US OPEN

September 2, 2002

Andy Roddick

MODERATOR: Questions for Andy.

ANDY RODDICK: It depends on the situation. I'm not going to play every point of the match like that, otherwise I'm probably not going to win. But you can grind out one point if you know the match is on the line. My legs were under me the whole time. I didn't feel tired during that point. If I would have lost it, it probably would have gotten to me a little bit more. I just waited for my shot. Once I got it, I pulled the trigger. I'm going to make that shot 70% of the time. It was the high-percentage play.

ANDY RODDICK: I think he started hitting out on the ball a little bit more, started actually -- he was more consistent while hitting out on the ball. Obviously, that's going to improve his chances a lot. Maybe he decided he was going to try to bully me around in the third set a little bit. It was working in some of the baseline rallies. Also I think he started going for his serve a lot more. Like I said, he was making them, which made it tougher to get into his service games.

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, that's a good number for me. If I can keep it under to where it's almost six a set, that's not too bad by my standards.

ANDY RODDICK: I mixed it up really well. A couple of points I stayed back and really worked the point well. The first two sets I was actually volleying well, which was a pleasant surprise. That's something I've been working on. It's nice to see it actually come together in a match like this.

ANDY RODDICK: No. Last year Alex played a horror of a match, I think. I just don't think he played that well. I wanted to get out there and do well. You know, I could already hear the people talking if I would have lost that one. I wanted to get there and really solidify my spot in this tournament.