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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 23, 2011

Andy Roddick

MELBOURNE, VICTORIA

S. WAWRINKA/A. Roddick
6-3, 6-4, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Was there much you could do out there with him playing like that?
ANDY RODDICK: Could have served better. I didn't serve that well tonight. But he played great. He played really well. He played aggressive, and, yeah, he outplayed me tonight.

Q. Did you see the stats? He got on top of you pretty well winners to winners. You only had a couple breakpoints there. Talk about your overall feeling of the match. It was clear you were trying to fight to get back in, but it didn't seem like you could dominate many of the points.
ANDY RODDICK: Was that a question or a lot of statements back-to-back?

Q. Talk about the match in general. He hit a lot more winners than you, and I know it's important for you to dictate some of those points if you're going to beat a guy like that.
ANDY RODDICK: That was a statement again. Yeah, I mean, he outplayed me. He handled his balls getting to the court better than mine. He was working the lines really well. He was seeing it big tonight, and he hit it well.

Q. He's got Roger in the next round. Do you see him as a threat in that match the way he's playing?
ANDY RODDICK: Definite threat.

Q. Well, how did you see the match unfolding?
ANDY RODDICK: Obviously I would pick Roger. I think Stan is playing well, though. You know, it will be interesting. I think Roger is going to get into his second serve games a little bit more than I did tonight. I didn't have that many looks. But who knows? He's playing well, so we'll see.

Q. Last changeover you were in the chair shaking your head. What are you thinking at that time?
ANDY RODDICK: Matt touched on that. I was frustrated. Couldn't get the rallies to go my way. I was trying to stand up in the court and, you know, I just felt when I adjusted my positioning up in the court he was opening up the lines and making it a shorter line if that makes sense.
I didn't have the ability to run back. Conditions were colder, so slice wasn't really working. I wasn't able to get the ball to jump much, so a lot of the shots he hit were in his pocket and I was having a hard time getting it out of that zone.

Q. What in his game has improved since you played him in the Davis Cup match?
ANDY RODDICK: Well, I mean, it's completely different conditions: Indoors on a fast court and out here, cold and slow. That's probably the biggest difference between the two.
He's confident now. It's a confidence game. He opened up the year with a win and, you know, he's kind of gone with it and been playing -- the court seems real big to him right now.

Q. There will be a lot said or written about the state of American tennis. What's your take on the situation?
ANDY RODDICK: Well, you said it there, didn't you?

Q. I want to know. Do you think American tennis can, come the next major, be contenders there?
ANDY RODDICK: At the French Open?

Q. French Open, Wimbledon, US Open?
ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, I mean, obviously I'm not going to sit here and -- you already have your story written, so it doesn't matter what I say here. You know, I mean, I -- obviously wasn't the showing that we wanted, you know, but I'm doing what I can.

Q. Do you get tired of carrying the weight? You're usually the last guy standing every slam, and that's been five, maybe six years of that now.
ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, I mean, it's tough. I remember last summer when I was catching all the heat for not having an American guy in the top 10 for the first time in 15 years. Didn't really make sense to me that I was the one taking heat when I was the only guy that had been there for the last six years.
I didn't know how I was catching it for that one. If I hadn't been there, it would have been for the last whatever it was. So it's a responsibility that has great benefits, and it's hard sometimes as well. You know, the benefits for me have far outweighed the kind of downside of it.
So I wouldn't change it. But obviously I -- for many reasons, you know, I would love to have guys there with me all the time.

Q. What do you take out of this slam? Will you go back and give it some deep reflection or just a couple things you want to tweak and change?
ANDY RODDICK: Yeah. I don't think I would be fair answering that question before I talk with Larry and we discussed it. I'm sure he has his thoughts; I certainly have mine.
I'm glad I finished healthy. First tournament I've done that for a long time. But, you know, there's certainly some work to be done. I got to figure out in kind of slower conditions how I can impose myself on some of those guys.

Q. I guess to state the obvious, not having Serena around is kind of a big loss for U.S. tennis.
ANDY RODDICK: Not having the best player in the world at a major would be a, yeah, would be tough for any country. Obviously we want her healthy as much as possible. You know, she's instantly the best player in the game when she comes back.
Hopefully that will be soon.

Q. What do you think is Stan's biggest weapon or what Roger has to look for?
ANDY RODDICK: He knows what to look for. I'm sure they know each other well. When Stan's on, he's able to hit a big ball. It's almost better when the conditions are slower. His swings are big, but he has time to time them and switch directions.
You know, so it'll be interesting to see how Roger counters that. Roger is better playing forward than I normally am, also. So he'll be able to impose himself on Stan a little bit more probably.

Q. You going to relax and watch the NFL playoffs tomorrow?
ANDY RODDICK: I'm going to try and find a flight tomorrow morning.

End of FastScripts

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