Roddick makes light of drubbing

2007-01-25 15:51

Melbourne - Andy Roddick was a bigger hit in his post-match news conference than he was on court against Roger Federer.

After a 6-4 6-0 6-2 drubbing from Federer in the semi-finals of the Australian Open, Roddick delivered a stream of deadpan one-liners and jokes that revealed a wry sense of humour.

He was asked what it was like to be on centre court at the end of a Grand Slam semi in which he was sent packing in straight sets in just one hour, 23 minutes.

"It was frustrating. It was miserable. It sucked. It was terrible," Roddick said. "Besides that, it was fine."

Roddick was asked to explain the match starting from the point where the score was 4-4 in the first set.

"I got broken. Then I got broken three more times. Then I got broken two more times in the third set. Then it was over 26 minutes later. Is that what you saw, too?" he said.

Questions turned to Jimmy Connors, the former great who is now coaching Roddick and who the player had earlier said helped to boost his game and his confidence to the point where he believed he was ready to challenge nine-time Grand Slam winner Federer.

Reporter: "What did Jimmy say to you straight after the game?"

Roddick: "He gave me a beer."

What was Connors advice coming into the match?

"There was a lot of strategy talk," Roddick said. But, "It's not so much like, `If you're down 6-4 6-0 2-0 ...' We didn't really talk about that. Oops."

How does he rate the chances of either Tommy Haas or Fernando Gonzalez - the other semi-finalists who play on Friday - against Federer in the final?

"Slim."

At times, Roddick was clearly testy, and said in answer to a question that he would have paid "a lot of money" not to have to come to the press conference, noting that the fine for not appearing was $20 000. He said he came because his father had taught him not to run away from tough situations.

But the main target of Roddick's wit was himself.

He said his daily habit of reading the sports pages would be tough on Friday because he would have to find a way to avoid reading about his match.

"I'm going to kind of have to like manoeuvre my way around it somehow. Get an oversized coffee mug, kind of like smoke and mirrors, or something."

By the end, Roddick appeared to be almost enjoying himself, and a reporter commented that his performance in the news conference was better than his performance on court.

"No (kidding)," Roddick said. "If there were rankings for press conferences, I wouldn't have to worry about dropping out of the top five."

- AP