	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

U.S. OPEN

August 28, 2010

Andy Roddick

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. So where are you physically with the mono and everything?
ANDY RODDICK: I feel okay. You know, Cincinnati was good for me to get five matches in to kind of see where I was at. I didn't feel perfect, but definitely better all the time.
So, you know, I think I'll be okay.

Q. Do you feel some of the lingering effects, or pretty much feels like it's behind you?
ANDY RODDICK: Um, really close. Really close.

Q. What do you take from your level of play in Cincinnati? You played well in spurts, and then to not close out the fifth match...
ANDY RODDICK: Well, to be honest, if you would've given me five matches and two top 5 wins going into Cincinnati I would have been ecstatic. I hadn't been playing well. I had been struggling physically. Everything was a little bit of a question mark, you know.
So to get five good matches in in six days, you know, and be a couple points away from a final is something I didn't -- you know, four or five days before Cincinnati started, I didn't know if I was going to play there.
A lot more positives coming out of that week, you know. I think that week was extremely necessary as far as preparation and confidence coming into this tournament.

Q. When did you actually start feeling ill?
ANDY RODDICK: They think -- obviously there's no way to -- you know, they think maybe when I had to pull from Madrid.

Q. That early?
ANDY RODDICK: Yeah. They said, you know, possibly a couple months. I don't know.
You know, it's all guesswork from that.

Q. But you were feeling a couple of degrees below during Wimbledon?
ANDY RODDICK: Well, yeah. Some days were a lot worse than others. I got back from Wimbledon and was trying to do some track work. I don't think I've ever opted out of a workout before in my life, and I had about two or three in a row where it just kind of felt off.
So it was frustrating. Had me wondering, Am I out of shape? What's the deal? Kind of just tried to plow through it. At a certain point, we had to kind of just cover our bases and see what was going on.

Q. When you dropped out of the top 10, obviously a lot of alarms went off. Now we have a lot of guys in the top 25. Is there some comfort in numbers coming into the tournament?
ANDY RODDICK: I have been zero concerned either way. I mean, I know it's fun to write about, you know, but I didn't really feel much of a responsibility to be the guy in the top 10. I figure that should fall maybe on some the guys that have never been in the top 10.
I really didn't played too much. I missed three or four months at the end of last season, so I didn't put too much stock in it. I know when I'm playing well I'm able to get deep into tournaments.
But I think it is a great thing we have four guys closing in on the top 20 right now obviously with Mardy playing great tennis, and I'm all for it. I'm always happy to see those guys do well.

Q. Have you seen the Roger Federer video that's the rage on the Internet? What are your thoughts about it?
ANDY RODDICK: No, and that makes the next part difficult. (Laughter.)

Q. What do you think the possibility would be if you were given the task of serving and knocking an object off somebody's head on two consecutive serves, that you could you do it?
ANDY RODDICK: One, how far away is the person? Two, how big is the object? And 3, how hard do I have to hit the serve?

Q. I'll take them in reverse order. Three, I don't think the speed is an issue.
ANDY RODDICK: Okay.

Q. Two, I believe it's a cup. A can. And one, 25 feet approximately.
ANDY RODDICK: Two in a row? I wouldn't like my chances. (Laughter.) Or I wouldn't like the chances of someone standing there way with their head in the way of it, either. (Laughing.) Brave person.

Q. Have you been following Tiger Woods' saga a lot? What are your thoughts on his efforts to...
ANDY RODDICK: Saga? I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't see that, either. (Laughter.)

Q. What are your thoughts on his efforts to restore his game to where it was?
ANDY RODDICK: Well, I think he will at some point. I mean, you know, he's probably the best talent that's ever played golf. Obviously kind of -- you know, I think he even admitted that he made his own bed, you know, that he's dealing with now.
You know, he's dealing with the fallout of it. But same thing. It's not easy to have to address it every day and to go through it. It's just gonna take some time before golf can probably become the first thing he's thinking about again on a daily basis.
He'll do it. He's too good not to. People who say he's never going to win again, I don't agree with that at all. Not even a little bit.

Q. If I'm not mistaken, you're turning 28 Monday.
ANDY RODDICK: Sunday. When's the 30th? Monday.

Q. Where's your sense of urgency just with bagging one of these things again?
ANDY RODDICK: Well, it's always there. Birthday or no birthday, you come in to try to win one. To be honest, I don't think too much about age, number, whatever. I'll play till I can, until I feel like I shouldn't anymore.
But, you know, the urgency is always there.

Q. Not having played maybe as much as you would have liked, coming in here do you feel more relaxed than you normally would, or are you stressed out about the fact that you haven't played as much as you'd like?
ANDY RODDICK: Like I said, I was very concerned about lack of match play. Playing five times in Cincinnati and you know, playing really good opponents was really big for me, so I'm definitely not as concerned about lack of match play as I was a couple weeks ago.

Q. Who do you like in the college football race this year? Who would be your pick to be the national champion?
ANDY RODDICK: Nebraska. Completely unbiassed pick.

Q. You're the top American in New York. Obviously you get a lot of attention here. Do you even feel a little bit under the radar at all this year, or not at all?
ANDY RODDICK: I don't know. I don't pay attention -- obviously last year was a little bit different coming after Wimbledon and everything. But, you know, I've been in this position before; I've been in the other position before. To be honest, it doesn't make any difference to me.
You know, you go out and you try to win a tennis match. You know, everything that goes on around it doesn't change what happens once you get inside the lines. That's where my focus is. Everything else, I'm not -- I'm not really concerned about.
I'm happy to be here, and, you know, be finished with this thing after this question in about six minutes. That's fine by me.

Q. Last year coming in there was quite a bit of debate about the schedule and whether or not that was contributing to players' injuries and taking time off. This year it looks like it's starting up again, although it's more about the women's end of it. What are your thoughts there?
ANDY RODDICK: Well, I mean, I've always been pretty consistent with you can't play 11 months straight 10 years in a row, 100% every -- you know, it's just -- at a certain point something gives, and unfortunately a lot of times it's the human body.
I mean, in order to play that much you have to build it up at some point through physical training and in other things. You know, unfortunately there's not always time for that, and then, you know, so you -- that will lead to injury at some point. I mean, this isn't a new conversation. It's been there for a long time.
You know, the top guys don't get done till close to December now. You know, after the Masters it's November 20-whatever it is. So, I mean, I think it's a problem. It's a tall ask, especially the top guys who are expected to play at, you know, a high level all the time.
It's different. You've got to kind of almost make your own time to get ready and to train.

Q. Your friend Serena is out. Who are you expecting to win the women's side?
ANDY RODDICK: Oh, I don't know. She's probably the only one that could withdraw and come back and win it somehow.
No, I don't know. Obviously, you know, it's nice when you have a sister who can come in and be a favorite to win, as well. (Laughter.)
They'll still be fine.

End of FastScripts

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297