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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 20, 2010

Andy Roddick

MELBOURNE, VICTORIA

A. RODDICK/T. Bellucci
6-3, 6-4, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Andy.

Q. I didn't see the end of your match, but did you have some sort of problem?
ANDY RODDICK: Yeah. I mean, there was just a disagreement about a rule I guess on a continuation of a call. To be fair, I watched -- I didn't come in here till I watched the video of it. I was more wrong than I thought I was out on court.
That being said, it was very close. To take away a match point at that juncture in a match, it's a big call.

Q. Did you argue that you could have had a swing at that ball?
ANDY RODDICK: Yeah. I mean, it wasn't a winning shot. That was the basis of my argument.

Q. You don't think it was a bad call after having watched it?
ANDY RODDICK: It was a lot closer than I thought as far as when the call came. I guess their whole argument was whether the call came after I had already let the ball pass. It's hazy as far as either way.
I thought I was going to be a hundred percent right. It's definitely closer than I felt it was while I was on court.

Q. What about the tennis? How you doing?
ANDY RODDICK: I felt good out there today. You know, with him, it's a lot of just trying to keep the ball out of his hitting zones because he hits pretty big. You know, keeping the ball on the backhand side, which is a little trickier, because he's a lefty.
You know, it was just a matter of kind of getting the ins and outs of the points. I thought I did a pretty good job of that.

Q. On a general subject about umpires and calls, do you think Hawk-Eye has helped umpires or hindered them? Do they go more into their shell?
ANDY RODDICK: Sure. As anyone would if you have an insurance policy. We all have it.

Q. In that respect, have umpires been rather neutered by being themselves?
ANDY RODDICK: Yeah. It definitely puts less pressure on them as far as having to stick your neck out there, you know. But I'm still a fan of Hawk-Eye 'cause I don't think you want -- you know, there's always going to be some judgment calls.
That's like my match today, where they have a split second to make a very important call. You know, there's always going to be something kind of like that.
But Hawk-Eye, overall, I feel like is probably fair. You know, you wouldn't really expect 'em to throw it out there as much when you kind of have video replay. Their argument is, Well, you can challenge it. That's a sound argument.

Q. At 5-4, two sets to love, match point, a match you've had under an enormous amount of control, is it worth the fight?
ANDY RODDICK: Well, if you were watching, I didn't actually start the fight until after the match was over. I didn't go through the whole thing and then have to regroup and play the point. I finished, then we actually just tried to have a conversation. Then I didn't want to do it on court, so we talked afterwards.
So, no, it's not worth the fight. It wasn't worth the fight at the time. When it was finished, I was really curious to hear what the exact ruling on it is.

Q. Is there any element of you enjoying the dialogue with the umpire? You seem to be a little chattier than other players.
ANDY RODDICK: That was a nice way of putting that question (smiling).

Q. It's very entertaining. People enjoy it.
ANDY RODDICK: I don't do it for entertainment. I do it because I strongly believe what I feel. That's not just on the court. I think if I believe in something strongly enough, I'm pretty outspoken about it. I don't think that has to do with me enjoying it. That probably goes back to, you know, childhood issues, which would be a longer conversation (smiling).

Q. Are you prepared to do it to the point of humiliating a linesman?
ANDY RODDICK: Not intentionally. But, you know, a lot of times if the argument works itself that way, then it works itself that way. You know, it's not about that. But if the argument I'm getting back doesn't make sense or doesn't make common sense, then I will be sure to acknowledge that it didn't make a whole lot of sense.

Q. You said you're not going to play Davis Cup after a decade. Will you miss it?
ANDY RODDICK: I'll miss it, for sure. You know, it's been a big part of my career so far. You know, I don't know if I've shut the door on as far as forever goes.
You know, we made the decision later on last year. That's when my knee was still hurt. We didn't think it was smart to be switching surfaces from hard to clay to hard, time zones, all that. Probably want to do that as few times in the year as we had to. That played a big part.
I never wanted to be one of these guys who played when it was convenient. I feel like if you commit at the beginning of the year, then you commit. Last thing I'd want to do is have those guys go battle early in the year, then me waltz in and try to play later in the year when they've been the ones to get the team to that point.

Q. Do you have a view whether the Cup should be played less recently?
ANDY RODDICK: Gee, everyone is acting like this is an original idea. We've been talking about adjustments for a long time. Bottom line is, until the ITF steps up and actually says, You know what, this might be better for our event, until they see it that way, then it's really a moot point. It's not going to happen that way. That's like talking about Peter Pan. It's a fairytale. It's not real.

Q. Do you have a preference?
ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, obviously. It would be a lot easier. I think I could definitely see the benefits of it as far as players and from a fan's perspective. But, you know, I think one of the reasons is that the Ryder Cup is so successful is because you have a little bit of time to build up to it and it is unique.
But on the other side of the coin, I certainly understand that a lot of the smaller countries support their tennis federations with home ties. You know, there are certainly arguments to be made either way. It's not an easy call.

Q. Do you feel like you've done your duty, now these last few years of your career you can just be looking after yourself a little bit?
ANDY RODDICK: I didn't approach my decision like that. I think it was just a matter of what was better for potentially my health this year after missing four months last year. You know, certainly playing on hard courts away on clay, coming back, playing on hard courts, switching back to clay a month later wasn't probably the best schedule for me as far as my knee goes.

Q. Are you happy to see Roger on the other side of the draw or...
ANDY RODDICK: We're talking about things that would only matter way down the road, and it's Wednesday.

Q. With the Hawk-Eye system, do you have faith in it?
ANDY RODDICK: You know what, I have faith in it being consistent enough to where it's the same for both players. So, you know, if we're talking is it exact down like to -- if it's a millimeter off, at least it's a millimeter off for both players and no one's really getting screwed, or if we're getting screwed, we're getting screwed the same amount (smiling).

End of FastScripts

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