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Roddick’s reaction to Rogers Cup defeat


 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 14:19

Every so often, a press conference produces something beyond the mundane rent-a-quote answers we no longer even register.

So it proved with a rather lost-sounding Andy Roddick after his third-round defeat to rising Croatian star Marin Cilic at the Rogers Cup in Toronto this week.

Here’s the American’s interview transcript in full. We’re not quite sure what ‘bush league’ is, but we can hazard a guess…

Did a lack of the match experience in the last few months catch up to you today?
RODDICK: Yeah, I mean, something doesn’t feel comfortable. I keep feeling if I get a couple three, four matches into a tournament I’ll be all right. I’m not able to do that. It was pretty ordinary out there today.

Is there any one area where you feel like it’s not working, or is it kind of across the board?
RODDICK: It’s a little bit across the board – forehand is just not doing anything, I’m missing it. That’s the one that I need to click right now.

In the I guess the seventh game of the third set, 4-3. You accepted the reserve there. Can you just go over, clarify what happened with you and the chair umpire?
RODDICK: Well, someone yelled something in the middle of my toss. I said something and hit the serve, he missed it, I’m guess it should have been a let. The umpire said, I’m not going to call a let.

It was obvious that I had said something, so I gave the guy the let just because I probably would have accepted the same.

He responded by overruling the far sideline on a first serve on the next ball, which is just bush league.

First of all, it’s an unwritten rule. You’re not supposed to touch that unless you’re…it’s almost impossible to be 100% sure on balls that miss like this [holding thumb and index finger up] on the far side of the court when they’re traveling 130 miles an hour.

Then to do it after, you know, someone had given something back I thought was just unnecessary. At that point I was down a break, so it didn’t really affect the match at all. That’s certainly not a reason for the loss.

I think my play was definitely the reason for that. But I just thought that was pretty bush league.

Did you feel any added pressure knowing that the draw was relatively open after Roger lost last night?
RODDICK: No. I don’t know if I’m playing well enough right now to look ahead in the draw. No.

In the second set when he was up a break, had a chance to kind of close out the match in the next couple games. He gave you a bit of an opening. Were you expecting something like that again in the third, and were you surprised that he was able to serve it out so easily?
RODDICK: I don’t know, you try to put enough balls in the court…I don’t know if you ever expect someone to give a break back, but I was certainly hoping for it.

What can you say about your opponent’s play today, and how does he compare to some of the younger up and coming guys on the tour right now?
RODDICK: Well, he definitely isn’t scared to go after the ball. His aggressiveness is what won him that match today. He took it to me a lot more than I took it to him.

You know, he serves pretty well. You know, I like how he was aggressive.

What’s the road map for you now in terms of fixing whatever it is that’s wrong? You don’t seem to have an idea of what’s missing right now.
RODDICK: I told you exactly what it was.

Sorry.
RODDICK: I mean, you asked me and I told you. No, I mean, what can you do? You go out there. You’re not going to fix anything by sitting on the bench, that’s for sure. You try to deal with it. All it takes is one event, couple matches, to turn things around. It’s happened a million times.

You know, hopefully it’ll happen next week.

You came here, took part in the doubles, too. That didn’t work out for you. Do you continue doing that now, stay with the doubles, or concentrate on the singles?
RODDICK: I don’t know. I haven’t made that decision. I don’t know.

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Tim Farthing, Tennishead Editorial Director & Owner, has been a huge tennis fan his whole life. He's a tennis journalist and entrepreneur as well as playing tennis to a national standard. He also helps manage his local club and volunteers for his local tennis organisation. He's a specialist in content about the administration of professional tennis and tennis coaching for all levels.