Q. He's tough, isn't he?
ANDY RODDICK: He is. I mean, I don't know if there's anybody out there that gets more out of his game than that guy. And I mean that in a huge complimentary way.
You know, the guy's just a bulldog, and he just does the basics so well. He's just a good player.

Q. You do it often, but you hardly ever hit two shots consecutively the same. Is that particularly against him to stop him getting into any sort of rhythm?
ANDY RODDICK: Well, it's a fine line, because, you know, I think pace doesn't really bother him off the ground if you hit through it. But then if you leave it hanging too much you're going to be running a lot.
You know, I think it's important to kind of go in and out of styles against him during the match, and I feel like I was able to do that to varying levels of success tonight. But it ended up working in the end.

Q. So good turnaround Andy, from the second to the third.
ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, my rhythm on my serve went off in the second set, and he was starting to -- you know, I guess I was developing a pattern. He was on the wide one, and then I started kind of making my one up the T a little bit more. I tried to mix up my serve early on, and I think maybe I did a little bit too much and kind of went back to it.
But, you know, he played well. I thought I hit the ball well in the second set. It was just a matter of putting points together, and he just returned great in the second.


Q. So Novak again. You've seen him plenty the last whatever, six or seven months. Let's talk about that matchup.
ANDY RODDICK: Well, it's tough. He's a complete player. There's no real holes. He serves well, returns well. He's solid off the back. He's a match player. He knows how to get through matches, and today is a great example of that.
You know, there's not much else to say. He might even be the best in the world switching directions from the baseline. He'll certainly be tough.

Q. Put behind you what happened in New York, the off-the-court comments?
ANDY RODDICK: I think so. We talked about it that night. You know, and I think the whole thing, with our history and then whatever happened in Australia, I think that went through and it was fine.
I think the thing that needs to be recognized is regardless of our history, I think we've always respected each other's games, and I think we respect what the other has accomplished.
I think we understand in this game you're going to -- you know, when you're playing for that much and that much is at stake, you're going to have your rows with people. We talked about it. Are we best friends? Probably not, but I think we have a lot of respect for each other.

Q. With Ljubicic, remember, at the 2000...
ANDY RODDICK: '03.

Q. Yeah.
ANDY RODDICK: We're fine. We're probably friendlier than we've ever been. You know, it happens.

Q. But as far as just having that and burying the hatchet.
ANDY RODDICK: I think you just -- like you do with any relationship, regardless whether you're close with the person or not, if it's there you just address it. Even if you don't see it the same way, you just address it, and maybe agree to disagree. Move on, you know. I think we're professionals and we're adults, so it's over.

Q. Obviously things are on a nice uptake, just a little bit of rejuvenation. How is it feeling? Is it feeling pretty good inside?
ANDY RODDICK: Yeah. You know, I think it feels good, because I feel like I've earned it this time. I feel like I put in the work and kind of switched things up a little bit. So it's gratifying, but at the same time, I haven't really -- I've played well, but there's still a lot to be done.
I mean, it's been good, but I want it to be the start of something, not kind of just enjoying it at the moment. I want to try to keep going.

Q. So you've put in some real good work this tournament. But in order to win it now, it gets pretty rough, huh?
ANDY RODDICK: Sure.

Q. I mean, Novak and then maybe Nadal, maybe Federer, maybe Murray. It's a pretty big mountain up there.
ANDY RODDICK: Yeah. You know, what? I can deal with Novak, and then whatever happens, then you deal with it from there. I'm not going to get into hypotheticals of the weekend. I'm not good enough for that. I'm going to try to beat Djokovic first, and then we'll see what happens.
It's never easy to win a tennis tournament, especially when the top guys are around.

Q. You've had a lot of French connection in your career, studying with Tarik, Lacoste, Babolat, and the new company, I forget what it's called. So BNP Paribas has come in here out of nowhere in a pretty grim economic situation. Any insight on the French role in American tennis?
ANDY RODDICK: Oh, I don't know. I don't know how much my relationships with sponsors are to do with BNP Paribas' support here, but I know BNP Paribas has been a huge asset to tennis, you know.
Before, even without this event, I think there's a bunch of other -- French Open, I'm pretty sure Bercy, I'm pretty sure Davis Cup all these years, you know.
So I think when there's a partnership like that, someone who supports the game so much, we have to do everything in our power to keep those happy.

Q. Are you worried about the economy?
ANDY RODDICK: Personally?

Q. No, for the sport.
ANDY RODDICK: Sure. Sure. Um, you know, you see it kind of taking a toll everywhere. Obviously, you know, sooner or later it affects, you know, it affects everything.
You know, I think as long as we put a good product out there, we might, as players, might have to do even more to draw fans in, whether it's appearances or...

Q. Has that message come down from on high that you guys need to do more?
ANDY RODDICK: I don't think so. I think -- correct me if I'm wrong, but this group of top players with Roger and Rafa, I don't think you've ever had to say they don't do enough to promote their sport.
You know, they're on the council. Seems like they have a little bit of everything. They're doing exhibitions that drive the game outside of the casual tournament.
I think the group of players we have now take that responsibility pretty seriously.

Q. So since the economy isn't that great, are you going to scale back the bachelor party, or...
ANDY RODDICK: (laughter.) The guys are still trying to convince me to have one. We'll see.

Q. They're still trying to convince you? You only get married once.
ANDY RODDICK: Dude, what the hell? What kind of time do I have?


(via ASAP Sports, photo/Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

Andy Roddick - Indian Wells 18. March Interview