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SONY ERICSSON OPENMarch 27, 2008Bobby ReynoldsMIAMI, FLORIDA THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Where does that rank on your career victory scale? BOBBY REYNOLDS: Oh, I would say pretty high. You know, to beat somebody who has played so many Grand Slams and won two of them... I was really nervous out there the first set, so I guess my only other top victory was Andre Pavel at Australia, probably three years ago. So, you know, it's been a while. I played I guess the ATP's two years ago and took a couple of beatings and had to go back to the challengers. So it's nice. I feel like I've been playing pretty well. To get that victory, you know, I already had a lot of confidence, but, obviously, that gives me a lot more. You know, in this game, it's all about confidence, so... Q. What did you do well today? BOBBY REYNOLDS: Oh, I feel like I served well. You know, I knew, obviously, he made a lot of mistakes. I'm more of, I guess, the type of player that needs those mistakes. I kind of retrieve balls, and then if I have the opportunity I'll go ahead and take advantage of it. But I feel like I served really well. Gave myself a lot of opportunities with break points. You know, unfortunately, I think I only had like 1 for 13. But I kept fighting, and I think that's the biggest attribute to my game is I never give up. Just keep fighting. Q. You had three matchpoints. Have you ever had that against someone, you know, so good, and how does that help in a way? BOBBY REYNOLDS: You know, it's tough. I feel like in the third set, like I said, I had six or seven breakpoints, and two of them were matchpoints. You know, you're so close, and you know you're so close, you're one point away. I just kept trying to tell myself, hit the ball deep, hit the ball deep. But the ball kept going inside the service box. So that's a lot of nerves. And he's played on that type of stage many, many, many times. You can't teach experience like that. So, you know, obviously, you probably could tell that I was really nervous. But everybody coming up has to go through that. So I feel like, you know, like I said, I got over it, and you know, hopefully I can keep it going. Q. You haven't had a chance to play on Stadium Court with Hawk-Eye probably before, have you? BOBBY REYNOLDS: I actually played last week against Donald at Indian Wells with it, but I think that was my second time. Q. So did you sweat out that challenge in the tie break? It is a pretty big moment? BOBBY REYNOLDS: Oh, that was a huge. Yeah, obviously. I ended up losing the point either way. But you know, just giving yourself the opportunity to, you know, challenge, is, I think, great for players. It takes a little pressure off the umpires, because if they make a mistake or whatever you replay the point. But you hate to see a match be won or lost because of an iffy call. Obviously I had a couple of challenges left and I said, What the heck. I might as well go for it. It was in, so... Q. What did you say to yourself mentally going into this match? Because he can hit some huge shots, aces, big forehands. But he'll also get frustrated and maybe help you a little bit, give away a couple points. What did you tell yourself going into this match against him? BOBBY REYNOLDS: You know, a couple of guys, obviously, have played him many times. So they said you just have to weather the storm. If he comes out and he's striking the ball well, it's tough. Anybody can beat him. Like he played in Australia against Roger, he just hits the ball so cleanly and so powerful. So you know, the guys told me, Just keep fighting. Keep making one more ball, one more ball, one more ball, and he might miss, and he did. You know, he had a little trouble with the forehand today. You know, that helped me out. I kept telling myself, Keep fighting, keep fighting, and it paid off. Q. When he double faulted there in the tie breaker, it looked like you came up a little more than usual. Is that part of your strategy, make him think about what you're doing on the return? BOBBY REYNOLDS: I actually like to take the ball early on the second serve and pop it deep, and hopefully have a shorter reply and do then something with it. The serve was coming in a lot harder with the wind, and he was sliding into the body. Every time I stepped up, he kind of came to the body, and then I hit him short and he would attack me and I'm on the run. So I tried in the second, third set standing way back, and trying to fore the ball deep. But then with the wind, I started missing. So I was just trying to feel it out. And I would rather stand in, so, you know, I was like, I'm going to attack here and be aggressive. Because the past two matchpoints I was kind of tentative and retreating, and that didn't work. Q. A lot of perhaps casual tennis fans in the United States might not know much about you. And I'm sure they'd love to follow an American here. Can you talk a little about yourself outside tennis? You know, some things that you love to do, some hobbies people might not know about. BOBBY REYNOLDS: That's tough. Oh, you know, any kind sports. I love playing golf, so when I do go home and have a couple of days off, for sure it's always on the golf course, you know, in the morning. Other than that, I mean, I like to play cards. Q. You're getting married soon? BOBBY REYNOLDS: I am getting married, yeah in December. It's a girl I met at Vanderbilt when I went there for three years. She ran track, so we've been together about six years now, and tying the knot in December. Q. Now your brother goes to Charleston? BOBBY REYNOLDS: He did, yeah. He played there for four years. Now he's in medical school there. Q. Oh, that's interesting. BOBBY REYNOLDS: My sister actually played tennis at Wisconsin for a year and Georgia Tech for three years, so we kind of grew up as a tennis family. Q. What's she doing now? BOBBY REYNOLDS: Now she's married and has two kids. Q. Marat just told us he's still playing for the love of things and he has enough cash in his bank account that he can quit any time. I'm assuming that might not be your situation? BOBBY REYNOLDS: That would be good (smiling). Q. What is on your horizon? What is your expectation and your goal at this point in your career? You've been at it for a while, fighting the good fight for a while. BOBBY REYNOLDS: I kind of told myself I didn't have high expectations. I was never really that high in juniors, and then started to do well in college. So going into, I guess, my last year I had to make a decision to either go play pro or stay and finish out my degree, and I had to do an internship which was going to take a lot of time. So I talked it over with my parents and coach and basically said, I might as well give it a shot. I can always go back to Vandy and finish that one year, but you can't always come and play the tour when you're young. So going in, I just wanted to see how it was. I feel like I've done better than I thought I would do. Do I think I have the potential to play, you know, Top 10? No. But do I think I can stay in anywhere from 40 to 100? Yes. You know, I kind of tell myself when I don't love the travel, when I don't love the grind, when I don't love all the things that have to go into tennis, that is the time to give it up. But I love the travel. I love hanging out with the guys in the locker room and going out to dinner and all the hoop and hollering. You know, hopefully I'll keep continuing to do well and the money will come in. But that's not something, obviously, I'm looking at right now. I'm not making that much money. I still go back to the challengers to try to get the points. Obviously the money's not well there. But, ultimately, I'm just trying to -- one, two spots every week with the rankings, and just make my way up the ladder. Q. Was going to college a good way to go? Did you get your degree ever? BOBBY REYNOLDS: No, I still have one year left. Q. What made you decide to leave early? And are you glad you went? BOBBY REYNOLDS: For sure, you know. I love Coach Flach, I played for Coach Flach, you know, obviously Ken Flach. I loved him, you know, and I wasn't ready to play pro tennis coming out of high school. I just was small. I wasn't even that good. Probably top 20 in the country in juniors, so I never even thought about going pro. All I wanted to do was get a college education and hopefully get it paid for and play on the college team with all the other guys. But then I ended up finishing my junior year No. 1. Then the next year for my major I had to do an internship where I had to basically go to a job from 8:00 to 6:00, and I knew that my tennis was going to suffer from that. Because by the time I went to basically to work and then to try to practice at 7:00 at night every night, that just wasn't feasible. So that is basically the time that I said, you know, I needed to either try the pro tour or basically go get my education and see how my tennis does the next year. Q. And your fiancee, what is her name and what does she do? BOBBY REYNOLDS: Her name is Josie Hahn, and she's actually in dental school right now in Charleston. Q. Marat also compared your style to Andy Roddick's. Do you think that's a fair comparison? BOBBY REYNOLDS: You know, I guess. If I can be compared to a guy who has won a Grand Slam and is consistently in the top 10 in the world, I think I would be happy with that. But do I really think that I'm like him? You know, obviously I play with the same racquet, you know, and try to serve big like he does, you know, grind from the baseline. But I don't know if I can be considered just like Andy (smiling). Q. I think stylistically is what he meant. Is Andy's game a game that you have sort of looked at over the years and thought, this is something I can - a style I can fit into? BOBBY REYNOLDS: Yeah, for sure. Obviously, I kind of serve a little bit like him. I've gone to the half motion, which I think can give me a little extra pop. And obviously he has one the best, if not the best, serve in the world. So, you know, he likes to step around and hit forehands, doesn't come to the net that much, and neither do I. So I guess our backhands are a little weaker of the two sides. And, you know, I think we're in both great shape and we fight really well, so... Q. Your dad's a pilot, a commercial pilot? BOBBY REYNOLDS: With Delta. Q. With Delta. The other thing is Josie, right? What did she do in track and field? BOBBY REYNOLDS: She ran the heptathlon, which is the seven whatever -- it's a hundred meters -- no, hundred meter hurdles, 200, the shot put, the Javelin, the high jump, the 800. I don't even know, is that seven? (Laughing). If that's six, I can't remember the other one. So, yeah, she really loves it. She went to a couple Olympic trials and was really athletic. But there's not much, I guess, hope unless you're, you know, No. 1 in the world in that sport, or that whatever, event. Q. What did you study at Vandy? BOBBY REYNOLDS: Business, yep. End of FastScripts |
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