US OPEN

August 29, 2003

Andy Roddick

MODERATOR: First question, please.

ANDY RODDICK: Thank you.

ANDY RODDICK: (Shaking his head yes.) No, actually I wanted to play five. I definitely wanted to try to lose that fourth set and test the waters in the fifth (smiling).

ANDY RODDICK: Sorry, what?

ANDY RODDICK: No, no. I didn't see a clear space. I didn't see a space.

ANDY RODDICK: It was a mixture. I was in control of things early, then I played a bad game in the second set on my serve. From there on, he definitely lifted his level. I think if I would have held out the second set, I mean, then it's 3 and 3, you're looking pretty going into the third. But I played a bad game. I let him back into it. Then in the tiebreaker he played really good tennis and he started playing a lot better.

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah. I don't know if I've ever played in front of a louder crowd. I mean, they were definitely into it. They helped out a bunch tonight.

ANDY RODDICK: No, not really. I was -- you know, I was kind of feeding off of it, so...

ANDY RODDICK: No, I was trying to get the trivia questions right.

ANDY RODDICK: Eh, about 500.

ANDY RODDICK: I also missed a couple (laughing).

ANDY RODDICK: I mean, I have to hit my shot. I said that even when I missed against Federer. Clipped the tape. If that shot's an inch higher over the net, then the first set's mine. But my forehand is a shot that I got to go for. You know, if I -- it's just in my nature to go for that shot.

ANDY RODDICK: Little bit. It just was getting a little bit tight. But I don't think it's any big deal.

ANDY RODDICK: I'm tired (smiling).

ANDY RODDICK: Is what okay?

ANDY RODDICK: It's fine for me.

ANDY RODDICK: I don't know. I mean, I'm gonna have to win a lot more matches if I'm the future of tennis. I don't think you can place that on one person. I think there are a lot of good young players and I'm just maybe a part of that group.

ANDY RODDICK: It's tough. It's gonna be a lot different than the first two matches I've played. He'll stay at the baseline, you know. He's not gonna -- I'm gonna get a look every return game. He's not gonna just put forcers by me where I don't really get my feet in the game. But, you know, he's flashy. He's pretty talented. You know, it's gonna be tough.

ANDY RODDICK: I think that's pretty much sour grapes. You know, I don't know how -- I don't know if I yelled "yes" before the linesman even called that ball or anything. I mean, I think the linesmen do their job. You know, I don't know if anybody saw the replay, but I'm pretty confident that that ball wasn't out. Maybe he was hoping it was out. You know, that really doesn't deserve a response. I don't think that's very respectful. I definitely don't have anything bad to say about him. So it's disappointing.

ANDY RODDICK: He was aceing me a bunch even when I was standing back, so, you know...

I thought that was the best way I could get the ball back in the court.

ANDY RODDICK: Thank you.

ANDY RODDICK: The ball was in?

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, so maybe I wasn't so bad. I can tell -- there was no space. You know, but maybe he was trying to be demonstrative and get a call out of the person by doing one of these things.

ANDY RODDICK: That's fair enough. That has nothing to do with me. I don't know why he has to drag me into the call.

ANDY RODDICK: It was a very tough match. Ivan's a very good player. I have tons of respect for him as a player. He has a huge serve. I thought he played very well from the baseline today. I've lost to him before. I was definitely skeptical coming in.

ANDY RODDICK: No. I don't really care either. I try to treat everybody with a lot of respect. You know, I'm not mean to people. You know, I'm very courteous to people. You know, that's their prerogative. You know, I'm not worried. I'd be worried if I was doing things that I thought were causing that. But, you know, I try to treat everybody with respect. I'm not too worried about it.

ANDY RODDICK: Sorry?

ANDY RODDICK: No, I mean, if they're talking, they're not talking to me about it, which would be the mature thing to do. I think it's easy to come and talk to 30-some-odd journalists about it or anything. He wished me a "happy birthday" walking down the hall just now after his press conference. I was thinking, "That's pretty classy." (Laughter).

ANDY RODDICK: No. I got a day off. You know, I can recover.

ANDY RODDICK: Well, considering I played, you know, seven sets three times is, you know, it's not too bad. I played a couple sloppy games but, you know, things are going good on the serve if it's a surprise that I've been broken three times in seven sets.

ANDY RODDICK: It's a possibility. I watched the Davis Cup from home when the Croatian fans were behind Ivan. I saw a lot of excitement, too. If someone's getting excitement -- I'll never do it to my opponent. You won't see me doing anything. If anything, it's to my box or to the fans. I don't think I've ever tried to disrespect anybody on court. You know, I'd like to think if he had 20,000-some-odd Croats behind him, too, he'd probably get a little juiced. You know, I feel bad if that got on his nerves or something. But, you know, I wish he would have come to me and said, you know, "This got on my nerves." I probably would have taken it a lot better and respected his opinion a lot more.

ANDY RODDICK: Not really. I haven't done it. Tonight I definitely needed it. They were there for me. It's not like I'm going out, I'm up 6-2, 6-1, 5-0 and I'm going nuts and doing it. I mean, that was an intense match. I wasn't doing it -- a couple times I tried to get into it. But, you know, I feel bad that he was bothered by it. But, you know, it's just the way it goes sometimes. You can't please everybody.

ANDY RODDICK: I don't know. It's not my area to answer. I don't know. I'm not good at speaking for other people.

ANDY RODDICK: I think everybody has. I think it's part of sports. You know, if you're a competitive athlete, you compete on a daily basis, even if it's just or unjust, sometimes you're mad. But, you know, I always say what goes on on the court stays on the court. I try not to hold any grudges. You know, I don't know.

ANDY RODDICK: Possibly. It's a possibility. I mean, I think we're both adults and, you know, I might apologize for making him upset even though maybe I don't agree with the whole thing. We're gonna be on tour together for many, many years, so I don't want any hard feelings. But, yeah, it is a possibility.

ANDY RODDICK: I mean, that does happen. I certainly hope that's the case with Ivan. I think he's a very nice person. You know, if it's a whole locker room full of people, maybe I have a lot of talking to do, I don't know (laughter). But I don't know, it is a possibility. But, you know, I don't hold any grudges.

ANDY RODDICK: Well, considering the locker room is empty right now, I would assume so.

ANDY RODDICK: I'm not concerned with it. I treat people as good as I can, you know. You know, there's nothing really I can do about it. You know, that's about it.

ANDY RODDICK: That's part of professional sports, though, is the pressure. That's part of what makes sports fun to watch. There's always pressure there. If you don't feel pressure, then you probably don't care too much. It's just part of it.

ANDY RODDICK: I don't think you know -- I don't think you know if you've never been there before. You obviously know pressure exists. But you don't -- if you haven't dealt with it before, then it's something new.