US OPEN

September 2, 2001

Andy Roddick

MODERATOR: Questions, please.

ANDY RODDICK: I felt pretty fortunate to get out of the first set. Got off to a pretty quick start. Played a terrible game to lose my serve. Then I was down breakpoint in my next service game. Then I had that one shot, that one backhand off the overhead, I felt like, "Okay, here is an opportunity." It was a fortunate shot. Once I started to get into the match, I felt really good.

ANDY RODDICK: I felt maybe when I started grinding out a couple of points rather than just teeing off right away, you know, I started getting into my groove, showed him that I wasn't just going to give points away. I think that helped me a lot.

ANDY RODDICK: Well, I mean, people might see that because most of my points are short. With my serve, I either hit a pretty decent serve or get a short reply or a slow reply, so then I go for it. In return game, I really need to grind it out, I'm not going to be able to hit winners like that, I kind of do whatever I have to do. I'm not one-dimensional in the fact that I have to hit a winner to win a point.

ANDY RODDICK: It was a new experience. But I've played two third rounds of Grand Slams this year, one on stadium and one on Court 1 at Wimbledon. You know, I already played the stadium twice here. I don't classify that as a new experience. I wasn't really thinking along those lines too much.

ANDY RODDICK: I'll take their word for it (smiling).

ANDY RODDICK: For sure. I mean, even 3-0, two breaks in the third, I'm thinking, "Bear down, bear down, stay focused." I didn't want to let him back in like I did the other night, especially a guy like Corretja who fights. You know he's not hurting physically at all. You know he can go the distance. It definitely helps you maintain focus.

ANDY RODDICK: I was just saying, "Don't let up even though you're comfortably ahead. Focus on closing the match out. Don't let your mind wander."

ANDY RODDICK: No. I mean, easily beat? It's a battle any time. I don't think anybody's used to the idea of beating a Top 10 player easily. It's not going to happen. You're going to have your days, you know. You have to be thankful when you get those days. Nine times out of ten, we're going to battle. He might beat me badly one time, I might beat him badly one time. The other eight, we're going to battle. You have to be ready for that.

ANDY RODDICK: I think I have a chance in every match now. When I go on the court I may not think I'm going to win. I may not think I'm going to go out there and get killed. I know I have a chance going into every match.

ANDY RODDICK: Definitely. People know I can serve, I can hit with power. But it makes me feel good to know that I grinded out a match, I used my head, did what I had to do out there. You know, that helps a lot.

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah. I mean, two great young players. I played Robredo in juniors once. Ferrero has had a great year. He's No. 5 in the world. It's going to be a good match either way.

ANDY RODDICK: I don't know. The Guga match helped a lot in Montreal. You know, just a culmination of all those things just helped. It wasn't like one match I'm like, "Okay, I can do this." It was a gradual process.

ANDY RODDICK: I was very satisfied with the way I handled it today, the way I played. That's why I was happy afterwards.

ANDY RODDICK: Extremely surprised. I'm as surprised as anybody out there. You know, I wasn't thinking at the beginning of the year I'm going to come in, do this, do that. My goals at the beginning of the year were to be top 60 by the end of the year. I thought that was realistic. You know, I've exceeded my expectations, but I'm not going to think too much about that. I want to keep that going. I don't want to be satisfied yet.

ANDY RODDICK: You know, it's nice to hear it from someone I admire so much. I'm happy to be a part of the next generation. I hope we can do some damage.

ANDY RODDICK: I started hitting my backhand really well in Washington. I found my groove on it. Tarik and I worked on a couple technical things. I'm feeling good. I'm not feeling like people can hit solely to my backhand side to win matches. That's not going to happen. They're going to have to work it a little bit. That helps. That makes me feel better.

ANDY RODDICK: I mean, obviously my weapons are my serve and my forehand. But my backhand's coming along. My backhand return especially is coming along. I'm not bothered by the kick serve so much anymore. I'm hitting it solid. You know, I'm happy with the progress that I'm making. I can still improve it, I think.

ANDY RODDICK: To win my next match here. That would be good.

ANDY RODDICK: Get us back into the regulation, I mean, back into the World Group, Davis Cup, is a big goal of mine.

ANDY RODDICK: I don't know if there's one tip. Patrick is a big part of, you know, my doing well, too. He's with me almost every practice here. We always will sit down, me, Tarik and Patrick, discuss strategy going into matches. I definitely value his opinion, what he has to say.

ANDY RODDICK: We've discussed it, but there's nothing, it's just more my curiosity. You know, your guess is as good as mine at this point.

ANDY RODDICK: It feels good. I hope I've made the team.

ANDY RODDICK: It's a blast. You definitely feel it a little bit more. I'm no longer the new guy. What am I trying to say? I'm not surprising anybody. I'm not sneaking up on anybody anymore. Still I'm definitely having fun. I'm playing tennis. That's a blast.

ANDY RODDICK: I haven't talked to him about his injury. I'm not sure. He did pull out from a couple of events. I just hope he'll give it sufficient rest so it can get better.

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, sometimes. You know, it's been pretty crazy as far as media, publicity, this and that. It's definitely built up a little bit.

ANDY RODDICK: Absolutely not. What they do has nothing to do with how I do. I mean, it's two separate things. I think everybody is very encouraged by how they played this tournament. They see that there are some guys coming up. They're going to be a force to be reckoned with in the coming years.

ANDY RODDICK: No, I mean, it's great. There's a certain question that's getting a little redundant (laughter).

ANDY RODDICK: Ask someone else (smiling). But, no, it's still fun for me. You know, I enjoy it. I'm still just kind of rolling with it.

ANDY RODDICK: You know, I'm always pretty excited before matches, jumping around and stuff.

ANDY RODDICK: No, nothing really overwhelming. I was kind of worried the other night when Brasington was playing lights out. "This could go five. This guy is not showing any signs of slowing down." Nothing to the point where I'm scared out there or anything like that.

ANDY RODDICK: It's always fun, especially when you win the points. You know, I was having a blast out there, especially when you get up and you feel like you start rolling, then your serve starts going in more consistently, it's definitely fun.

ANDY RODDICK: I listen to music, not one particular song. I just kind of hang out with my coach, just kind of us two. He will feed me, remind me of this and that. We kind of mellow out.

ANDY RODDICK: Depends. If I feel like I'm too excited or too pumped up, I'll listen to something mellow. If I feel like I'm kind of lackadaisical and dead, I'll listen to something crazy to get me jacked.

ANDY RODDICK: I basically told them, "When they show the replay, you're not going to look too smart because you're wrong." I bet they showed it, I bet he was wrong. There was a mark like two inches out and then four inches in on the sideline. He said, "It's the 1-4 inches in." I'm like, I highly doubt someone would miss a call if it was four inches in. "Got to do what you got to do, Bud."

ANDY RODDICK: A little bit (laughter).

ANDY RODDICK: Of course, I dream about it.

ANDY RODDICK: The same thing every player here dreams about. Everybody comes here to try and win. I'm going to take it one round at a time.

ANDY RODDICK: I don't play baseball.

ANDY RODDICK: I don't dream about getting a hit in the World Series.