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U.S. OPEN

September 3, 2009

Andy Roddick

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK

A. RODDICK/M. Gicquel
6-1, 6-4, 6-4

Q. I know the guy is not Roger Federer, but you must be pretty pleased with that performance.
ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, I feel like I'm hitting it well. I have pretty good ball control right now. I feel like I'm picking the right shots to kind of go for and to lay off.
I'm making a lot of my returns, which makes -- if I'm kind of in every one of their service games, it will make it a long night for 'em.

Q. Talk about playing John next.
ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, I mean, it's a completely different matchup. There's a lot more against John that's out of my hands. I know he's going to come out and just play super, super aggressive.
I'm just going to have to stay the course. There will probably be some ups and downs. Kind of just try to get through it.

Q. What's different about his game than when he first came up?
ANDY RODDICK: Well, I think actually he's playing similar to when he first came up. Yeah, I'm talking about when he kind of came onto the scene at Washington and here. When he won, he was playing big, going after his forehand a little bit more. I think he got a little bit too passive in his game from there. Now he's been working with Craig Boynton for a little while. I think Craig has made a huge difference. Especially coming off being sick, he's certainly made some good strides this summer.

Q. You will probably play in the afternoon Saturday. Will that be an advantage because he played in the afternoon?
ANDY RODDICK: If it is, it will be slight. It was never going to be similar playing Phau and Gicquel against John. There will have to be some adjustments to be made. I have been practicing in the afternoons. I'll try to do that again tomorrow. It will be an adjustment but nothing that I'm not accustomed to.

Q. What's the difference?
ANDY RODDICK: It's faster and the ball bounces a little bit more during the day.

Q. Has the whole aftermath of Wimbledon and how well you handled that, has that been a calming effect on you?
ANDY RODDICK: I don't know. It certainly wasn't anything that I expected as far as reaction and whatnot. But it certainly helped as far as kind of getting -- as far as moving on and wanting to get back out on the court.
But that's not where my focus is right now. I'm certainly appreciative of the support and I'm enjoying it. Hopefully I'll be able to use that here.

Q. You have seen a lot of these tall guys this summer.
ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, you know, I don't know what the deal is now. I was actually kind of tall when I first came on tour. That's just not close to the case anymore. It's not like I'm giving up an inch. I'm giving up a good five inches to the majority of my opponents this summer. At least I've seen it.

Q. Can you talk about ways in which playing Isner and Sam Querrey are similar and different?
ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, I guess on the surface they would seem similar, but I don't really think they are. I think their serves come through a little bit differently. I think John plays a little bit more aggressively just from the first ball. He's looking for that one ball to kind of quick strike.
Sam actually has been playing -- I think the difference is he's been moving a lot better and playing a lot better defense. You can't move him now and get him kind of awkward. He's really kind of -- we call it reposting, like taking someone's offense and kind of neutralizing it very well. John is a little bit more kind of -- just kind of going forward all the time.

Q. Melanie Oudin, did you watch that?
ANDY RODDICK: I love watching her. I was watching her this afternoon. I like the way she constructs points. It's not just, you know, hitting the ball to one spot. She kind of works the slice in there. She competes. She moves really well.
I've only been around her a little bit. I think we played an exhibition last year. But she seems like a sweetheart. I'm cheering for her. I like watching her play.

Q. Everyone keeps waiting for the American girl. You went through that with being the boy.
ANDY RODDICK: From what I've been looking at and reading, it doesn't seem like Venus and Serena are in a hurry to go anywhere. Everyone is always looking for the next thing, always looking for the next thing. Well, the present, as far as the women's game goes, is pretty good. It feels like, you know, you only start to really appreciate that once they're gone a lot of the time.
I'm certainly happy for Melanie. Venus and Serena are talking about four, five, six more years now. So why wouldn't they be able to do that?

Q. Isner has talked a good amount, like Sam, about his improved conditioning and movement. Did you see that in Washington?
ANDY RODDICK: You know, I didn't notice that as much as the fact that he's doing the basics a lot better. I don't feel -- I feel like maybe he's staying in the points a little bit more. You don't really get a sense of panic from him right now. I think he's prepared.
It almost was a given that if you ever had 15-30 on a serve, if he missed his first serve, he was going to go for a massive second and hoped that it worked. I think he's a little bit more confident in what he has. So he's almost gotten better by pulling back a little.
But I don't know if his movement has improved to the level that Sam's has. I don't know if he can. He's three or four inches taller. But I feel like he's applying his game a lot better now.

Q. Is that something you learned after a couple years on the tour, you can't just succeed with that?
ANDY RODDICK: Well, I did just succeed with that for a long time. There wasn't that much to learn. I think it's just about adjustments. The game is always changing. The lesson I've learned is to kind of put your pride away sometimes. No matter how good that you think you are or that you might have been, what's been successful, you kind of have to suck it up and adjust if people are getting better.
That's not always the easiest thing to admit, especially for athletes. We kind of live in a world of denial. I think the fact that you have to realize what may have been most effective five, six, seven years ago maybe isn't the most effective all the time now. It certainly has its moments, but you kind of have to be able to adjust, I think.

Q. I think the top 10 men's seeds haven't lost a set.
ANDY RODDICK: That's shocking. That's shocking. Not to lose one set, not even a set? Not a quick little break at 11:00 out on grandstand? That's pretty surprising.

Q. Do you know Jesse Witten at all?
ANDY RODDICK: Yeah. We actually were in the same age group in Florida, so like all the little junior tournaments and stuff. We played a lot in the little Florida designated tournaments.

Q. Was he good when you were little kids?
ANDY RODDICK: Not the best. He's certainly improved. We were talking last week. How is everything going? He was like, I don't know. Whatever. Before first-round quallies. You know, I don't know if I can do this much longer, this, that and the other. All of a sudden he's here in the third round.
So that's the kind of -- those are cool stories. I had a fun little kind of hour and a half where I was watching Oudin, then I saw Jesse come through. That was a fun little hour and a half of my afternoon.

End of FastScripts

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