Roddick Interview 1/23/2007

ANDY RODDICK: I don’t know. You know, I tried my best to kind of put our friendship to the back of my head before we went out there. You know, it’s always difficult. It’s a weird, weird situation.

ANDY RODDICK: He said that?

ANDY RODDICK: That’s probably true. I played him once in Washington. I remember I played pretty well also. That was probably the best I played against him, yeah.

ANDY RODDICK: Peaking too early? I’ve been lucky to get by in every match except this one (smiling).

No, I don’t think so. I struggled through my first round, been playing five sets. You know, I think you want to be playing well by the quarters.

ANDY RODDICK: Well, to be honest, like I said, it’s a little bit of a weird situation. Being that we’re close, I think it takes away maybe a little bit of the elation ’cause you’re not really solely focused on your side of the court. Maybe you’re a little bit more conscious of both sides.

It wasn’t a planned reaction not to do anything. It was just kind of what I felt.

ANDY RODDICK: I was going into that semifinal hurt, so it’s a lot better. I felt great going in physically today. I felt fantastic after the five-setter the other day. I feel like I’m hitting the ball well. I feel good going into the semis.

ANDY RODDICK: Maybe tomorrow. At the same time I don’t necessarily feel like — you know, sometimes players, you know, they keep practicing until they find something wrong. I don’t want to do that either.

ANDY RODDICK: Today I played pretty flawless, I thought. I did everything pretty well. I’m guessing there’s going to be some stuff that Jimmy probably wants to work on based on matchups.

As far as generally, I feel pretty confident with most of my game. If I’m nitpicking, my first-serve percentage was a little low for the first two sets today. Besides that, I felt good.

ANDY RODDICK: I don’t know. You know, I said for the past probably five or six months, the gap has either been closing a little bit or just he hasn’t been extending it, which he’s probably done the last three years or so. That’s a good thing.

With the match in Shanghai, I’m going to go in with a shot. I like going up and competing.

Click here to read the full interview at the Austrlian Open website.