DAVIS CUP FIRST ROUND, CROATIA vs. USA

March 5, 2005

Andy Roddick

Q. Can you share with us right now how you're feeling?

ANDY RODDICK: Probably not in words so you would understand. It's tough to describe. Really, really bad.

ANDY RODDICK: I just played a loose game. Bottom line, I didn't make him play good tennis. You know, I felt like I was the fresher of the two of us. You know, I just pissed away a game there in the first game.

ANDY RODDICK: Win a point there in the tiebreaker, you know, whatever set it was, second set. I mean, just bear down in the fifth. I mean, you know, I thought I was playing the right way. You know, I felt the momentum turn. I was getting the better of points, you know, at the latter stages of the third set and the beginning of the fourth, you know, throughout the fourth. I just played a bad game.

ANDY RODDICK: No. It's a kick serve. Are you talking about to the backhand?

ANDY RODDICK: Well, this court, I mean, it's great for his serve because he gets a lot of -- you know, his second serve's pretty much all kick. This court is so gritty that it bites. It kind of hesitates then really takes off. I mean, you saw it the other day. I think Andre was having trouble with it a little bit, you know, whereas if it's a slicker court, it might come through a little more and you might get a better swing on it.

ANDY RODDICK: I mean, there's no worse feeling than losing a match in Davis Cup in our sport, you know, especially when your teammates or counting on you. I mean, if it's for you, you know, you can call yourself a whatever. But, you know, it's just on you. In this situation, there's so many people that you're playing for and that you feel like you've let down. So, I mean, it's not even comparable.

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah. I mean, I felt great going into the fifth set. I knew I still had my legs under me and that, you know, he was kind of dogging on some balls there, you know, late in the fourth set. You know, but there's no question that he's improved. I mean, he's improved every year, you know, with his consistency, his shot selection, you know, with the amount of returns he gets in play. You know, from a couple years ago till now, it's night and day with him.

ANDY RODDICK: Well, he did. He was getting treatment for cramps. But unfortunately for me, he can still serve 135 while getting treated for cramps.

ANDY RODDICK: He came up with some good stuff. I mean, he was just able to come up with serves pretty much all day when he needed them. You know, he was mixing it up well. I didn't really have a huge clue where it was going. He was hitting both of them pretty clutch. You know, I gave it a look on a couple of points there. You know, I'd like to say I played horrible points there, but, you know, I played two pretty good points and he came up with some big serves on the other ones. You know, I definitely think that would have been a huge step towards turning it around.

ANDY RODDICK: I remember it. But you just pretty much answered your own question. Obviously, I mean, I just said, if I get through that one, it's a huge turning point, and I feel like, you know, I had my legs under me a little bit more. But, you know, you can go there, you can go back to one point in the doubles yesterday, you can go back to one point today in the tiebreaker in the second set. You know, there's many specific points that didn't go our way this weekend, but that's the nature of it. We didn't go out and take 'em.

ANDY RODDICK: We just got to win, you know. I don't know if it's -- you know, I don't know. We just took a loss. I don't really know how to go about answering that. I mean, we go out here and we pour our hearts out. You know, we just haven't got the better end of it yet. I mean, I think we just keep working hard and keep going after it. I don't think there's some magic answer for you, there's no quick fix, otherwise we would be doing it. Let me know if you think of anything. It would be super.

ANDY RODDICK: Well, I wouldn't have put money on it. But I knew coming in we probably had, you know, one of the toughest first-round draws. They were both playing hot. Especially Ivan is having a great start to the season. You know, we definitely did not take these guys lightly and knew that we had our work cut out for us. Unfortunately for us he stepped up and played some good tennis this weekend.

ANDY RODDICK: I think that comes with confidence. You know, I think, you know, before he just wasn't consistent in getting himself to the point where he'd play the big points. I think, you know, it's a lot easier to play the big points well when you're as confident as he is and when you're as match-tough as he is right now. I just think he's improved in a lot of areas. I don't think it's just one thing.

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah. I mean, who knows. I mean, we have to wait a pretty long time to go at it again, which, you know, it's disappointing. We felt like we had a pretty good opportunity, and we were so excited. So, you know, that definitely is sad, as well.