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ROGERS CUP


August 14, 2009


Andy Roddick


MONTREAL, QUEBEC

A. RODDICK/N. Djokovic
6-4, 7-6


THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Would you like to proclaim yourself the real No. 4?
ANDY RODDICK: No. Rankings don't lie.

Q. How confident are you now?
ANDY RODDICK: I feel pretty good. You know, the thing about the last two weeks is I've been playing real well, because I haven't been serving as well as I normally do, and so I think that's a good sign. If I had to kind of pick and choose, I'm pretty confident my serve will come around. So I'm pretty happy with the rest of it.

Q. In a matchup like that, does the better movement come into play because he's so good at moving the ball around?
ANDY RODDICK: I think it comes to play -- you know, there's not a bad time for better movement, but especially against someone like Novak who can expose it because he switches direction so well.
You know, he's comfortable moving his backhand cross court or down the line kind of with ease, so it probably is maybe more helpful against someone who is capable of moving the ball around like that.

Q. How did you feel you were hitting the ball today?
ANDY RODDICK: I felt real good. You know, I didn't play myself out of too many points. I felt like I was making pretty good decisions.
Returned real well, which is nice because I was putting pressure on the games that he was serving, and you know, just nothing spectacular but enough, you know, enough pressure point in and point out.

Q. It gives you a little break to play during the night for the heat and all this?
ANDY RODDICK: You know, I don't -- I don't mind the heat too much. I know a couple of people asked me about it yesterday, and I didn't really feel too much.
You know, Texas, before I came here, is about 107 or 108 every day so, you know, I don't really mind too much, but obviously it is, you know, it is a little easier at night.

Q. Your ability to win tiebreakers has been coming through for you this week. Do you feel it's been especially important for you?
ANDY RODDICK: It's been important for me my entire career. You know, I'm starting to break serve a lot more now, but you know, I certainly grew accustomed to playing a lot of tiebreakers early on in my career, and you know, I don't mind playing them. I'm comfortable playing them.
You know, obviously it helps when -- normally I can rely on getting a couple points on my serve in them.

Q. You mentioned just now that you feel like you're breaking serve more. What do you think the key to that has been, the return that you have improved?
ANDY RODDICK: The return is one thing. I've been saying all year I think it's the second ball, being able to react off their first aggressive shot and being in a better position to kind of neutralize off of that one.

Q. You won here six years ago. Is there any thoughts in your head about repeating for the title here?
ANDY RODDICK: Well, in order to repeat it, it would have to be the next year. You know, I don't know how relevant -- I don't know how relevant it could be six years later. I feel like a lot has changed.
It's nice having a comfort level, but you know, to be honest, I don't know if I've thought one time about 2003 except when I walk by and see, you know, an overgrown poster. (laughter.)

Q. Would you like a rematch tomorrow with Del Potro or would you rather play Rafa?
ANDY RODDICK: You know, that's six of one and half a dozen of another right now. Rafa is Rafa, and Del Potro has been playing really good tennis, you know. I can certainly attest to that firsthand from last week.
So they each present different but daunting challenges.

Q. Did you know what to expect of yourself coming off of Wimbledon? How has it been compared to what you expected?
ANDY RODDICK: You know, I think -- I answered a lot of questions at Wimbledon. You know, I think people were looking for a story maybe more so than there was as far as me coming back.
You know, I've certainly been nothing if not resilient in my career, and you know, I don't think there's a day where I, even after Wimbledon, where I resent playing tennis. I really enjoy what I do.
So getting back out on court is never really an issue with me. You know, as far as form goes, you know, I ended that tournament pretty confident, and you know, it all kind of -- those first couple of rounds when you come back are key.
I said that in Washington. You know, it's gonna to be tough to kind of gauge, but now I'm to the point where I'm comfortable playing matches again. The goal is to be prepared for the US Open, and right now I feel like, you know, I certainly will be.

Q. I noticed in the past six months it seems like your net game has improved exponentially. Do you feel like that's an area that helped you get better results this year?
ANDY RODDICK: Hmm, no, not -- I mean, I've been playing better, but there have been times in my career when I played well at net.
I think a lot more of it is court positioning and what balls I'm coming in on and not having to go to net. I'm going to net out of choice as opposed to desperation, which I think is different.
You know, I think I'm putting myself in better positions at the net, which probably makes me look like a better volleyer.

Q. If you're playing Rafa, are you curious what his form will be? And a few words on Rafa.
ANDY RODDICK: If he beats Del Potro tonight I'm not worried about what his form is. (laughter.)

End of FastScripts




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