home jobs contact us
Our Clients:
Browse by Sport
Find us on ASAP sports on Facebook ASAP sports on Twitter
ASAP Sports RSS Subscribe to RSS
Click to go to
Asaptext.com
ASAPtext.com
ASAP Sports e-Brochure View our
e-Brochure

DAVIS CUP FINALS, USA vs. SPAIN


December 3, 2004


Patrick McEnroe

Andy Roddick


SEVILLE, SPAIN, R. NADAL/A. Roddick

RANDY WALKER: Could we have questions for Patrick McEnroe and Andy Roddick, please.

Q. Had you ever experienced before such a situation - the crowd, the noise, all the things that were happening?

ANDY RODDICK: No.

Q. No?

ANDY RODDICK: No.

Q. And nothing similar somewhere in the world?

ANDY RODDICK: No.

Q. Andy, what is your general feeling physically and emotionally?

ANDY RODDICK: Obviously, emotionally I'm pretty down. You know, I wanted to get one for the team. Physically, I feel okay. You know, it was cold out there, which made it tough because your muscles would tighten up pretty easily. But, you know, I think my biggest problem was Nadal. He played very well today.

Q. I've never seen you attacking that much in your career. Was this because emotions or tactics?

ANDY RODDICK: Because of what?

Q. Emotions or tactics.

ANDY RODDICK: I thought you said Martians. No, it was tactics. You know, I had to do something to try to win points. You know, I felt like, you know, I stuck to the game plan and I volleyed pretty well today. You know, I just ran into someone who played too well.

Q. How surprised were you that an 18-year-old kid goes out there and can keep up that level for three and a half hours?

ANDY RODDICK: He played well. You know, it's very impressive. You know, every once in a while people come along and they're big-match players. He apparently looks like he's on -- or he is a big-match player. He's come through. This is the third time this year he's stepped up in singles and played well. I think you either have it or you don't, regardless of age. You know, maybe it helps him in a way.

Q. Does this encourage you and probably Mardy to spend more time on European clay, pick it up?

ANDY RODDICK: I don't know. I haven't really thought about my schedule too much right now.

Q. I mean, as an overall thing, you haven't spent much time on European clay.

ANDY RODDICK: Just last year. The years before that, I played a pretty full schedule.

Q. What was it like out there? What will you tell your grandchildren about days like this, which are so unusual in tennis, particularly to Americans?

ANDY RODDICK: My grandchildren?

Q. Or any children, or your friends.

ANDY RODDICK: Bud, we're looking way ahead, aren't we? I don't even have a girlfriend and already I have grandchildren.

Q. What will you tell the folks at home about this experience?

ANDY RODDICK: That it was crazy. You know, it was unlike anything I've experienced before.

Q. After fighting so hard just to get into that third set breaker, did it kind of turn there at the end? You had the one set point, the forehand coming up to the dropshot, not able to hit it over the tape. Did that pretty much turn the match there?

ANDY RODDICK: No. I mean, I still had chances after that in the breaker. But obviously that was going to swing the momentum either way - and fast. You know, you were playing those two points for the next two sets. So, you know, obviously they were pretty crucial. I just missed that one, so that was big.

Q. The clay is important, but how would you have handled him on a fast court?

ANDY RODDICK: That's an irrelevant question. I've played him on a fast court before. You probably saw it.

Q. You had well over 20,000 fans yelling and screaming again and again. Mardy said it was a little bit like an American football crowd. Point to point, when the noise was so loud, what goes through your mind? What were you thinking specifically?

ANDY RODDICK: I'm going to skip that one. I'm not going to go there.

Q. (Translated from Spanish) When you mentioned earlier that it was quite crazy, that you had never experienced anything like that before, what do you mean by that? Do you have any complaints against the public, the audience?

ANDY RODDICK: No. You know, they supported. They did everything in their power to support their player.

Q. You're a player that leaves everything out there on the court. When you walked off the court today, what percent of your reserve, if any, did you have left?

ANDY RODDICK: As far as effort?

Q. As far as emotionally, physically.

ANDY RODDICK: I mean, like you said, I leave everything out there, and I take a lot of pride in that. You know, I just ran into a guy today that, like I said, was too good. I couldn't have tried any harder. You know, I couldn't have -- I gave it everything I had. It just wasn't enough on the day.

Q. On that shot you said swung the momentum, does it just happen so fast that you can't account for it, missing a shot like that?

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah. I mean, when you're out there, obviously you try to just go on to the next point. You know, it's after the fact that you can think about it a little bit. But, yeah, I mean, you have to be ready to play 6-All in a breaker, you know, 25, 50 seconds later. So, you know, you try to get over it as fast as you can and move on.

Q. You brought a left-handed sparring partner to practice with before the matches. Do you think Nadal, being left-handed, was in any way a factor? Sorry to insist, but you said that it was crazy, that you don't want to talk about what's going through your head, that the Spanish fans were supporting their player. Do you think it affected the outcome of the match, the crowd support?

ANDY RODDICK: Well, obviously when you play at home, it's an advantage. You know, that's a no-brainer. You know, they tried as hard as they could to support their player. It's nothing more than that. I forgot the first question.

Q. Just if you thought you had special practice against left-handed player beforehand.

ANDY RODDICK: Obviously, it makes a huge difference when someone's left-handed versus right-handed.

Q. Did you feel prepared bringing a left-handed player to practice with?

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah. We brought a left-handed practice partner over on purpose, you know, knowing that this could be an option. So we did everything in our power. Captain picked the practice partners with that in mind. I don't know if we could have done anything more to help me.

Q. Do you think that for tennis it would be better to have 14,000 spectators who behave like in Wimbledon or 27,000 who behave like here? What is the best?

ANDY RODDICK: It doesn't matter because I'm not the one making the decisions. I think they're each unique. They're both special in their own way. You know, I think -- I don't think you can try to make everything the same. I think that's what makes tennis unique, is that you're playing on different surfaces in front of different crowds every week. You know, it's different. I like that about tennis.

Q. Is it a good price to pay for it, to have 26,000?

ANDY RODDICK: I don't understand. "Good price to pay"?

Q. To get more money, you have 26,000 spectators, they make more noise.

ANDY RODDICK: Oh, I don't know. I'm not involved, you know, with the money and where it goes. I'm just a tennis player. I don't make those decisions.

Q. Patrick, what have you told or will you tell the guys?

PATRICK McENROE: All the guys or the guys that are playing tomorrow?

Q. The guys that are playing tomorrow, and the team as a whole?

PATRICK McENROE: I don't really need to tell them anything. We know our backs are against the wall. But we're going to come out and we're going to fight for every point like we did today. I mean, we're going to come out and hopefully play a great doubles match. And Sunday will be a new day. I mean, there's not a whole -- there's no big mystery of what we need to do. You know, we're going to come out swinging tomorrow like we did today.

Q. You're still optimistic?

PATRICK McENROE: I certainly am, yeah. You got to win three last time I checked.

Q. This question comes with an assumption, but forgive that. Is it better to have a day off before you come to face Moya or would you rather just get out there tomorrow?

ANDY RODDICK: No, it's good to have a day off, I think. You know, it's tough playing in conditions like this, playing three out of five back to back to back. I think you have to have a day in between to rest, mentally rest, physically rest. Yeah, I don't think it would be smart to play the singles back to back.

Q. Is the weather working out to be a challenge, too? We were told it would be warm here. How was it out there?

ANDY RODDICK: It was warm?

Q. We were told it would be warm here. It obviously wasn't.

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, you can't do much about that (smiling). If I could control the weather, I'd have a lot more fun. You know, he had to play in the same thing I did last I checked. You know, his side of the court wasn't warm. So you just got to roll with it.

Q. Patrick, this is where a captain really earns his spurs as a motivator. Will you employ any motivational ploys, techniques with your guys that you have not tried before? Do you take any strength from what the (inaudible) with Red Sox versus the Yankees?

PATRICK McENROE: There's a lot in that question, a lot more than a question. You know, our guys know what they have to do. We've been together for a while. The Bryan boys have been in every situation, they've been two up, they've been 1-1 a couple of times. Now we're 0-2. You know, we came here knowing the difficulty and knowing the challenge. We're still going to relish the opportunity. We've still got an opportunity to make history, you know, to come out and play our best. I mean, I'm extremely proud of the way Andy played today, the way he competed, which he always does. But more importantly, you know, the tactics that he used and the improvement that he showed in playing that style. So to me that bodes very, very well for him, and therefore for us - you know, not just for us this weekend, but for the future. I'm extremely proud of what he was able to do today. It was a hell of a match.

Q. (Translated from Spanish) Do you think that you played today against the possible future No. 1 in the world of tennis?

ANDY RODDICK: There's a guy right now that's a pretty good No. 1 player in the world in tennis. I think he could become possibly one of the best clay-courters in the world. You know, he showed a lot out there today. I tried everything and he played very well. So it's no secret that he has a very, very bright future.

End of FastScripts….

About ASAP SportsFastScripts ArchiveRecent InterviewsCaptioningUpcoming EventsContact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297