US OPEN

September 4, 2006

Benjamin Becker

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. What have the last 24 hours been like for you, going from that moment yesterday to today?
BENJAMIN BECKER: I don't know. I mean, it's been a great I don't know how long I've been now in New York, two weeks probably. You know, from qualifying, from achieving my goal to be top hundred, from playing Agassi and winning yesterday and, you know, getting another chance to play on center court against Roddick today, it's been, yeah, a pretty, pretty amazing trip for me.
So I don't know. I haven't really realized everything yet I guess. I'm just gonna try to get a lot out of it. Think about it maybe tonight, tomorrow, the next few days.

Q. Has this experience taught you anything about yourself or your game that you didn't know before?
BENJAMIN BECKER: Well, I mean, it's tough to say. I mean, yeah, definitely I gained confidence, you know. I definitely gained confidence to, you know after qualifying, winning, and being in the Round of 16 for the first time, definitely should give you confidence.
So I hope I can get a lot out of it, a lot of positive energy out of it. You know, I mean, learning from all the whole experience yesterday, I mean, nobody can take it away from me. Today even, you're playing on the center court, just feeling the atmosphere, feeling maybe the pressure, too, of being out there with people against you and everything together. I mean, it was a lot. It was a lot. So I just got to think about it, you know. Yeah, just gain from it as much as I can.

Q. Did yesterday take a lot out of you emotionally, physically?
BENJAMIN BECKER: Yeah, definitely. Both of it. I mean, I was really, really tired when I went back to the hotel. Yeah, I mean, I was physically tired. I was mentally really tired. Yeah, I mean, it was tough to refocus.
But, you know, I tried the best I could, and it was tough to regain a lot of energy. But, you know, I just tried telling myself that I'm playing against Andy Roddick tomorrow, I'm playing Round of 16, it's a chance that, you know, not a lot of people get. So really tried to focus. It was tough to gain regain intensity on the court, too.
But I think I did a good job, but it wasn't enough today.

Q. Were you able to even enjoy? You talked yesterday about the mixed emotions and everything, then right away to have to turn around and play today, it wasn't like you could spend today enjoying that victory yesterday. Have you had a chance to enjoy that at all?
BENJAMIN BECKER: It was tough yesterday for me to enjoy it because it was tough for me to accept that I, you know, deserved to be the last guy that Agassi played, you know. I was kind of it was tough for me to really enjoy it as much as people maybe told me I should.
You know, maybe I will, looking at the DVDs, looking maybe at everything else, I will later on. But, you know, even after the match, you know, I talked to some people and we tried to talk about the next match, the Roddick match, just not to lose focus because I was still in the tournament. So, yeah, I haven't really enjoyed it as much, but maybe I will later on.

Q. Roddick was serving so well. What's it like trying to return it?
BENJAMIN BECKER: It's tough out there. You know, if you can't really get any points or free points on his serve, you know, he didn't serve any double faults I think, and made a lot of first serves. I don't know what the percentage was. But I just tried to read it, tried to guess where he was serving because, you know, I didn't have any chance by just waiting and looking and, you know, trying to anticipate it.
Yeah, I mean, he was serving really, really well. Didn't have a chance to break him. So puts a lot of pressure on your serve. I didn't serve as well as I would have liked to. Yeah, then I made a few more mistakes, especially in the first and second set that, you know, come from the pressure you feel because he's serving so well. You know, if he serves like that, I mean, it's really tough to break him.

Q. How far do you think he can go?
BENJAMIN BECKER: Andy Roddick?

Q. Yeah, in this tournament.
BENJAMIN BECKER: After, I bet he's really confident after winning Cincinnati last week. You know, being in the Quarters now. I bet he's really confident. When somebody's serving like him and, you know, if you play well from the baseline, too, then, you know, you have a really good chance to win the whole thing.
Obviously, Federer is the big, big favorite, and he's a guy who can really hurt him, but, you know, obviously he has a good chance to win, for sure.

Q. So you're leaving New York, despite the loss today, with a very positive experience. Of course you're disappointed you lost today. But all over, you came here and got more than you expected?
BENJAMIN BECKER: Sure. I achieved my goal. I had a dream come true. I mean, why would I leave in a negative way just because I lost to Andy Roddick, which I'm not ashamed about that, especially with the way he played.
Yeah, I'm definitely gonna leave. Obviously, I'm disappointed now. It's gonna take a few hours. Otherwise, right now, that's what you need to improve, you try to take something out of the losses. If I would be happy now, then, you know, I wouldn't be a professional tennis player.
It just takes a while. You go to dinner, come back, maybe you think about it again tomorrow. I don't know when I'm leaving yet, but then you think about the whole situation, the whole two weeks, and obviously I'm gonna leave on a very positive note.

Q. Did you get any special advice from Tarik? Probably knows his game as well as anybody.
BENJAMIN BECKER: Yeah, I did. But, you know, it was tough because we didn't have as many rallies, you know, from the baseline. I didn't really I made a lot of unforced errors again because, you know, I think I wasn't moving as well as I would have liked to. So I made a lot more unforced errors than I did in the first two rounds.
So, yeah, just it was tough for me to gain confidence, you know. It was tough for me to really feel comfortable out there, and trying to, you know, fight may way back into the match.
But, yeah, obviously, he helped me a lot. It was just tough to, you know, convert it on the court.

Q. You were so successful yesterday with the challenges. Had you used the system before?
BENJAMIN BECKER: That's the first time.

Q. That's your first time. Are you known for having a good eye?
BENJAMIN BECKER: I guess now, yeah. I'm 3 0 I think, yeah (smiling).
Yeah, but actually, I actually have good eyes, I think, you know. When something is far away, I can see it, you know, better than some of the other guys. I figured that out. Yesterday was luck. Nobody can see it when the ball is like 2 millimeters on the line. It was just luck. The ball when it left my racquet felt good. I thought the ball would be in. They were important points mostly, so I just went for it. I just got so lucky, because it was so close, you can't see that.

Q. Do you think it's a good system?
BENJAMIN BECKER: Definitely, yeah, it helped me (laughing). I can't say anything negative about it right now.
But I think it's a good system, yeah. It makes sense.

Q. Very few players get to play consecutive matches on center court here. I'm wondering, do you have any doubt now that you belong there?
BENJAMIN BECKER: Yeah, of course. I mean, when you come here to visit or watch TV and you see the center court, you know, yeah, it's a weird feeling going out there actually being one of the players.
But I really think it's gonna just, yeah, motivate me because I really want to go back there because it was so much fun. You know, I'm gonna try everything I can to be out there again next year.

Q. How long do you think it will take to get rid of the label, the man who sent Andre Agassi into retirement?
BENJAMIN BECKER: I don't know. I think it's tougher to get away from Boris Becker. I don't know. I haven't thought about that yet. I'm just gonna wait what happens, and we'll see.
Hopefully, people, yeah, know me because I'm playing good tennis and, you know, I'm moving up the rankings and not just by being the last guy who beat Agassi.

Q. Do you think other players now will view you I mean, you seem like you'll feel differently about yourself. Do you think opponents also, once you've played on center court, US Open, these big publicized matches, other players will view you definitely?
BENJAMIN BECKER: Yeah, definitely. I think you lose advantage of being the unknown. Because especially after yesterday, people now know me. They also know me in the locker room, they say hi or good job yesterday or something. So, you know, it definitely loses me the advantage of people not knowing my game.
But, yeah, it's different, but we'll see how it goes.

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