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BARCLAYS ATP WORLD TOUR FINALS

November 26, 2010

Andy Roddick

LONDON, ENGLAND

N. DJOKOVIC/A. Roddick
6-2, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. It looked like you were struggling physically for a while. Was that the case tonight?
ANDY RODDICK: Feel I've been struggling physically on and off for a while now (laughter).

Q. Anything specific tonight?
ANDY RODDICK: No, whatever.
I am looking forward to resting for 10 days and then trying to get in shape. It's been a tough battle between trying to get healthy and finding the right balance between working and not getting hurt. It's been a tough balance. It's been a tough six, seven months, since the beginning of May, with all that tough. Tonight's not a whole lot different.
So it probably came to an end at about the right time. I'm looking forward to trying to get right physically before Australia comes.

Q. A question of "what if's." If you had beaten Nadal, you were close, would that have given you momentum? Would your physical condition have sort of improved because of the mental condition if you'd won that match? Did you have enough in the tank to go through?
ANDY RODDICK: No. I mean, optimism doesn't change the way I feel physically. I don't think one has to do with the other. It's two separate things.
Obviously, that's the best match I played this week. I played one good match and two extremely ordinary ones. That's not the way you want to end it. But I got to be honest, I feel like I needed time right now.

Q. Out of the 12 matches that we have seen, yours was the only one that went to a third set. Does it say anything to you? You against the No. 1 in the world.
ANDY RODDICK: You just made a series of statements. So all I can do is agree or disagree with you. You stated a fact. So I'm kind of struggling where to go with that.

Q. I'm just asking you if you feel confident, because even if you're not in great shape, you were still capable to fight for three sets versus Nadal, who won three matches in a row, and you won all the others in two sets.
ANDY RODDICK: I appreciate your optimism. You can have a future in coaching with that synopsis.

Q. He's tried it.
ANDY RODDICK: I would ask how it went, but you're here (laughter).

Q. Thanks.
ANDY RODDICK: Thank you (laughter).
I came to Europe to try to qualify for this event. From Shanghai, I probably didn't have enough prep time from Shanghai, or from the US Open getting sick to Shanghai, or from Shanghai getting healthy to come to Europe. I qualified, which was good.
I wanted to keep my streak of eight alive. I was able to do that. Basically I managed a lot of things. I managed to make this tournament. I managed to, you know, come out with an okay year in my eyes.
But as far as leaving here with soaring confidence, feeling great about the way I played, probably not. I mean, I played well against Rafa. I played well enough to win that match. The other two were pretty crappy.

Q. As much as you love playing in front of crowds, are there some days you wouldn't be under the spotlight in front of 17,000 people?
ANDY RODDICK: Are there circumstances where I wouldn't be in front of 17,000 people? I can think of a lot of times when I wouldn't want to be in front of 17,000 people.
But it is what it is. When you're doing everything right and you're playing well, it doesn't seem like there's enough people there. Nights like tonight, you know, it's a lonely place a lot of times.
But that's just the way it is. That's the way sports is. You can't take the good and -- we always want the fans there. It's for the better of our sport. You have good days. There will be good days, there will be bad days. We're not inventing anything new here.

Q. When you get home, you said you want to get yourself back in good condition, all that. What will you do as soon as you get home? Will it be nothing with the racquets for a few days? When will you start training again, start thinking about Australia?
ANDY RODDICK: Probably not immediately. I probably need to rest for a little bit. I need to get back physically in shape. I don't feel like I've been in shape for a little while.
The last time I've been able to train aggressively is probably May. So I need to put everything aside until I feel ready enough to put myself through the paces. And then I'm ready to hit it, whether it's track or gym. I think that's the first priority. And then when I feel like I'm getting a handle on that, I think the racquets come back in.

Q. You're still an active player. Have you ever thought what you will be doing at the end of your career? Would you like more to be a tennis coach or a TV commentator and a journalist?
ANDY RODDICK: You only gave me two options. I don't want an either/or question (laughter).
I don't know. I don't think I would coach. I have a feeling I would last about six months commentating before I said something inappropriate - maybe less. So I'm not sure. Plus I'm not very opinionated, so might not go well for me (laughter).
I don't know what I'll do afterwards. Something where I can stay home the majority of the time would probably be better for me. I still would like to play an active role with my foundation. But as far as traveling a lot, I don't think that's something that I'll probably want to do when I'm done playing.

Q. Do you see yourself as a proud father of a boy who is a tennis player?
ANDY RODDICK: Hon? No, okay (laughter).
I don't know. The good news is if our kids play tennis and they're not any good, I can just blame Brooke. I'm not going to take responsibility for that one.

Q. Do you feel next season you might sort of copy Federer's example and take more breaks during the season?
ANDY RODDICK: I guess the first thing that popped into my mind was I played less tournaments this year than I ever have before.

Q. With the end of the season going on quite long, maybe at the front play less tournaments.
ANDY RODDICK: I played 16 events this year. That's the least amount of tournaments I've played in my life, so... You know, I think I have adopted that approach a little bit more. I don't think I played from Miami till the French Open this year. I was probably home more this year than I have been before.
But, yeah, I think that's necessary. I think my days of playing 25, 26 events a year are done.

Q. You've trained with Somdev Devvarman in the off-season. What is your impression of him? Are you going to train with him this off-season as well?
ANDY RODDICK: We'll see. He's played well recently. To be honest, he has a long way to go. He's won Commonwealth Games and Asian Games, this, that and the other, which is great. Now he's got to go play someplace where there's some competition. He's got to put the work in. It's about time for him to kind of take that next step. I think he's 25 or so. It's about time for him, you know, to make that jump if he's going to.

Q. Are you going to be training with him this off-season as well?
ANDY RODDICK: I think so. We live in the same city. It's certainly possible that our paths will cross at some point and we'll have a chat.

Q. This is more personal. I heard you like South Park. Do you still like that? I like it.
ANDY RODDICK: You like it?

Q. Yeah.
ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, sure. I don't think it's something that I clear my day for. But I certainly find it humorous/inappropriate.

End of FastScripts

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