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U.S. OPEN

September 9, 2011

Andy Roddick

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK

R. NADAL/A. Roddick
6-2, 6-1, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. How would you sum that up?
ANDY RODDICK: It was quick. You know, obviously it was a combination of things that probably weren't gonna work out today.
You know, it was evident pretty early that he was in full control of things.

Q. How bad was the leg? Looked like it tightened up on you.
ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, you know, it's tough playing a lot of matches regularly, but I had zero reserves. I didn't have any time to train this summer, so playing a tough match like yesterday I felt - I played a four-setter yesterday; I felt like I played six sets.
Came out today and I just couldn't -- you know, I was trying to push up on serves, and I felt like I was falling over as opposed to pushing up. Just didn't have much.

Q. You could feel it even in warmups this morning?
ANDY RODDICK: Yeah. Just felt just like nothingness, you know. No quick switch at all, you know, which is unfortunate.

Q. How much did all of that influence your strategy? Because you did attack a lot today.
ANDY RODDICK: The strategy was gonna be the same, but if you don't have a first serve against him it makes it very difficult, especially for me.
I'm not sure what I ended up with, but it had to be horrific serving numbers. I think the strategy is the same, but it makes it just impossible to execute.

Q. Did you contemplate pulling out at any point?
ANDY RODDICK: But...

Q. I'm just curious about your philosophy of feeling like you should play to conclusion.
ANDY RODDICK: Well, you play. I mean, I'm not -- I was never at risk of putting myself out for lots of weeks, and I feel like there is a distinct difference there. I have seen a lot of guys this week just kind of bag, and that wasn't -- not once while I was out there was I worried that I might do damage for three and four weeks down the line, so therefore you play till the end, in my mind.

Q. How would you compare his level of play today compared to other matches you've played against him?
ANDY RODDICK: Well, that's the most aggressive I've seen him play this summer. You know, he came out swinging. For some of the other matches here - I didn't see the last two sets yesterday; I'm guessing he figured it out then - but he was playing, I think, a little bit shorter and a little bit more defensively earlier in this tournament.
I think he has a tendency to play himself into tournaments, and then by the end he's taking cuts. I feel like today he was doing that.

Q. Given your limited preparation, what do you take from this?
ANDY RODDICK: We were talking about it. I mean, from six weeks ago to a quarterfinal and a top 5 win, I don't know if I thought I would do that when I first got this thing.
You know, when I saw the images and everything I thought it was optimistic at best. You know, thankfully last week I was able to play matches to at least where I was feeling the ball.
I think it was always going to be tough for me to play that many three-out-of-five-set matches on no training, you know, pretty much just sitting around. Yeah, I thought that was always gonna be a challenge.
But I felt like I did what I could from the injury. I feel like I gave myself every opportunity, and, you know, it was enough for a good result. I don't think it was ever gonna be enough to make a push, especially with matches stacked.

Q. What you felt today was cumulative? You didn't feel it in the Ferrer match?
ANDY RODDICK: Well, I mean, I felt it a lot during the Ferrer match. I felt horrible at the end of that match. I don't know what would have happened it we would have gone five, in all honesty.
But, yeah, I think it's just cumulative from whatever, just lack of preparation.

Q. On another topic, Roger talked at some length about Super-Saturday; you have been involved in a few of those. Has that outlived its time, do you think?
ANDY RODDICK: Um, well, I mean, if you paid me as a lawyer I could definitely argue both sides of it. You know, the business side, you know, the way any business works, if you provide the money, you get to make the decisions most times.
That's just the way it works. You know, from a pure quality of tennis player standpoint, it's obviously not the way to go. So, you know, you just pretty much have to make up your mind which side of the fence you stand on.
You know, it's a pretty clear-cut issue and it's pretty obvious why it's there. It's a big ask. I mean, I have had to do it a couple of times, and it's certainly tough.

Q. Obviously a disappointing finish for you and for John today. But on the whole, would you say this was a step forward for the American side?
ANDY RODDICK: Yeah. I mean, there were a lot of good things, men and women's side. I think, you know, that's without Sam there also. Could have been another one. So hopefully he'll get back.
The fact that you're asking me that question I think is a step in the right direction. Normally it's already written, so that's a -- I think there was a positive sign, especially from some of our younger players.

Q. On the flip side of that, the second Grand Slam this year where the top four seeds go through and it's the top four players in the world. How difficult will it be for anyone to crack that top four going forward, and how impressive is that top four?
ANDY RODDICK: Well, Soderling cracked it last year. I think they're pretty firmly the best players in the world right now. You know, they certainly deserve the numbers next to their names. You know, they're playing great.

Q. Your serve and forehand are obviously your weapons. You talked about the trouble with your serve; you had zero forehand winners. What is it like to be out there? Can you describe the feeling when you know that Rafael Nadal is hitting on all cylinders and you're trying to summon something and it's just not there?
ANDY RODDICK: It's a bad feeling. You know, it's almost worse than competing. You feel helpless, you feel -- I think you'd rather be booed than have silence.
You know, it's an empty feeling. It's not fun.

Q. Were you able to have fun at all today?
ANDY RODDICK: I didn't have a lot of fun today, no. But it's early (Laughter.)

Q. Did you voice your opinion on moving the final to Monday with the organizers, or did you have anything to do with that?
ANDY RODDICK: I didn't, no.

Q. Do you have any sense of whether the players had any kind of...
ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, I think so. I think it's the fairest thing.
You know, the precedent has certainly been set the last three years for that option. Yeah, I think it was on the heels of a tough week. I think they made a good decision there.

Q. You talked about negativity in the media a few times this week. How different do you think the media is now compared to when you grew up reading about Agassi and Pete and everybody?
ANDY RODDICK: Um, well, I just think the general -- it's not -- you know, even if you look at -- there's just so many more outlets. There are so many more outlets now.
At the beginning of Pete and Andre, I couldn't go online and every person with access to a computer was all of a sudden a journalist. You know, those are the facts of it. It didn't exist like that.
Might beef was just it's tough for me to sit back and watch a match and see a guy 20 in the world in tennis be referred to as a journeyman; but then you look -- let's take for instance a Major League Baseball All-Star. There were 87 of them this year.
But if you say you're an all-star there is a certain amount of clout that comes along with it, correct?
I'm not sure if it's a 12- or 15-person roster in the NBA, but if you're 24 in the world you're an all-star in the NBA. You know, and I don't like people mispronouncing names of guys 22 in the world. I think just at a certain point we need to build it up and maybe show people how good these athletes really are.
There's probably less guys making a really, really good living in tennis than there are major league all-stars. You know, I think it's a hard thing to do, and I don't think it's always presented that way. It's not me being bitter.
I'd rather, you know, point out how good some of these players are more than three guys or four guys.

Q. You have had some major accomplishments and some great runs. What's this place and this tournament still mean to you?
ANDY RODDICK: Well, it's great. I think this was -- I played a lot of matches here. I didn't know the number, but I think they said yesterday this was the eighth quarterfinal I made. That's a lot of memories.
You know, I remember back when I was 15, 16 we won a doubles match in the main draw, and I thought that I was the biggest star on the planet.
It was just a lot of good memories from here. So it's a place I'll certainly always appreciate.

Q. The crowd's silence, how did you interpret that? Do you think they felt sorry for you? Sad for you?
ANDY RODDICK: I don't know. That's one of the most disconcerting things. You don't ever want them to think you're giving less than you can. Obviously they can't -- I feel like the people watching on TV have more of a grasp of what you're going through than maybe some of the people in the crowd.
So that's the only thing. It's almost like you have a guilt complex and you want them to know you're trying their best. You don't always feel like that's getting through, and I don't like that feeling.

Q. How do you approach the rest of the year? Are you gonna play a lot or just kinda say, You know, look to 2012 or...
ANDY RODDICK: No, my schedule I think is two weeks in Asia, two weeks in Europe at this point.

Q. (Question about being in the top 10.)
ANDY RODDICK: I haven't thought about that. To be honest, there's room if I put up a good result or two. To be honest, the way it's structured if I do really well in stacked tournaments, but if you do well in a 250 you're only allowed to count two of them out. I have to win to get 50 points.
So I don't think it would change my schedule regardless if I'm still going for a 10th year in the top 10. I think it's the same schedule.

Q. What's the precise nature of the injury over the summer, the precise description of it?
ANDY RODDICK: Torn oblique muscle.

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