Interview Kooyong

Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club

Wednesday, 10 January 2007

ANDY RODDICK

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Q. It looked pretty comfortable. Did it feel that way?

A. Yes, it felt good. I've been hitting the ball very
well in practice the last couple of days, so it's nice
to have that translate into a match.

Q. Were you particularly pleased with your first, you
didn't lose too many points.

A. Yeah, I felt I served okay but I thought I returned
really well. The second serves, I felt like I was
driving through them pretty well, and first serves
I was making him play, and I volleyed pretty well. All
in all, I thought it was a pretty good performance.

Q. When was your last match, Andy?

A. I lost to Nalbandian in the Masters, so a couple of
months ago.

Q. What did you do; did you take a break and then start
your work over Christmas?

A. I took a little bit of a break. But even during my
break, I was trying to just hit a little bit, just to
keep the feel. Last year, I focused a lot on my
training on fitness and getting stronger, and that
whole thing. I think this year it was a little bit
more tennis based, it was a little bit more on court
hitting balls. You know, I tried something different
last year and I wasn't hitting the ball too well for
the first three, four, five months of the year. So it
was definitely a lot more on court and a lot more balls
hit this off season.

Q. Did you have an indication from your training that you
were in good form?

A. Yes. I think the biggest thing is just keeping the
momentum that I had going towards the end of last year.
Like I said, the first six months was very ordinary,
and I felt the last six months especially, through to
the US Open, was very good; so just trying to build on
the end of the last year.

Q. Does Jimmy come to you about your play, or how does
that work, that on court stuff?

A. Yes, we met up in Florida for a little while. Even the
days where we weren't together, I had specific things
that he wanted me to work on. You know, we talk all
the time. So it's working out well.

Q. With the news about Jimmy's Mum, do you think he'll be
coming on to Australia now?

A. I'm not sure. I talked to him really soon after the
news and I just told him to do whatever he had to do.
In this case, there's something that -- it's a lot more
important in his life right now than worrying about
getting down here, it's halfway around the world. And
so at this point I'm not sure. I just, you know, wish
him and his family the best. And I'm -- we're still
talking every day, and -- you know, I'm not sure. He
needs to do what he needs to do.

Q. Is it unlikely, though?

A. I honestly told you as much as I know. You know, the
last we talked, we kind of left it at -- the last thing
I'm going to do is force him into decisions right now.
I think that would be pretty insensitive. Like I said,
I think he has some things that are a little bit more
important right now.

Q. Does is it change your preparation at all?

A. No. The good thing -- this is a great tournament.
I mean, I had -- you know, arguably my best tournament
last year was in Cincinnati, and we were talking on the
phone. We have put the work in together and I think
we're on the same wavelength. Regardless of what
happens, he'll be watching the matches and we'll be
talking. Obviously I'd love to have him here, but
right now I'm not sure if that's on option, and so you
make the best of it. But his influence isn't gone, you
know, right now. You know, he's still very much
involved.

Q. Do you travel with a hitting partner?

A. My brother travels with me, and he, you know, he warms
me up for matches and stuff. But luckily there's a lot
of good tennis players in Australia right now to hit
with.

Q. Is there anything that Jimmy does with you when he's
travelling with you that someone else would have to do,
in terms of physically being there doing stuff?

A. No. To be honest, when we travel, the kind of the
tedious details my brother takes care of most of the
time anyway, as far as racquets being strung and
organising practice courts and that stuff, he kind of
has gotten into the habit of a handling a lot of that
stuff. So I don't know if we'll miss much there.
It's just a matter of having Jimmy's energy around and
his knowledge there at our disposal, you know, 16 hours
a day. Now it's just going to have to be a little bit
less and it's going to have to be, you know, over the
phone.

Q. Did you ever get a chance to meet Gloria?

A. I didn't. When Jimmy and I met, she's been battling
for a little while now. But I know she enjoyed when we
started working together and watching the matches, and
you know, she would pass on her opinions to Jimmy, you
know, from all accounts. I've enjoyed her stories and
her second-hand opinions about what I should be doing
out there.

Q. Any good advice from Gloria?

A. Pretty much, you know, she made Jimmy into what he was,
so basically the knowledge that Jimmy has shared with
me is pretty much just an extension of her, you know.
So I don't know if anything uber specific, but I know
Jimmy talked to her a lot and discussed my game a lot
with her, so ...

Q. Nadal was injured yesterday and is in a bit of doubt
for the Open. I suppose that opens the way a little
bit for you?

A. No, from what I read, he said he thinks he'll be
100 per cent for the Open. There's about zero chance
that I'll play Nadal in the first round, so I'm not
really that concerned about it.