WIMBLEDON

July 3, 2003

Andy Roddick

MODERATOR: Andy Roddick.

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, I felt my focus was pretty good today. Got off to a quick start and then got broken right back. I just wanted to bear down. I knew the first set was going to be pretty important. You know, I'm happy with the way I maintained, you know, consistent focus throughout.

ANDY RODDICK: I don't know (smiling).

ANDY RODDICK: I just feel if a letter's sent, it should be sent by current players. I'm not really sure what their, you know, concern is.

ANDY RODDICK: What's wrong with that (laughter)?

ANDY RODDICK: I'm not trying to take away someone's speed. I'm not trying to take away someone else's strengths. I'm just trying to play the game. That's outside stuff. I'm worried about this tournament. That's outside stuff.

ANDY RODDICK: I mean, I don't know if the ITF is going to take it too seriously of, you know, a letter full of past players - no disrespect to those guys. They're great champions. But I find it kind of surprising that they would go through the full-out effort and make it, you know, something to be talked about.

ANDY RODDICK: Uhm, I just try to take the outlook that when I'm on the court, I'm going to compete, be mellow all day. If you try to stay in a frenzy all day, you're going to be mentally shot by the time you go out there. I made up my mind when I'm on the court, I'm going to compete. When I'm off the court, I'm going to relax.

ANDY RODDICK: Not a whole lot. Sat around, read the paper. You know, didn't do a whole lot. Slept.

ANDY RODDICK: Yesterday? No, I was here; I was here the whole day.

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah.

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, I am. I think I'll be a little bit fresher physically than I was in Australia. You know, I'm definitely looking forward to it.

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, I didn't feel great. You know, obviously, I was pretty tired just physically. And then I had, you know, an injury that came about to throw on top of that. So I had a lot stacked against me. I wasn't going in really, you know, thinking I could win, maybe. So, you know, it's nice that I'm going to be out there, I'm gonna be healthy and able to compete to my best.

ANDY RODDICK: This year I came in and, you know, I'm trying to put more returns in the court, trying to stay a little more even-keel on the court. Not so much like a roller coaster ride.

ANDY RODDICK: I'm just playing my game. I'm not worrying about the surface so much. I'm just kind of trying to do what I do best. Sometimes in the last couple years I'd come in, try to play differently. I'm just trying to, you know, stick to my guns.

ANDY RODDICK: Which part?

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, he's been great. Just, I don't know so much, you know, in regards to grass in particular, but just overall, you know, he's pretty relaxed. "This is what you have to do. This is your job to do. Just try to go out and try your best to do it." It kind of simplifies things, but it helped.

ANDY RODDICK: I don't know. I got off to a good start at Queen's. I could have easily lost three sets, second round there. But who knows? I've been thankful I've gotten through some tough matches. I was confident coming in here. Luckily, I didn't really miss a step from Queen's to here.

ANDY RODDICK: I don't know, man. I'm not trying to think too much. I'm just trying to let it happen. I'm not gonna overthink myself. If things are going good, they're going good. That's about it.

ANDY RODDICK: Well, the way I look at it, there are four players left, so it's open to those four players. I think it makes it a little bit intriguing, a little bit exciting maybe for outsiders, the prospect of a new Grand Slam champion. But I have, you know, extremely good player, probably the best player not to win a Grand Slam right now in tennis, tomorrow. So I have to take care of that.

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, you know, I haven't beaten him yet. You know, he's been playing great tennis. We're both on rolls. He won Halle and he's come through here. I won Queen's and I've come through here. So maybe the -- I think we both have an air of confidence right now and it should be a good one.

ANDY RODDICK: I think I have to do what I've been trying to do the whole tournament, you know - play well on my return games and serve well. You know, if I can take care of myself and, you know, look for breaks here and there, that's pretty much what I'm going to try to do.

ANDY RODDICK: He doesn't really have many holes. He can do everything pretty well. And, you know, his good serve, he has a really big forehand, he has a great feel for the game. He just does everything. He's a very, very well-rounded player.

ANDY RODDICK: Well, it's good. Coming into the year I said I wanted to perform better in the Slams. And to this point, I have. But, you know, I'm not satisfied yet. I want to keep going.

ANDY RODDICK: Yes and no. I think it was an advantage that I didn't spend too much time out on court today - and neither did Roger. So I think we should both be pretty fresh going into tomorrow.

ANDY RODDICK: We'll see (laughter)...

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, you know, you're stepping it up in the jewelry department. I'm just still going with -- you can buy 100 of them for 50 cents.

ANDY RODDICK: No, they get a little loose. You have to throw a new one on there every once in a while. You got to keep it tight. Can't have any looseness going on.

ANDY RODDICK: Circle K.

ANDY RODDICK: Well, I'm -- I'm normally confident with my serve, you know. I'm serving well right now. That's for sure. But, you know, I think, you know, there are a lot of big servers here. I think it's the other things that I've been doing that have, you know, put me in this position.

ANDY RODDICK: It's probably between this and the match with Greg. That was tough because, you know, second round you had to play really good tennis right away, so... But today I played very well. I returned well and I hit pretty good passing shots, so I was pleased.

ANDY RODDICK: Not really. My, you know -- I'm not getting too many e-mails. But, you know, from my friends and stuff, but they're kind of keeping it low-key, which is cool. But, you know, it's weird to think that there's some nine-year-old kid out there getting excited to wake up early and eat bacon and eggs and watch the matches. It's pretty cool.

ANDY RODDICK: Oh, man... Probably the matches with Becker and Edberg. What was it, '88 through '89, I think they played three times in a row. From then on, you know, I remember all those matches.

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, it's weird. You're -- every time I've started playing well, it's been unexpected. You know, maybe I was trying to force a little bit and then, you know, kind of took a deep breath after Paris and was kind of disappointed. Then things started clicking. You never know when you're going to play well.

ANDY RODDICK: It's a little weird. I played, you know, against Robredo, I was really kind of amped up beforehand. Then I played Paradorn. I was kind of almost too mellow before, I was asleep during the middle of the rain delay until about ten minutes before I went out there. So I was a little mellow. Today I was kind of in the middle. I guess it just varies and depends on the day.

ANDY RODDICK: He definitely has a big part in it, you know? I didn't do well in the last Grand Slam by, you know, by far. Then he comes along, we click. It's definitely a team effort.

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, I've never been in the position where it's tough to get a word in (laughter). You know, it's weird. We have a lot of common things that we're interested as far as we wake up in the morning, he'll already have been up since 4 in the morning (smiling). And he'll have all the sports scores - if the A's won or the A's lost, and we can talk about baseball and all types of stuff. So, you know, there's not a shortage of conversation in our house.

ANDY RODDICK: Baseball, I'm all right. But, you know, I think we complement each other. If there's a question asked, we can normally figure it out between the two of us.