Always The Bridesmaid

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Q. Did you just lose to the world's greatest tennis player ever?

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah.

Q. Can you talk about when you were sitting in the chair and the crowd was chanting your name, what did that mean to you?

ANDY RODDICK: That was nice. You know, it showed that they appreciated I guess what we did out there today. You know, it was definitely a nice and appreciated gesture by them.

Q. How is it possible to hold your concentration? You served from behind on 10 occasions with the title at stake.

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, you just keep going. I mean, you don't really ‑‑ looking back it seems like a lot, but each time it was just a point, and then another one and then another one. I guess it added up after a while.

Q. How would you describe what you did today?

ANDY RODDICK: I lost.

Q. Does it hurt more though when you're that close and it's that long, 95 minutes the last set? How does this compare to the other ones?

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, I think so. I think it's worse.

Q. What happened on the high backhand volley?

ANDY RODDICK: Well, there was a pretty significant wind behind him at that side. It was gusting pretty good at that time. When he first hit it, I thought I wasn't gonna play it. Last minute, it looked like it started dropping. I couldn't get my racquet around on it.

I don't know if it would have dropped or not.

Q. When do you expect you'll start feeling better and feeling sort of happy with how you performed and the occasion as opposed to the disappointment now?

ANDY RODDICK: I don't know. I'm not a psychic. I'm a tennis player.

Q. Even during the match, could you appreciate this as a sporting event, or are you too locked in at that point?

ANDY RODDICK: Well, it's a sporting event regardless of the score. And, to be honest, no. In the moment, like Bud mentioned, I was just trying to survive each time and hold serve and give myself a shot.

Q. What do you take most satisfaction from in what you did accomplish, even in defeat today?

ANDY RODDICK: Well, you know, I took some satisfaction in December and in November when we started to move forward. It was to give yourself an opportunity to win tournaments like this. I feel like, you know, I did give myself that opportunity today.

It didn't work out, but, you know, I definitely gave myself a look.

Q. Didn't look real easy to have to rally after losing that second set. Was there a struggle inside of you to stay positive? Were you able to blank it out right away?

ANDY RODDICK: There's no way, I mean, it doesn't cross your mind. We're human. We're not Cyborgs. You know, at that point, like everything else, there's two options: you lay down or you keep going. The second option sounded better to me.

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