	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

SHANGHAI ROLEX MASTERS

October 10, 2011

Andy Roddick

SHANGHAI, CHINA

A. RODDICK/Y. Lu
6-2, 3-6, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You've had a few not-so-great experiences here. I presume today it was a bit nervy, but you got the job done.
ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, I mean, he plays so high risk. You know, a lot of it's two sets with two breaks, one set where I had more break opportunities and didn't get it.
You know, overall I thought it was pretty good, save four games maybe.

Q. You met Lu in 2010 and lost. What have you done differently this time?
ANDY RODDICK: I played better.

Q. Mentally?
ANDY RODDICK: No, I played better. I mean, we've played seven times. Unfortunately, everyone only remembers one. I've won six of them.

Q. I wanted to get your views on the no-shows for Djokovic and Federer this week, whether it backs up fears of the season being too long.
ANDY RODDICK: For sure. You know, I mean, it's been said a million times. My views are pretty clear on it. You know, people have to understand, people act like we pull out and we get something out of it. We don't get anything. They're out of the bonus pool now. They don't get their money this week. I'm sure there's something in their contract somewhere. It benefits them to be there.
Obviously, if they were feeling well and they weren't worn down, then they would. We're not getting away with anything by pulling out of tournaments. I feel like that's the way it's presented sometimes. That's just not the case.

Q. There was a lot of talk at the US Open about the players meeting here to discuss those sort of issues. Is that still going to happen?
ANDY RODDICK: We'll see. I'm the only one of the guys that got asked this question that had to work Monday. You know, I don't think the other guys have arrived yet.

Q. But do you think, though, that the absence of guys like Novak and Roger might mean that you can't really come to any major decisions?
ANDY RODDICK: Oh, sure. Obviously, you need the top players involved. You know, those guys, with Rafa and Andy, are the top players.
That being said, I mean, you discuss things. Those two are a phone call away. I'm sure we're going to be able to get them on the phone. So we'll see. At this point I don't really have anything concrete for you.

Q. Do you feel like the situation has maybe lost a little momentum after the US Open? It's been a few weeks now. Or are the players still as fired up as they were at that time?
ANDY RODDICK: Well, I don't think we're storming offices, but I think the sentiment is still there. I think it is a broken system purely from a numbers game on votes on our, you know, player board and council and all that. As long as we're one vote short, nothing's really going to happen. I think the inherent issues that we're facing are still there.
You know, I hope guys are as passionate as they were. But, like I said, I'm one of the only ones who played today. From what I've been reading, there's still some issues. You know, so we'll see.
I mean, I think it would be dumb of us to rush anything. If something like this does happen, we need to be smart about it and take our time and make sure that it's well thought out and not be kind of reactionary.
But, you know, there is discussion going on. You guys are asking me questions, so I think that's a start.

Q. Beyond the scheduling, what are some of the other things you want to fix or see changed?
ANDY RODDICK: Well, that's a major issue. I said last week in Beijing, that was an issue when I started in '01 or '02, I remember in Bercy. But I also remember in Bercy it being the last event of the year and I would celebrate Halloween there. Now it's mid November. It's November 14th that Bercy finishes. So with all the talk, it's actually gotten longer, and that's if you don't make Masters. So the guys that play the most are playing into early December, some of them, for Davis Cup. Obviously that's not the direction that you want to see. So that's a major issue.
You know, if we're getting selfish about it, I think players get 13% of total revenue, something like that, from the US Open, and the NBA is at a crossroads because they're going to have to go from 57% to 50%. That's an alarming number.
That's not the be all, end all. I think we all feel very fortunate for what we get, but we are putting people in seats.

Q. Presumably there are plenty of players around who like the fact that there are loads of tournaments available to play. Do you sense there's going to be an argument within the locker room?
ANDY RODDICK: Sure. If you fix the second issue that I said, it takes care of the first one, presumably, correct?

Q. That's presumably a harder battle to win, though, isn't it?
ANDY RODDICK: But it's the same method for any battle. How are you going to get your voice heard, regardless of the issue? So we could sit here and discuss issues. You might agree with me, you might disagree with me. But how to go about said issue, you know, is the thing that needs to be talked about.
I mean, it benefits the lower-ranked guys more so than the higher-ranked guys. We're spoiled. We're lucky. We get it. There's nobody complaining about anything. But if you look at, I said it the other day, the guy on the PGA TOUR just won $11.5 million in one tournament. I think 15 on the all-time ATP career prize money list was $14 million, all time.
That trickles down, though. You need the guys 70 and 80 to do well. There were 87 Major League Baseball All-Stars this year. There's 80 guys per NFL team that make a minimum clear a year of $400,000.
The guys 80, 90 in the world aren't making that right now, and they're paying their own expenses, which you don't do on a professional sports team. That is who it would benefit even more so than us, but it starts with us.

Q. In any successful union or negotiation, you have to have solid support.
ANDY RODDICK: Well, it's tough because you got to get individuals.

Q. You all have different perspectives on life and a different status in the game.
ANDY RODDICK: The point that's most important that we just shared, whatever your issue is, you have to have a voice in order to get it accomplished. Whatever our individual interests are and what we want changed, nothing is going to happen unless we're on the same page, and then you discuss in order of maybe voted importance what you go after.

Q. Can you give a little bit of a how you view this year.
ANDY RODDICK: It's been tough. It's been I think the toughest year I've had. I feel like I've been starting and stopping a lot. You know, I'm going to probably have to adjust how I go about things a little bit more. Running myself into a wall with work and everything else, I don't know that I can do that without getting hurt. It's happened numerous times this year. I might have to work smarter from now on.
When I have gotten my feet under me a little bit, I played better in Winston, better at the US Open, until it kind of gave out again. That was encouraging. I think the frustrating thing is a lot of times, when I've done the work, I haven't felt terrible about my tennis, but I've been unprepared a lot of the time this year.

Q. Do you think it makes it a little harder or actually easier to look forward to 2012, just start fresh again?
ANDY RODDICK: I do need an off-season to build up because it's tough to recover and be where you need to be as far as fitness and everything else. You got to make the choice when you're healthy, are you going to try to play or are you going to train? Most of the time you err on the side of playing.
I'm looking forward to, you know, a six-, seven-week period of time where I can work diligently, smartly, get treatment every day, and hopefully come back and kind of build myself into a position where I won't run into these problems for next year.

Q. You skipped the Beijing Olympics. Are you hoping to play in London this year?
ANDY RODDICK: Yes.

Q. Is that important?
ANDY RODDICK: Yes.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297