in the first set. He was hitting a bunch of lines, so it made it a little tough. I wasn't happy with my first serve percentage in the first set. It was kind of I'd make three and miss five. That's no good. So I think that was a big difference in the second and third sets.

ANDY RODDICK: It's tougher -- you know, I haven't really -- I think I played better in Houston the first couple rounds. But I'm fighting good here -- I'm fighting well here. Hopefully the more matches I get, the better I play. That's normally the way I work. But obviously I'm playing, you know, guys that are playing well on the clay right now and have been over here for a while. A win is a win. I'll take it any way I can get it.

ANDY RODDICK: I just have to be patient. It's more between the ears than on the court. You know, the court, my last two matches, has been very heavy. Today it was cold and the balls were cold and heavy. Then yesterday with the rain. So it's good that, you know, I won, you know, with heavy conditions that don't favor my game too much.

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, we've played twice before - at the US Open last year and at Davis Cup, you know, about a month ago. But those were both on very fast surfaces. You know, now we're playing on his favorite surface, you know. He's going to feel comfortable out there, and it's going to be a different match than what we've played before. But, you know, I feel like I'm hitting the ball well. It's going to be a fight. He's a great competitor.

ANDY RODDICK: I don't know.

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, must be the pasta or something, I don't know. I'm not sure. I mean, you know, Andre is a Roland Garros champion. I mean, that pretty much goes without saying. It's not surprising. James is playing good tennis. He's improving every tournament this year. He's a great athlete and, you know, his game fits clay. He has good ground strokes, a big forehand, and he's fast, so it makes for it. And me, I just got lucky.