PACIFIC LIFE OPEN

March 15, 2004

Andy Roddick

THE MODERATOR: Andy advances into the Round of 16 where he'll take on the winner of Spadea-Escude. Questions.

ANDY RODDICK: It's a big win. You know, anytime you beat one of the elite players in the world, it's big. Especially, you know, starting off the way I did, kind of keeping my wits about me, coming back. It was good.

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, well, I mean, Marat was definitely getting the better of me. I felt early on, we had a couple rallies, but I was hitting the ball really well. He was just stepping in, making me look stupid. I definitely wanted to give him a little bit of a different look, maybe attack a little bit more.

ANDY RODDICK: It only felt like 101, yeah (smiling).

ANDY RODDICK: I don't really -- I like it, to be honest. Growing up in Texas and Florida, I've seen hot weather before. So, you know, I think I like it a lot more than most people.

ANDY RODDICK: I don't think as often as I was doing. I was pretty much doing it every point. Then I just kind of got into a groove on my serve. You know, I was just feeling it today. I felt comfortable. So I decided to just keep going with it.

ANDY RODDICK: I'm indifferent. They're both very good players. Obviously, I lost to Vince in Scottsdale, so it would be nice to get another shot at him. But I've never played Nicolas either. Either way, it's going to be a tough match for me.

ANDY RODDICK: No. I don't think you ever feel like that when you go into a tiebreaker. You're just hoping you can get through it somehow. I mean, my tiebreak record is pretty good, but, you know, I don't think I ever have that feeling going into a tiebreaker, I'm like, "Yes, here we go." I'm like, "All right, let's get through this somehow."

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, his is more of maybe a flat bomb, more consistent. I've actually started to try to mix it up a little bit more. Almost like a pitcher would. Sure, his kick is pretty nasty, you know, second serve, maybe bounces a little shorter in the box, maybe gets up a little bit higher, where mine maybe goes through the box a little bit more. But that's basically, I think, the big difference, that he kind of just sticks to his guns a little bit more than I do.

ANDY RODDICK: Kind of felt like that, too, in the second set when he aced me three times in a row on breakpoints. I had a very good serving day today. I was very pleased. I had a pretty high percentage. Like you said, I was winning points off of it. That helps you get through games a lot easier.

ANDY RODDICK: It was today. I didn't like what I was seeing from myself from the baseline early on. I didn't like what I was seeing on his side of the net because he was hitting it pretty well from the baseline. You know, I definitely tried to mix it up a little bit more, maybe give him a little bit of a different look, maybe not let him get into too much of a groove on returns, maybe keep him guessing a little bit more.

ANDY RODDICK: I'm probably not good enough to chip and charge (laughter). It's getting there. I thought I hit it a lot better today. The thing about it today, even when I missed it, it was a forcing shot. I'd miss it by maybe five or six inches, but it was forcing it. It's not like I was bunting it. I was actually taking a swing at it. That's maybe the most improved part of that shot for me.

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, I mean, it's definitely a little bit of a grittier court here. But I think you have to do something to counter the thin air, because the ball will travel a little bit more through the thin air. I'm not sure if they make the court a little bit grittier to maybe compensate for that. They do fluff up a little bit, but I guess it's the same for everyone.

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, that was huge for me, especially at the time. I was doing really well in the challenger circuits, but I had yet to really have a big result on the main stage. So that was kind of my breakthrough on the main tour. Then I won a couple more matches after that. You know, that was huge for me at that time.

ANDY RODDICK: A lot of factors. It was my first time on ESPN. Obviously, it was the first time I had played Pete, which was cool in itself. I did -- the year before I was a senior in high school, so I had a bunch of my friends there watching. So, you know, there were a lot -- my parents were there. They don't go to many tournaments. They were there watching, as well. There were a lot of things that made it special for me.

ANDY RODDICK: I don't think I used the term "clown." I said "The guy with the fro."

ANDY RODDICK: Apologize?

ANDY RODDICK: I said he was a good player.

ANDY RODDICK: The clown with the fro?

ANDY RODDICK: No. I said Stanford is playing really well. They got the guy with the fro. He's playing well also. Why would I call someone a clown?

ANDY RODDICK: No. You can go back and watch that tape. If I said "clown" I'll give you $100. Go for it. Either that or use some Q tips or somthing, I don't know. No, that's completely wrong.

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, I mean, I didn't help myself out in the first set by getting down 3-0. I mean, I'm not sure. I mean, it's just a couple points here and there. I think once I got the break in the second set, maybe it let a little bit of the air out of his sails, I was able to kind of run on.

ANDY RODDICK: He's played that much tennis?

ANDY RODDICK: I guess so. I'm not really sure.

ANDY RODDICK: I thought he played well in the first set. I felt I was lucky to get out of that without losing it, to be honest. To come out and set -- he set the precedent early on. But, you know, I'm not sure. I didn't see any of his other matches. But I felt like he was playing a pretty good level in the first set today. Maybe he let it get away from him a little bit in the second.

ANDY RODDICK: He played amazing in Australia. I thought I played a pretty good match. He definitely didn't play as well today as he did in Australia. But I thought I did, you know, a couple different things, maybe had somewhat of an effect on that.

ANDY RODDICK: I think I came in a little bit more, keeping him guessing, maybe not being too predictable.