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WIMBLEDON

June 28, 2010

Andy Roddick

LONDON, ENGLAND

Y. LU/A. Roddick
4-6, 7-6, 7-6, 6-7, 9-7

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Always the fifth set in Grand Slams. Do you dread the fifth set in a slam these days?
ANDY RODDICK: No.

Q. Obviously a tough one. Anything he did towards the end? Is it just one of those things the ball bounced certain ways, shots went certain ways?
ANDY RODDICK: Well, yeah. The ball bounces and shots land.
You know, I thought he did a good job of controlling the middle of the court all day. You know, his ball was coming in with a lot more behind it than mine. He was switching directions, you know, keeping me off balance, not letting me get set. You know, he was able to execute that for a whole day.
You know, I thought he served better than he has against me before.
That being said, you know, I had shots. I didn't take advantage of 'em.

Q. Did you play as aggressively as you wanted to?
ANDY RODDICK: Well, no. But, I mean, through three sets I was playing horrendously, I mean really, really badly. I mean, to the point where I was trying to think of how to put balls in the court.
Actually, I mean, I think the fifth set was probably the best set that I played as far as hitting the ball, you know, making him struggle to actually get through service games sometimes.
But when you dig yourself a hole, it's tough to get out, when you've given someone confidence, when they have their feet under them a little bit more.

Q. You've played him before. Was he a new guy this time?
ANDY RODDICK: He's not a new guy. He's very good on surfaces that bounce low. He's very good inside of his slot. You know, unfortunately here it's tough to get it out of there. You know, you play high, you run the risk of leaving it short and hanging.
You know, like I said, I think the thing that he did very well - better than times that we played in the past - was serve. I thought he served a lot better than normal.

Q. Are you a bit stunned after something like this or just down?
ANDY RODDICK: I don't think 'stunned' is the right word. You know, I don't view what happens today as an impossibility. I take every match very seriously.
You know, I don't know. I always struggle with how to describe my mood. I mean, there's only so many ways you can say it. So, you know, I'm sure you can use your intuition and reach out and come up with something.

Q. After the fourth-set breaker, where he got a little bit nervous, you had a couple big serves, thought that maybe in the fifth he'd tighten up a bit. He hasn't been in that position. What were you expecting going into the fifth?
ANDY RODDICK: Uhm, you know, honestly if you would have told me I hit the ball like I did in the fifth, I would have liked my chances at the end of the fourth.
Credit to him, because I got into some games. I make him hit a good pass on breakpoint. He stuck a volley. He hadn't taken a first ball and came in all day and he did it down breakpoint. He played high-risk, but he executed very well. You know, he had a game plan, he stuck to it, and he deserved to win more than I did. That's for sure.

Q. Any reason why you felt you were down in the first three sets in terms of quality?
ANDY RODDICK: What's the question?

Q. Any reason why you were not hitting the ball that well in the first three sets?
ANDY RODDICK: If I would have had a reason, I probably would have figured it out, right? It didn't feel clean. It didn't feel good.

Q. Was he controlling too much real estate where you couldn't get into net as many times as you wanted to?
ANDY RODDICK: It's tough to come in against a ball that stays low and flat like that. You need some time to set and go. You know, you get him on a surface that is conducive to his swings, he can keep the ball down. It's tough charging off of a ball that's not coming off the ground too much.
So, yeah, I mean, he did a good job of, like I said, controlling the middle of the court. You know, if I was through the middle, he was getting length and driving the ball.

Q. There were patches in the match where you felt like he was reading your serve pretty well? You hit a lot of aces.
ANDY RODDICK: I didn't get broken for five sets. It wasn't my serve. It wasn't my service games. It was my returning. That was crap. It was really bad.
I haven't been broken since the first set against Llodra. So I don't think it was my serve.

Q. Reasonably new court. Does it play different to the other show courts here?
ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, I mean, I think it's different. I don't know how much is the court or just the surroundings and stuff. It's definitely a different feel. You know, but we played the same court. It's the same lines. It's the same deal.
If I want to consider myself a contender for this tournament, I've got to get through that match.

Q. Back to the returning. Were you not reading him the way you wanted to or the ball wasn't coming off the racquet?
ANDY RODDICK: It wasn't coming off the right way. I was fighting it all day. You know, seemed like games where I got good swings on it, he was playing from ahead. He did a good job, as well. I don't know.
I had I think one second serve on a breakpoint. That was there in the fifth when I hit a decent return. He cold-cocked one, came in, hit an inside-out stick volley. That was a pretty impressive volley at that point.
You know, I just wasn't doing a good job of converting.

Q. So tomorrow when you wake up, you think you're going to be pissed off, disappointed?
ANDY RODDICK: I'm going to be thrilled. I mean, c'mon.

Q. You've been through these slams before.
ANDY RODDICK: And it never gets easier. Of course I'm going to be pissed off when I wake up tomorrow. I mean, if you got fired from your job, you probably wouldn't wake up the next day in a great mood. I mean, c'mon, let's go. We're better than those questions.
All right, thank you.

End of FastScripts

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