THE STELLA ARTOIS CHAMPIONSHIPS

June 9, 2005

Andy Roddick

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, he was -- after the first set I think he really stepped up his game. You know, for a while there he was playing with not a whole lot of margin on his shots, but pretty consistently. You know, I felt like I was making him play a lot, I was making a lot of returns. You know, a lot of times he was just coming up with the goods and getting the lead early in the service games. You know, I kept saying to myself that maybe he'd get tight if he kept going for those kind of high-risk shots, and, you know, luckily he did a little bit in the last game.

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah. I mean, that's always what we're going to say if we pull it out (smiling). But, you know, he was definitely uncomfortable out there today. Credit to him. I thought he really stepped it up in the second set and picked up his level.

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, I needed it. You know, I've lost a couple tight ones recently, so, you know, it was big for me to get and kind of stick around and hang in there and win one the tough way.

ANDY RODDICK: I mean, I don't know if that can be summed up in a couple of words. You know, I think the biggest thing is just having gone through it now, you know. There's not a big shock factor, you know. I have some ideas, but I'm not going to have them written about all over the papers and stuff (smiling). You know, I can take a lot of positives out of it, actually. I felt like I played a good match. You know, was pretty close to taking control of it. You know, I look at that as a positive.

ANDY RODDICK: No. I mean, maybe if it comes down to it, I might try that. But, you know, there's a lot of guys that I would have to play before that would even become a possibility, you know. There's a lot of tennis between, you know, that happening -- between now and that becoming real.

ANDY RODDICK: Maybe. I mean, who knows. I think he's still the clear-cut best player in the world right now. But, you know, who knows? I said last year that he was just rolling with so much confidence that, you know, we kind of had to gang up and try to figure out a way to make him think a little bit out there, think about -- maybe second-guess himself. I think it's happening a little bit more this year, but, I mean, let's not get carried away. The guy's record is pretty amazing this year; he's won something like six titles already. You know, so I think there's only so much. I think the other people have to play really well. I don't see Roger letting up at all.

ANDY RODDICK: Somewhere in there. You know, I don't really care. I mean, you're going to have to play the people eventually anyway. I mean, it's not -- I don't know if it's, you know, a huge deal. I think as long as you're in the top four, I think that's pretty crucial. But anywhere beyond that, I mean, 3 or 4, I'm not going to throw a tantrum or anything; I don't really care.

ANDY RODDICK: Well, I've played both of them a lot. Obviously, Sebastien has been probably the, you know, third best results on grass over the last couple of years, you know, with a couple of finals here and a couple of semis at Wimbledon. He's very, very accomplished. James has been playing well. He's won a lot of matches in challengers, and he's kind of on the way back up. So, you know, it's gonna be a tough one either way.