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SHANGHAI ROLEX MASTERS

October 12, 2010

Andy Roddick

SHANGHAI, CHINA

A. RODDICK/P. Kohlschreiber
6-3, 2-1 (ret.)

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Andy.

Q. Briefly, how do you think you played today? How good did it feel to have a relatively easy match in the end?
ANDY RODDICK: Well, I mean, obviously first and foremost you don't want to see that happen. We've all been on the bad side of having to pull out of a match. It's not fun.
But I thought I hit the ball well in what we did play today. I started to hit the ball pretty well last week also, even though the match I lost to GaÃ«l, I thought was a really high level.
I'm glad that I can kind of get through today and keep trying to build on it.

Q. Would it be fair to say that London is a big ambition of yours this year? How are you feeling at the moment?
ANDY RODDICK: I feel good. You know, I don't feel like I'm fighting myself out there right now. I feel like, after the Open, I was kind of able to train the way I want to for the first time in a while.
Yeah, London is something I want to be a part of. I qualified last year and didn't get to play 'cause of my knee that I hurt here. It just looked like an amazing event. Also I'd like to keep - I'm not sure how many years in a row I've qualified for it - but it's something I'd like to keep going. It's a goal at the beginning of every year.
It's in my hands now. I'm in the position I need to be in. It's just a matter of taking care of my end of things.

Q. At the moment you're playing here, somewhere else, then Paris, or just here and Paris?
ANDY RODDICK: Here, Basel and Paris.

Q. How important is it to get back into the top 10 by the end of the year? You finished in the top 10 the last nine seasons. Is that a goal of yours?
ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, that's a goal. I think obviously if my first goal is finishing top eight, hopefully that will take care of that one.
You know, the rankings hasn't bothered me as much because it's a little deceiving. I missed pretty much after the Open last year. Even today, I can't remember the last time I'd win a round and tack on 45 points. It's a little deceiving.
I'm not as worried about it. Obviously, you know, if my first goal is making Masters, then top 10 is something. But obviously you put together, I don't know, eight or nine years of being there, you don't want to take one off, that's for sure.

Q. Some players feel the pressure about their world ranking. They play as many tournaments as they can. Maybe the more they play, they lose more, and their physical condition is poor after playing so many tournaments. What is your opinion about that?
ANDY RODDICK: Well, I don't think you can generalize one way or the other. It's all up to the individual. For me, obviously I'm 28 now. I'd rather err on the side of probably less is more at this point in my career. I'd rather have the weeks to train and build myself up.
But that being said, I'm probably not as concerned with ranking as a guy who is 19 or 20 years old, you know. I'm pretty confident when I'm playing well, when I'm healthy, I've established that I'm one of the top whatever players in the world. So my take on it is probably going to be different than someone who is 19, 20 years old, trying to make their way up the rankings.

Q. Some news said if you're ranked lower than top 15, you will retire. Is that true?
ANDY RODDICK: No. I think you're reading an excerpt from a Donald Dell book, which was pretty much 200 pages about glorifying himself as a negotiator. I think he negotiated a pretty good quote for himself for that book, if that makes sense. Is that about right?
No, I'm not putting anything on it. I think it had to do with when contracts start getting deductions and me being okay with that after being lower than 15, which probably should be a private matter between me, the company at the time, and whoever was negotiating. It's unfortunate that's public knowledge now.

Q. Back to London. Are you the kind of person that knows exactly what you have to do, you follow it? Some players talk about worrying about the next match. Do you zone in on that stuff?
ANDY RODDICK: The way I see it is I'm not going to dissect numbers on a day-to-day basis. I'm not the guy sitting in the locker room cheering against people for the majority of my day.
Right now I don't know if I'm seven or eight. It's in my hands. I'm in position. It's up to me. So, you know, I don't think it's healthy for me to sit around and crunch numbers all day, especially when we have five weeks. That makes a long five weeks if you're doing that every day.
I'm confident, if I play the way I can, that I should be there.

Q. I'm deeply impressed about your strong, powerful serve which gives your opponents great pressure. A lot of people say that is your only advantage. Do you admit that?
ANDY RODDICK: No, no (smiling). There's a lot of guys with a lot of good serves ranked a lot lower than I am, so there's got to be something else there.

Q. What is the greatest target before you retire? Have you ever changed your target?
ANDY RODDICK: Well, sure. I mean, I think you have long-term goals that you've always had. Everyone has the biggest dream in tennis, which is to win the biggest tournaments.
I think you're always dealing with a three-month goal. That's kind of the way that I look at it. I mean, I think you constantly have to adjust your short-term goals. Last year I got hurt here. So obviously that shifted where you want to be in two months. I was wanting to be able to run in a straight line two months from then.
Obviously, it's a constant kind of adjustment, reassessment of where you're at right now. My personal opinion is you always want something that seems pretty feasible and attainable in the short-term and then work your way up from there.

End of FastScripts

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