WIMBLEDON

June 24, 2002

Andy Roddick

THE MODERATOR: Andy Roddick.

ANDY RODDICK: Not today. It was nice. Would have been nice to finish. But I felt good for the time that I was out there.

ANDY RODDICK: It was good. Even though I had a couple rocky tournaments, I felt like I was hitting the ball well. It didn't really feel like I struggled in practice. It definitely was important. You think and want to do what you do in practice and you want that to translate into matches. It was good to get out there and stuff, firing.

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, I do. Obviously, we've -- I've only played a couple grass court matches this year. Probably my most important one this year has been against him. There are definitely a couple things I remember from that.

ANDY RODDICK: Grass is a very equalizing surface. If he serves well and holds serve, I think, you know, it's my match to win or lose is the way I'm looking at it. You know, and I really want to go in and play my game.

ANDY RODDICK: It's just different. I mean, last year it was kind of new and exciting and I didn't really know what was going on, you know. So it's just another year under my belt, you know. I'm trying to approach it, you know, using the little bit of experience I gained last year.

ANDY RODDICK: Well, it's -- it's just different scenarios. I mean, you know, last year, I could have lost first round and people would still be, "Oh, but he's been playing great." If I lose first round this year, it's not as accepted. But, you know, it's just two different things. It's just all part of a learning process.

ANDY RODDICK: It feels great. How does yours feel?

ANDY RODDICK: All right.

ANDY RODDICK: Facing Arthurs' serve in Paris.

ANDY RODDICK: I just played one match against Bjorkman. I was holding pretty easily throughout the match. I didn't return great against Jonas last week. But he just came up with two big return games. You know, I didn't feel like I was hitting the ball that badly. Then, you know, I thought he played well against me. It's hard to tell when you haven't played matches for a while. But then he went on and won the tournament pretty easily. So that made me feel a little bit better.

ANDY RODDICK: I was home for two weeks after Paris.

ANDY RODDICK: No, it's good. It definitely is good for me - between the ears anyways. It was good but it was also good because I could get in for day practices and fitness and not worrying about traveling, moving and doing all this. It was really a steady, consistent practice two weeks so it was nice to be out there and get out in the hot weather and try to get in shape.

ANDY RODDICK: Practiced at home.

ANDY RODDICK: No. I was hitting on hardcourts.

ANDY RODDICK: Depends. Kind of depends on the situation. But I really wanted to try to get in the best shape possible coming over here so I was pulling two days and fitness. It was definitely a good two weeks.

ANDY RODDICK: No, morning, early afternoon, then gym at the end, then eat a big dinner.

ANDY RODDICK: I got a car from the great people at the tournament in Houston, so I'm rolling. I'm rolling big now.

ANDY RODDICK: Gallery Furniture. No. It's a Lexus SC-430, one of the new little ones. So, yeah, it's a nice ride.

ANDY RODDICK: You know what? Me too. My first car's a little hand-me-down Blazer, then I drove a Suburban for a while, then the big Mercedes truck. I never really saw myself in one anyway, but I'm definitely enjoying it. I'm not going to give it back.

ANDY RODDICK: Very much so, actually. You know, they've been great about consulting with me, trying different things, sitting them down. I see the designs a while before they come out, so they see if I like them or not. You know, that's actually pretty fun.

ANDY RODDICK: They're called something. The one that's gonna be coming out later are going to be called Fig Jam.

ANDY RODDICK: Not my territory.

ANDY RODDICK: Your guess is as good as mine.

ANDY RODDICK: Fig Jam, like Fig Newton but with jam.

ANDY RODDICK: Might have heard a rumor.

ANDY RODDICK: I find it amusing. Want me to get you a pair, Bud?

ANDY RODDICK: You play barefoot.

ANDY RODDICK: Really?

ANDY RODDICK: That, you know, isn't that a little rough on the feet?

ANDY RODDICK: You would know more about that than I would.

ANDY RODDICK: I mean, I've been over here for -- actually, this year I came over and started hitting the ball pretty well right away. Last year it was a struggle; I didn't know what I was doing. I got in three days on grass, four days before the first tournament, then all last week on grass. So I'm definitely not lacking practice time on the grass courts.

ANDY RODDICK: No, it's not -- I don't need to know that stuff. Don't even know that stuff.

ANDY RODDICK: I don't -- okay (smiling).