WIMBLEDON

June 30, 2004

Andy Roddick

THE MODERATOR: Mr. Andy Roddick. Questions, please.

ANDY RODDICK: No, got it a little too early today. Yeah, I need to work harder, I think.

ANDY RODDICK: No, I don't think you can take it. It's pretty much just instinctual. If you're feeling good about your serve and the way you're hitting it, then you go for it. Obviously, if you're not confident in it, then it wouldn't be intelligent to go for it. But even Queens through this tournament, I feel like I've been serving pretty well. Sjeng was getting the better of me from the baseline today. So I figure my best chance of winning the point was to go for it.

ANDY RODDICK: What happened in it?

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah.

ANDY RODDICK: No, I do no. I just don't do numbers that well. I think I hit a big second serve and he actually got it back pretty decently. I had a forehand. It was tricky because it was slow enough where I could get a hit at it, but I was deep enough in the court where he might have been able to run it down. So, you know, I didn't want him to get a look at it. So I said, "Okay, here we go. Let's give it a ride and see what happens."

ANDY RODDICK: I don't think so. I wanted him -- you know, if I was going to follow it in, I wanted him to be in front of me.

ANDY RODDICK: It actually wasn't as bad as the other day. I'm not sure if the wind helped it, if the wind was blowing the other way or whatnot. Also they did something that was very good, they weren't showing the scores every switch-over in our court, only at the end of sets. That kind of maybe calmed the frenzy inside our court a bit.

ANDY RODDICK: I'm older (smiling). No, I think it's just a matter of experiences. Last year at this time it was probably my biggest match to date. You know, I played the semi in Australia, but I wasn't a hundred percent fit, so I didn't really consider that, you know, the same kind of level. Since then, since last year's semi, I've played a lot of big matches, whether it be in the US Open, the finals of Masters Series events, matches where the No. 1 ranking is on the line. I've been in a lot more pressure situations, and I think that helps.

ANDY RODDICK: Sorry?

ANDY RODDICK: I mean, obviously I think Tim was the favorite going into that match. But at the same time, I played Ancic at Queen's and I was lucky to win, to be quite honest. So I knew he could play. You know, in my little camp where we have six people, we were kind of split with who we thought would win. I'm disappointed for the British fans, but, you know, I'm just -- I can only play who's across the net from me.

ANDY RODDICK: Well, he's serving great. I mean, I don't know what's in the water in Croatia, but it seems like every player is over seven feet tall. He's just playing a lot better. He's more experienced. He's actually -- he's committed to coming in on every shot. You know, there's not a lot of indecision in his game right now. He's kind of saying, "This is what I got, you know, deal with it." And I think that's a good mindset for him to have.

ANDY RODDICK: Well, listen, playing Tim in Centre Court of Wimbledon, there's some pressure there. Being in the semis of a Grand Slam, there's some pressure there, you know. Now, where the expectations may lie is a different story. But, you know, there's definitely pressure all around, I think.

ANDY RODDICK: Yes and no. You know, obviously no one would have been for me, but at the same time it would have been maybe a cool experience, you know. But it does no good kind of to look back now. You know, I just got to deal with what's ahead of me.

ANDY RODDICK: No, not consciously. You know, I think it's -- I think it's just a matter of confidence where, you know, maybe I would have panicked a couple years ago. Now I'm maybe a little more used to it or I've seen it a number of times. You know, I'm just improving, I think.

ANDY RODDICK: I was happy for the first one. I didn't feel like I was hitting the ball that well. I thought I was lucky to be in the position that I was in. Each time we came back from the rain, I felt like I played better and better. So, you know, today they worked in my favor.

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, it's tough, you know. More so than Sjeng's serve, it's what he does or what he was doing today with the second ball. You know, if I left a return anywhere close to being short, you know, he was just striking it great to the corners. He had momentum with him right away. I think that's something that maybe he did a little bit differently than the last couple times we've played, is really focus on enforcing himself upon the first ball. I thought he did that pretty well today.

ANDY RODDICK: It's tough, because with Sjeng's serve, you feel like you're in every point, but then all of a sudden two sets have gone by and you haven't broken. So, you know, it definitely is frustrating. But, you know, that's credit to him, I think.

ANDY RODDICK: Oh, I mean, obviously it crosses your mind a little bit. But we were both out there to win a tennis match. You know, we'll always have that experience. But when we play each other, we want to win a tennis match. We're still tennis players. We're still competitors. We're friends, but once you get inside the lines, you've got to try to take care of business as much as possible.

ANDY RODDICK: No. I was in the bathroom. I came out and it was done.

ANDY RODDICK: It was surprising. They've had great matches in the past. It seems like every time they play, they go three sets. So that was pretty surprising. But I watched Serena's match yesterday against Golovin, because Brad has worked with her a little bit. And I thought she was playing great yesterday also. So, you know, I think she's playing about as well as she has in a while.

ANDY RODDICK: I'm not going to think about that. You know, we'll get through Ancic and then we'll see.

ANDY RODDICK: Well, it's tough to say. It takes more than one tournament to become a consistent contender, you know. But he has the tools to develop into one. That's for sure. You know, he's got weapons, and he's a competitor. He fights every match. So, you know, a lot of the elements are there for that to happen.

ANDY RODDICK: No, his actually grew full (smiling).

ANDY RODDICK: Well, we'll see.

ANDY RODDICK: I don't know. "Patient" in what regard?

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, I think so. I think, you know, again, I probably go back to two years ago. I think I'm a lot quicker around the court than I was, you know, two years ago. So that affords me the option.

ANDY RODDICK: It's not hard. I mean, I've kind of developed a sense of when to do it and when not. I kind of play to my instinct. Like the other day against Popp, he was kind of going for broke. So I figured, Okay, let's make him play as much as possible and seed if he can weather the storm. If he has peaks and valleys, I'll get a chance to break. Today if I got a shot to really try to hit, I had to take it. Sjeng, he's not going to give you anything, that's for sure. I think a lot of it has to do with match-ups.

ANDY RODDICK: It's just work.

ANDY RODDICK: It's fitness drills, it's getting stronger physically. You know, there's a lot that goes into it.

ANDY RODDICK: A year ago here I was playing pretty good tennis, so that's a tough comparison. Let's say this March versus last March, it would have been -- I'd feel good about myself now.

ANDY RODDICK: No, I didn't sit there. I got up and hit another shot. I was pretty lucky because I was on my way down. As I was on my way down, I kind of just tried to get it back into play. I should have been down 3-0. You know, he wasn't missing shots like that all day. I got a lucky break. But I guess those are the breaks you get sometimes when you hustle.

ANDY RODDICK: You know, when the courts get more worn and worn, they become brown. The brown spots are probably the most slippery. More so than it was five days ago, but probably no more than any other year.

ANDY RODDICK: Oh, yeah, obviously. I had pretty subpar results on grass up until last year, so I feel like last year I really turned a corner as far as this surface goes.

ANDY RODDICK: I mean, it's definitely a telling stat, but it's not the -- just because someone's hitting aces doesn't mean they're holding serve every time. Obviously it is a factor in how well you serve. If you're getting a bunch of aces, you're feeling pretty good about your first serve. Like I said, service games held is the most important one, along with first serve percentage.