TMS - THE ERICSSON OPEN

March 25, 2000

Andy Roddick

GREG SHARKO: Questions for Andy.

ANDY RODDICK: Oh, that was so much fun. I didn't even expect it to be all that. I mean, the crowd was amazing. They were getting behind me. I mean, it was just an overwhelming experience. I can't even put it into words.

ANDY RODDICK: What do I normally do on Saturday nights? Call on all my friends, see what's going on in the city, do a movie, hang out at a friend's a house.

ANDY RODDICK: This was a lot better than a normal Saturday night.

ANDY RODDICK: I just told him it was a dream come true. He said, "Thanks, that means a lot." He just said, "Keep at it."

ANDY RODDICK: Oh, I don't think the outcome would be any different. I played well. I probably played better than I looked even because he makes you look -- like some of the shots I hit as hard as I could, he's putting back in the corner against me. It's tough. My serves, he's just ripping back at you, if I hit it as hard as I could hit it. I could have served a little bit better, but I'm pretty happy the way I played overall.

ANDY RODDICK: I'm glad he didn't win the point. That would have been a little bit embarrassing.

ANDY RODDICK: I didn't try to set any number for myself. I was just going out there, I was going to try to hold serve, take breaks if I had any. I didn't know. No, I didn't put a number on anything. I was just going to try to go out there and try to compete.

ANDY RODDICK: I didn't do anything out of the ordinary or different. I just kind of took it as another match. I didn't really get too up or down about it.

ANDY RODDICK: Of course. I was running like Forrest Gump every flipping point. His serves, he's just hitting the lines every time. He's hitting it 115, but on both lines every time. It's hard to return. That's the thing that most people - average tennis fans - don't see, where he's putting the ball. If you're deep in the court, he'll play short. If you're up in the court, he'll put it deep. You have to play against it to realize how good it really is.

ANDY RODDICK: I wasn't trying to think about that. I'm having fun. I wanted to lean over and catch my breath. I decided to hide in the tunnel for a little bit. I just tried to make it fun, have a good time whenever I'm out there.

ANDY RODDICK: Not beforehand. The first time we actually met was right before the match. He shook my hand right before. We talked a little bit about Davis Cup afterwards. He said it will be fun. I agreed, told him how excited I was about it.

ANDY RODDICK: Someday, I'll have a bunch of people doing stuff for me, too (laughter). I'm happy with my mom, my dad, you know, some friends that I've had for a long time. Didn't think about it that much.

ANDY RODDICK: I actually didn't talk to him before this match. I don't know what advice he could have given me for this match (laughter).

ANDY RODDICK: Ever since I remember watching tennis, I remember Sampras, Agassi, Chang, Courier, the whole American group. I watched them through their whole careers ever since I was eight, nine years old. On the women's side, Steffi Graf, Seles.

ANDY RODDICK: Especially not this early in my career. Never know about later on down the line. As a 17-year-old kid still in high school, this is just a dream come true.

ANDY RODDICK: I didn't even think about that. I mean, it's not about the money. It's about the experience, having fun, listening to the crowd and everything. I mean, that didn't even cross my mind once.

ANDY RODDICK: I'm not really sure. I'm going to Davis Cup. My schedule is pretty wide open after that. I don't have any definite plans. I'll kind of talk to my coach tomorrow, see what happens after this tournament.

ANDY RODDICK: For sure. I'm glad I got to meet him here and actually got to play against him. That was unreal.

ANDY RODDICK: I didn't talk to him directly. He talked to my parents because I was in Brazil at the time. I didn't speak to him personally about it.

ANDY RODDICK: No, I haven't talked to him yet.