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AEGON INTERNATIONALJune 23, 2012Andy RoddickEASTBOURNE, ENGLAND A. RODDICK/A. Seppi THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Are you a much happier man than you were at the start of the week? ANDY RODDICK: Well, I feel better about my tennis game. You know, like I touched on yesterday a lot of times you make plans on the fly. In a perfect world, the idea was that I didn't get matches at Queen's; let's come here and try and get some matches in. You know, the thing that makes sports great is there is no script. You can draw it up, and it rarely works out the way this week has. You know, I think, as I've gotten older, I guess I've learned to appreciate this a little bit more. Q. Pretty efficient performance today, wasn't it? ANDY RODDICK: Yeah. I mean, I don't remember the last time I got broken twice and won 3 and 2. I felt real good. My returns this week were close to as well as I have. You know, I was able to close well. You know, I started off not serving great and then made an adjustment. I think I served 90% in the second set, which is a pretty strong number, especially given the conditions. Just try to maintain this form going into Wimbledon. Q. On Wimbledon, you're playing Jamie Baker in round 1. Any thoughts on that? ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, I didn't know that until not too long ago. I made it a point not to check on this that while this tournament was still going on. You know, he's played it before. You know, he's been in that draw plenty of times. He had a pretty good win here this week I think over one of our guys. You know, you've gotta go out and serve well and return well, and hopefully it will take care of itself. Q. How far do you think you can go at Wimbledon, then? ANDY RODDICK: Right now my goal is make it past the first round. We'll see. We'll renegotiate round by round. Q. You go in in a much better mood than you were previously? ANDY RODDICK: Well, yeah. I feel better about my tennis game. You know, coming in here I felt like I was hitting the ball fine in practice. It's just such a fine line but it seems like a big line between playing well and hitting the ball well in drills in practice and getting that to translate to matches. I was able to kind of find that crossover this week. You know, now it's just a matter of, you know, taking care of myself the next couple of days and just trying to maintain what I started this week. Q. Will you come back to defend your crown next year? ANDY RODDICK: We'll see. You know, like I said, I think I answered this yesterday, as well. I think you might have asked it yesterday. Q. Wasn't me. ANDY RODDICK: Wasn't you? Okay. It was you? Okay. I'll let you live, then. (Laughter.) We'll see. It's tough for me to say anything at this point. Q. Can you just tell us a little bit about your feelings about Wimbledon? I mean, it has been discussed as to whether this might be your last year or not. Clearly that's probably not something you want to answer at the moment, but there will come a time in the not‑too‑distant future when you won't be able to play there anymore, whether it's this year, two or three years' time. ANDY RODDICK: Sure. Q. How do you feel about going back and all the experiences you've had there and going back again? ANDY RODDICK: I think it's the most special place in tennis. You know, I think it's the event that we have that we can put up against any other sporting event in the world. As far as the traditions and just the way everything works, you know, it's a really, really special place. You know, on an off day, I think it was five days before Queen's, I went and hit on the indoor courts, and just walking through the grounds when nobody is there, it still has that feeling. I think we're pretty spoiled when we walk through most tennis venues. I don't really take notice of too much anymore, I don't think. I guess I'm a little jaded as far as that goes.  But you walk through there, and I think if you have a pulse at all, it grabs your attention. Q. Are you going to find it hard to pull yourself away from it eventually? ANDY RODDICK: Well, there's no rule against me visiting, is there? You guys gonna keep me out of the country or what? Q. We'll let you come, yeah. ANDY RODDICK: Then I don't have to worry about that then. Q. Won't be quite the same, will it? ANDY RODDICK: It's never the same, but it is what it is. I have a lot of great memories, you know. I have played some great tennis there over the years, and, you know, somehow or another, it's one of those things that happens naturally, and I don't know how, why, or when exactly, but I have developed a good relationship with, you know, the crowds there, as well. So it's a special place that I really enjoy playing. Q. What will this give you confidence‑wise heading into Wimbledon this week? ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, it's great. I went from a six‑match losing streak to all of a sudden winning a tournament. It's 180‑degree turnaround. Playing the right way, too. I felt like I played most of the matches this week on my terms, you know, with the exception of yesterday which was on the wind's terms and nobody else's. I feel good. I felt like I returned really well this week. You know, it turns quickly. I always say that to people ‑ I'm not sure how much they believe me ‑ but you're never playing as badly as you think, and you're probably never playing as good as you think, too.  I'm just going to stay the course and try to maintain form. Q. What happened at Queen's, quite an amazing turnaround. In the space of a week you come to the final and win it here. ANDY RODDICK: I mean, I had match point at Queen's a couple times. I win that one, who knows? I could be in the same position there, you know. It's just a matter of getting over the hurdles. The margins in professional tennis are so small, you know, between ‑‑ a tournament like playing well here, I mean, yesterday I was down break point in the third set. I lose that one, and all of a sudden, who knows what happens? I'm probably not sitting here and you guys still have a lot of questions, you know. So it's a fine line. I'm thankful that it went my way this week. Q. Talk about the men's game with Nadal and Djokovic. Can anyone surpass them, do you think, this year? ANDY RODDICK: Well, yeah, you left out Roger. He's pretty good, too. (Laughter.) Q.Just a bit. ANDY RODDICK: I'm not in the business of making predictions. That's not my job. So I'm just trying to play and get through a round and then see where we are after that. Q. Do you still feel a Grand Slam is in you? ANDY RODDICK: We'll see. I know I can win matches. It's a matter of putting seven in a row together. I don't know that I'm going to get carried away with thinking of this tournament in the context of a win before the first Monday. I think that's a little presumptuous for me at this point. I feel I can put a scare into people right now the way I'm playing. Q. With your win, you have got over 600 tour victories. How does that feel? Pretty esteemed list. ANDY RODDICK: I actually miscounted. I thought the one in the morning was 600, and then, you know, bless my team. They didn't have the heart to tell me it wasn't. (Laughter.) So I kind of messed that one up. Q. Is that something you keep an eye on as you play? ANDY RODDICK: No, sure, I was conscious of that. When you do something, you know, 15, 16 people have done in the history of the game, it's two things: It makes you call into the fact that you are probably older than you want to be at this point, and secondly, it's a lot of wins. I mean, it's a lot of matches. You know, it's a humbling thing. The other one I wanted to keep alive was, you know, winning one tournament a year for I think it's 12 years now. I know three or four people have done that. This has been a good week for me as far as that stuff goes. You know, three weeks ago I couldn't have thought I was further away, you know. So it changes quickly. You know, sometimes I need to remind myself of those numbers just to‑‑ you know, this is a what‑did‑you‑do‑last‑week‑type sport?  So looking back on that, maybe I need to look at those a little bit more and realize that I've done this for a long time pretty well. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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