ROGERS MASTERS

August 9, 2005

Andy Roddick

THE MODERATOR: Ladies and Gentlemen, Andy Roddick. Questions, please.

ANDY RODDICK: Not really fatigue. I just think the conditions are -- you almost feel like you're playing -- you know, it just felt totally different out there than it did, you know, two days ago. The court, the balls, they're all a little bit different. You know, I just didn't adjust.

ANDY RODDICK: Well, it's a different ball. I mean, in Washington we use the ones that we actually use at the US Open. Here we have a completely different maker of the balls. It's not even the same company who makes them. They're almost softer, but they fly a little bit more, whereas the other ones are harder and kind of stay smaller. It was tough. I just couldn't -- I wasn't hitting it with, you know, conviction because, you know, I'm not used to the conditions. I just didn't feel like I was doing anything real comfortably out there.

ANDY RODDICK: You'd think so.

ANDY RODDICK: I did. I mean, how much are you going to come up and practice when you just played five days in a row in heat like we had in Washington? I mean, I came out and hit yesterday and hit today. But, you know, you have to try to find a happy medium, and sometimes there's not an answer.

ANDY RODDICK: I thought he played great. Let's get that out there right now. You know, with as much as I struggled, he came up and just beat me off the court. I mean, he came up and was hitting winners up the line. I think he served really well tonight. You know, a lot of credit to him. He didn't let me settle in and try to find my bearings. He really took it to me so I was playing reactive instead of active.

ANDY RODDICK: Sometimes. Sometimes. I came here two years ago and I think I lost the first set 6-1 or 6-0 or something to Xavier, then just kind of felt like I was scrapping and clawing and somehow got through that one. Then you adjust a little bit. But this time I just -- you know, that's where Paul-Henri came in and he just took it to me and didn't let me settle in at all.

ANDY RODDICK: In warm-up for the match, I hit about 10 serves about four feet long coming off a week where I served about as well as I have ever. I definitely didn't feel super confident in my serve tonight. I didn't feel like I had my range on it. You know, when I did, he found a way to hit screamers back at me. You know, that's not a good equation for me.

ANDY RODDICK: I don't know frustration. I think I'm more ticked off. I know that I'm playing well. I came off playing well last week. I know I've been hitting the ball well. I think frustration sets in a little bit more when you're worried, you know, about the way things are going. But, you know, I'm just a little ticked off that I wasn't able to click in. Sometimes if you get through the first one, you give yourself a chance, then you kind of hit your stride in the tournament. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to do that tonight.

ANDY RODDICK: Not really. I played tons last week. I'm not really worried about my preparation right now. I still -- I don't know if this loss will affect my confidence too much. I feel like I'll get to Cincy and get used to the conditions there and give it a go.

ANDY RODDICK: I was trying. I mean, I was trying to -- okay, I said I'm going to settle in and just try to put the ball between the lines for a while and see. But that's where he came in and stepped up and was hitting, you know, playing very aggressive. Didn't really give me that opportunity to kind of just work my way into it. Then you're kind of scrambling. You feel like you're changing tactics every two games. That's not a good thing.

ANDY RODDICK: I don't know. Not from any good place, that's for sure. You know, I don't really have an explanation for it. It was just a bad game.