TELECOM MASTERS ITALIA

May 5, 2005

Andy Roddick

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

ANDY RODDICK: I don't know. I mean, he hit the serve and everybody went nuts, but I thought it was closer than that. So I went up and checked it and I looked at it and I couldn't really tell. But then I looked again and it was in. I don't think it's anything extraordinary. I mean, the chair umpire would have come down and said it was in, too. So, you know, I don't think it was anything spectacular on my part. You know, the ball was in. The referee would have come down, he would have seen it, he would have called it in, so I just saved him the trip. You know, he's working hard up there, so I don't want to make him walk any more than he has to.

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

ANDY RODDICK: It was 4-5, 15-All, but, you know...

ANDY RODDICK: I did?

ANDY RODDICK: Really? 'Cause most people here will tell you I went crazy and called the referee a bunch of bad names. But if you thought I handled it with class, then you stick to that. I'll go with that, too.

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, I thought -- when he hit it and before I looked at the mark, I thought it was out. It was so close that it didn't skip off the line or do anything. At first, when he was walking up, I kind of signaled like I thought it was out. Then I got there and that wasn't the case, which pissed me off a little bit. I thought so. I thought I was going to go up and it was going to be out. You know, on a hard court, I wouldn't have given a call because I really thought when I saw it that it missed, but it didn't.

ANDY RODDICK: You just explained it, dude. I mean, I thought it was close, and then I looked closer and it was in. I mean, he was gonna come down and go like this and go like this and go like this (motioning with his arms) and then I would have had to walk back. So, I mean, it wasn't any doubt in my mind. You know, I went and it caught the line. It was close, but it was on the line. Unless the umpire would have just totally screwed the other guy, which I probably wouldn't have been okay with anyway so...

ANDY RODDICK: Not really. I mean, the service game I played wasn't horrible. I made some first serves, was up 30-15, he played one amazing point. Then in the tiebreaker I didn't make one bad shot. I mean, I literally made a bunch of first serves. He just took full cuts at returns. I mean, he hit -- the first point of the tiebreaker was a long point, he hit a half-volley one-handed dropshot. That was the first time he had taken his other hand off the racquet all day. So, I mean, not much -- then he was just going with confidence. I mean, he turned like, you know, 180 degrees. I fought and I tried and, you know... There are some matches where you feel like you should lose them and you end up winning, and some where you feel like you should win and you ended up losing. Hopefully, you just hope that it's in your favor at the end of the day.

ANDY RODDICK: No, I think once you get there, you have to, you know -- maybe I wish I would have gone and stepped on the mark before the umpire could have gotten out of the chair... no, I'm joking (laughing). No, not really, 'cause I don't feel like -- sometimes you feel like you blow it and, you know, you did something stupid or, you know... But on two occasions I chances to go up double break and he just went for broke. He could have -- almost like he didn't care. I mean, he could have just as easily missed. One was - what was it - 4-2 or something, I was up Love-40, he just hit a backhand from almost behind the baseline as hard as he could. It was this far in on both sides. Then that second serve he hit like a first serve and it clipped the line. So, you know, just luck wasn't on my side today.

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, I mean, listen, from where I was last year on this stuff, I mean, I'm definitely improving. You know, to be a point away from the quarters, I feel like it's going in the right direction, you know. We're going forwards instead of backwards. So, you know, I can take a lot of good things from this week. And, you know, we'll just try again next week, and hopefully I'll be prepared by the time the French comes around. That's what we're over here for.

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah.

ANDY RODDICK: Arm?

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, I mean, he gets a lot of action on the ball, especially when he's set. And, you know, he's a confidence player; he goes for so much on his shots. So if he's confident, he's very, very, very good. I mean, he hits the ball about as hard as anyone I've played. I think he has a lot of up side.