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THE ARTOIS CHAMPIONSHIPS

June 14, 2008

Andy Roddick

LONDON, ENGLAND

R. NADAL/A. Roddick
7-5, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Andy.

Q. Impressive?
ANDY RODDICK: He played well today, there's no question. I was pretty happy with the way that I hit the ball. You know, it wasn't too bad. He's just so match sharp right now. He's almost in cruise control, I think, from just playing so many matches.
You know, credit to him. He just beat me today.

Q. Do you feel you lost your crown today?
ANDY RODDICK: That's not like my opinion; that's just factual information.

Q. You've dominated Queen's Club for so long. Do you think that's it?
ANDY RODDICK: Yes, I lost today.

Q. Do you feel you lost your crown, because you were King?
ANDY RODDICK: They never actually gave me a crown. They let me hold up the trophy for about 30 seconds every year. That's about the extent of it.

Q. From what you've seen from him here, would you say his game on grass has improved the last 12 months?
ANDY RODDICK: Tough for me to say because I've never been on the other end of it. It's certainly the best he's played this week, after the French. You know, it's gonna be -- I'm sure he's gonna want some time at home before Wimbledon. We'll see.
But, I mean, it's not exactly a surprise that he's an extremely capable grass court player. He's proved that.

Q. What is the most emphatic quality that comes across the net? Is it his pace across the court? Is it the weight of shot?
ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, I mean, he hits the ball pretty heavy. I think he's learned on grass how to hit it through the court a little bit. I think the thing that helps him out the most as far as surface is the grass really helps out his serve, I think. He gets kind of the lefty hook in there. It really stays low. If you leave a return hanging, he's very good at taking that first ball and hitting it.
So I actually think his serve is a lot better on grass than it would be on a hard court or even a clay court for that matter.

Q. Is he hard to read down the court because of the fact he is unorthodox with his selection of shots at moments where you would expect something to come this way, he can take you out the other side?
ANDY RODDICK: I don't know about that. I mean, I think you're aware that he can -- he's able to hit the forehand this way and that way. I don't know if you're surprised if he does one or the other. I don't know if that would be the best way to describe it.

Q. You probably haven't had the week you would have liked with just one set against Mardy and a walkover against Andy. You wanted more of a physical workout.
ANDY RODDICK: To be honest, I got about what I wanted out of it. I was coming in short on practice. I hadn't really played much at all. I hadn't even served hardly, you know. I hadn't served full out till the day before I played.
So all things considered, I mean, you know, a week before the tournament, I was frustrated. I was kind of venting to Doug if I would play or not. I actually wasn't too disappointed that Andy pulled yesterday. You know, playing back-to-back matches for the first time in a while with the injuries I had, I don't know if it was a bad thing.
I think I hit the ball better than I expected to. It's tough coming in cold turkey and trying to play on a grass court, which is slimy and slippery. It kind of takes some sharpness. It was about as much as I could have expected.

Q. Might Rafa have caught you today when you're still kind of lukewarm without being warmed up yet?
ANDY RODDICK: I mean, there's no question who was sharper going in. You're putting a Grand Slam title -- and he's not the type of guy to be mentally worn. So the amount of matches I think only can help him. So I think I was fighting an uphill battle today.
But I wanted to come here, get some matches in, leave healthy. I feel that that's what I've done. And now I have a week of preparation for Wimbledon.

Q. With another week to get yourself ready, with Djokovic, Roger, Nadal, one or two others, how good a Wimbledon can we anticipate with the mix this year?
ANDY RODDICK: I mean, it should be exciting. It should be very exciting. I think Roger's certainly the favorite until someone knocks him off. But there's probably maybe some more conversation this year than there has been in years past.
I think it will be a fun fortnight.

Q. Do you feel, given that, you might find yourself a little bit under the radar, maybe a bit underrated going in?
ANDY RODDICK: I don't know. I don't really pay attention to the radar too much. You know, I don't crave the attention or need the attention or anything like that. You know, I just want to go in and try to put one foot in front of the other and get through some matches there.

Q. If there is one thing you could take out of that match, from your point of view?
ANDY RODDICK: That I could take out of it?

Q. If there's one thing you can take out of that match today, what would you take out of it, from your point of view?
ANDY RODDICK: From what angle? From playing?

Q. From any angle.
ANDY RODDICK: From any angle? It was a beautiful day. It was lovely. My office was very nice today.

Q. How relevant to the grass was it, what happened to you in Rome? You were playing really well on clay. Does it have any bearing? You were moving really well on the clay, looked good.
ANDY RODDICK: What's the question?

Q. Does that have any relevance to how your grass court season is going to go? Wrecked your buildup.
ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, no, I mean, wrecked my buildup? I mean, I wish I could have obviously been hitting a little bit more. I think I got relatively healthy in time. It's just something that's there, something you deal with. It's definitely not a perfect scenario going into this tournament. But, you know, you do the best you can. That's the option right now.

Q. What sort of hours on the practice court have you been putting in?
ANDY RODDICK: Coming in, I hadn't hit more than an hour in a day.

Q. And here with the walkover and a one-set? No extra?
ANDY RODDICK: I mean, like I said, before I came over to England, I hadn't really hit a serve, so... The most important thing was being healthy out there for those matches. I didn't have to prove anything in practice. We come over here for Wimbledon. I want to make sure I'm healthy for that. I pulled up this week probably better than I expected.

Q. Do you look to step that up through next week?
ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, I think so. You know, I might not play tomorrow. But then after that, I need to get some sets in. At a certain point, you need to be prepared. So I'll definitely try to get some more sets, practice sets, in this week.

End of FastScripts

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