COMMERCIAL
TED: Some terrific stories for American tennis during this first week of Roland Garros. We just visited with Michael Russell. Here’s another man. You look much nicer now, Andy, than you did in the 5th set against Chang.
ANDY: I feel a little better too.
(laughter)
TED: I don’t blame you. What a moment that had to be. Have you seen a tape of that yet, or any tapes of yourself?
ANDY:No, I haven’t – I haven’t seen it . I’m actually looking forward to it. Now maybe I can look back, maybe laugh at myself going through, you know, the funky movement.
TED: Gumby.
JOHN: (laughs) Yeah, yeah-yeah. You gotta explain to us, explain to us and the viewers what that was all about. ‘Cause that was, that was great to watch, that was great stuff.
ANDY: Um…
JOHN: How do you, y’know, tell us about that (moves around a bit) stuff. That was kinda a Fred Astaire dance flick.
ANDY: Um…I was, you know, trying you know, to focus on the court, and then something reaches up and grabs your muscle and pulls, and I was just trying to stay on my feet and not fall down or something.
(laughter)
TED: I figure there are 10 colleges around the country now that have people doing “The Roddick”.
(laughter)
JOHN: Hey, listen. You know how Gordon Beck, our producer, and Greg Pickford like us to answer email questions. Here’s one from May (couldn’t get her last name). “How is Andy Roddick doing? Is he okay?”
ANDY: Um, well…Um, I’m doing well, the legs healing up well, and I hope to be back on the court within the next couple days.
JOHN: Now there’s been, there was some talk that, tell us if there’s any truth to the rumor, there were trainers in the locker room saying that you should, for example, Ted’s got it right here. “Roddick to Miss Wimbledon.” What is this all about?
ANDY: Um, well, the trainer who said that…I…I never…
JOHN: …He’s fired, right?
ANDY: No, I never even really talked to him about my injuries so I’m not really sure where he got that conversation. I mean it was a surprise for me to read about.
TED: Great point. 30-30.
JOHN:Squillari wants those long, tough points. You got a taste of that playing Mr. Chang, right?
ANDY: Yeah, I mean, these guys make you work for every ball. And then you know, I think it’s pretty physically and mentally draining.
JOHN: What, tell us, tell us and the people listening what exactly is, or was the injury? Was it a direct result of that 5-setter with Chang? Just stiffness, or…
ANDY: Well, I was-I was a little sore from the 5-setter with Chang and uh, especially in my upper-leg area, and um, when I took the fall it twisted the wrong way and I tried to resist, but I slipped and…
JOHN: Here, take a look at this monitor. (They show the fall as Andy talks)
ANDY: Yeah, see I’m running here, and I’m doing okay, and then…right…there when I tried to stop…
JOHN: Stop.
ANDY:…Right there it just hyper-extended and I just pulled a, pulled my hamstring muscle and I knew it as soon as I went down. You can see that.
JOHN: So you hadn’t actually pulled it, it was just stiff before that?
ANDY: It was really sore and stuff, but it was nothing you can’t play through. I mean, you can play through soreness, no problem. But um, after that fall I couldn’t push off my left leg to the right side of the court.
JOHN: So the good news is then you’re planning on getting out there the next couple days and you’re gonna be in Queen’s Club next week.
ANDY: I am. I am planning on playing Queen’s Club, so hopefully that will go okay.
TED: Okay. Wait a minute, I’m gonna crumple that story up. (Does)Hear that?
JOHN: Where’d you get that, The Enquire or something? (Squillari misses a drop shot) Now, this is what I expected more of right here. That inept attempt at a drop shot. The last couple have been sorry excuses for drop shots. Right Andy, what do you think?
ANDY: Yeah, I saw a couple, a couple of good ones earlier.
JOHN: Yeah, exactly.
ANDY: He’s losing his touch a little bit.
JOHN: We hope reality’s starting to set in.
(Squillari misses another)
JOHN: (laughs) Yep. Three strikes and you’re out.
ANDY: I mean, the more and more you play Andre and he just keeps playing well, and keeps playing well, and keeps playing well, it’s tough to keep a consistent level of playing better than him throughout the match. And so you see some guys trying to do some, uh, stupid things out there the more the match goes on.
JOHN: Now, I’m going to presume he’s [Squillari] going to lose this point because I don’t want to set you up when we go to commercial.
TED: Right, exactly.
JOHN: ‘Cause you’ve got to tell us about, ‘cause you’ve been spending a great, er, fair amount of time working with Andre, so we want to hear about what that’s done to help your confidence and your game. I don’t want to ask you quite yet, but another shot.
(Squillari double faults)
TED: There it is. Double, and Agassi will serve for the 2nd set.
COMMERCIAL
TED: Still the highlight match of Roland Garros to this point, the 2nd round with Andy Roddick facing Michael Chang, and, well why don’t Andy, you tell us as we watch this. People hear me talk enough.
(Show clips of Andy versus Chang)
ANDY: Well, I’m just, ah…
(He hits a winner down the line.)
JOHN: Where’d that come from?
ANDY: I’m just dying here, I’m trying to get it out. It’s all heart at this point and I’m not feeling too good either. (laughter)
(Show Andy leaning on the lineman’s shoulder)
JOHN: That was nice.
ANDY: Yeah I just, I wanted a little comfort out there. So, I figured, I’d, you know…you like…
JOHN: I always found comfort in the umpires too.
ANDY: Yeah.
JOHN: They were there for me.
(Show match point)
JOHN: Ah, match point. (he wins it)
TED:What’s it feel like, right there?
(Show Andy ripping his shirt)
ANDY:That’s what you play for right there…uh…
JOHN: You’ve gotta call Illie up, you know, work on the… (laughter)
ANDY:I know. I know. I know. Yeah, I didn’t get all the way shirt. He’s gonna have to help me out with it.
TED: Did you sense as the match was going on, Andy, that you were turning the tables in a sense on Michael Chang?
ANDY: Not really. I thought I was screwed in the 5th set… (laughter)…when I started cramping up, to tell you the truth. Uh, it-it was pretty lucky for me, I think.
TED: And the story was just amazing; that it was Michael Chang as a teenager that had done that very thing 12 years ago.
ANDY: It was pretty ironic, but the only difference is he went on to win the tournament, and…I did not.
JOHN: But at the time though, were you thinking. “Hey.” I thought I heard you say that was one of the first matches you saw, when Chang played Lendl?
ANDY: It-it was. It really sparked an interest for me and I remember that match very well, and eventually you know, I’ve been thinking about it, it-it crossed my mind a couple times out there, yeah.
JOHN: Turned the tables.
TED: We’re gonna hold off on…
JOHN: We have to wait until this set’s over…
TED: Yeah, exactly. We’re gonna hold off on the Agassi story. Here he’s [Andre’s] two points from the set.
(Agassi loses a good point)
JOHN: Well, that was a great point, Agassi still 2 points, but…Molly’s asking, this is pretty stupid, but-but is Andy Roddick, he’s 18, is Andy Roddick single? “Well, you know, I’m just looking for someone my age who’s interested in tennis just like me, and he seems perfect.”
ANDY: Well, Molly, I am single right no, so uh, I’ll keep an eye out for you. (laughter)
TED: There’s an email address.
ANDY: All right, there we go.
(Agassi loses another good point)
JOHN: Woah.
TED: Squillari saying he’s not done yet.
JOHN: See, this is what natural clay-court players can do. They slide around, then they go over there, as they slide into the ball. Now, you probably learned that o bit, growing up in Florida. You played presumably a lot on clay. What was the breakdown? More on clay? More on hard?
ANDY: It was a, until I was about 14, it was pretty much a toss-up, you know. Sometimes more on clay, some on hard. So you know, I feel pretty comfortable on it.
JOHN: Agassi finding himself in a tougher game than he expected when he was serving at 30-0 (it’s deuce).
(Squillari misses a shot down the line)
JOHN: That’s a low percentage shot. That, what Michael Russell was saying earlier. You get this guy on the run, make him hit that running backhand, that’s not high percentage.
TED: Twenty three unforced errors off his backhand. Another one, so Agassi has leveled this match at a set apiece. We’ll continue with Andy Roddick when we come back to Roland Garros.
COMMERCIAL
(Show more clips of Andy, again with the linesman, in pain, bending and twisting, serving, ripping his shirt etc…all to music.)
(laughter)
TED: You can laugh about it, Andy Roddick, because you won. And that’s what’s amazing. Where do you come up with the ability to hit shots to win a match when you’re feeling that way?
JOHN: First of all, how do you hit serves 100-whatever it is, 135, 140 mph, how do you hit them on top of that when you’ve got cramps?
ANDY: I think it makes it easier, because I felt no pressure. I felt like I was going to lose, so basically, I had everything to gain. I knew I wasn’t going to win by not going for shots. I had to go for broke, and that made it easier to come up with some shots.
TED: Squillari serving here to start the 3rd set, 1 set apiece. Let’s have a chance now for Andy to get into this because John’s told the story often taking you being to Los Angeles about a year ago as a practice partner for his Davis Cup team. You had a pretty rousing practice session with Andre.
JOHN: But he’s also had a chance to work with him in a number of other cases so it wasn’t…
ANDY: Yeah um, we were practicing one day, and uh, we were battling. It was a great week for me, it was my first, I was kinda in awe of everybody. And ah, it was just a great week. And, we were practicing one day, and I was playing probably the best match-the best practice that I’ve ever played in my life and Andre wasn’t playing so well, so it was kinda close. And I uh, I don’t know, I upset him somehow so he-he-he, kinda initiated me a little bit and he ripped into me a little bit.
TED: With the ball?
ANDY: No
TED: Or with his mouth?
ANDY: He was just screaming at me.
TED: Ok.
JOHN: Well, actually, gamesmanship tactics, you know Andy grunts after he hits the shots…he you know, he learns quick for 18. How to get under us veterans’ skin, you know.
ANDY: So then I proceeded to lose quickly after that.
JOHN: See, I told you he learned quick.
TED: So, what have you learned from all the work that you’ve done, the continuing work you’ve been able to do with Andre?
ANDY: Um, you know, you just, you learn a lot by example. I mean, he’s such a professional, and when he practices it’s 100%. And you know, you can really learn from that, and-and feed off that.
JOHN: You’ve found yourself practicing harder now, with the less-is-more theory of Agassi’s? I mean, he makes every minute count.
ANDY: Yeah, for sure. Um, he really, stresses, you know, intense workouts, so I try to do the same thing.
TED: Squillari has that hidden tape and tried to overshot that pad today. (uh? Couldn’t really hear this part)
JOHN: Well, look who we have here. We have an opponent for the winner of this match. (shows the Blanco/Grosjean match)
TED: Match point.
JOHN: It’s on France, Grosjean just destroying Blanco. French loving every minute of it. This is the fellow who defeated Pete Sampras earlier in the tournament, about to go out. (He does win)
TED: A great win for Sebastion Grosjean, and he’s to the quarters to meet the winner of this match, and down at the bottom there you see another Frenchman still in, Fabrice Santoro.
JOHN: Things, to me, looking pretty promising for Corretja, at least in that match. How do you invision, by the way Andy, a matchup, if Andre’s to get by this match against Grosjean? What do you know or like about Grosjean’s game?
ANDY: Well, Grosjean’s been playing really well this year, he’s been putting up solid results all year and you know, he’s not taking bad losses and uh, he’s been playing great, I think it’ll be a really good matchup between him and Andre. Uh they’re both pretty quick, they both hit the ball pretty well, kinda similar-type-type games. Um, I think it’ll be an interesting match if Andre gets through this one.
JOHN: Grosjean is happy, by the way, to be in the locker room now with an easy win. Gets to see these guys fight it out to at least four sets, maybe a fifth one. Now, have you had, that’s what happened to you against Chang, you were cramping up. Have you had problems with that in the past?
ANDY: No, I was, I just learned a lesson there. I wasn’t responsible, I didn’t take you know, the minerals and eat-eat what I should have before the match, and ah, against Lleyton I felt great. We were 2:15 into the match because I, you know, two days before, it’s all preparation. I don’t think I prepared well for the Chang match.
TED: A lesson learned?
ANDY: A lesson learned.
JOHN: That was also your first match ever five-setter, right?
ANDY: Yeah, the longest match I’d played was like 2:20 minutes, so…kinda worked my way in.
(A good point that Grosjean wins)
JOHN: That’s as tough a point as you get, right there. Wicked exchange.
ANDY: Great tennis from both guys.
JOHN: It really was. They-they really threw the kitchen sink at each other. The depth, the angles. Finally Squillari rips that winner.
ANDY: I mean, you can’t be too upset at that point, if you’re Andre. I mean, he made the guy work, and the guy had just a great forehand. (Squillari misses a return) Maybe he got a little tired and missed that
backhand return.
JOHN: That’s exactly right.
ANDY: So…
(He misses another)
JOHN: Still tired.
TED: Man, I, now it’s easy for a guy like me to sit here and say “Squillari’s forehand is killing him.” For both you guys who have played, is it impossible to completely avoid his forehand? [Andre] Saves the game there for 1-1.
JOHN: I’ll answer part of that, let Andy finish it. But the first part is, a lot of guys, you see more and more depth in the men’s game, to me. So, it’s not as if Squillari, given a little time, can’t hit a backhand. If you keep going, the same thing, to me, point in, point out, eventually, presumably, the guy’s gonna get a feel for that. And also, and I’ll let Andy expound on this, he’s not going to be running a whole lot either. I mean, that’s all part of this whole physical thing. Don’t you think?
ANDY: Oh, yeah, definitely. I mean, Andre’s probably the best in the world at you know, tiring people out and moving them around, so you can’t stay away from the forehand totally. But maybe, give him looks and spots where he doesn’t like the forehand. You know, maybe keep it away from his power zone or something.
JOHN: See, that’s one thing that the great players, they go out, and most guys think that they play their game, they’re going to win . And Agassi’s game is, as Andy pointed out, is to move people around. They work a lot harder than he does. “How dare you tell me not to use my angles and spins.” And he’ll probably tell you his forehand is better than Squillari’s. If you ask him, I’m sure he’ll think his forehand’s better. Probably is.
TED: Right. But maybe on a big point perhaps, a crucial situation, might be where he’d say “Ok, I’m going to try and stay away from it.”
JOHN: One thing my coach taught me, and I don’t know if your little coach there, Terry, tells you this; always, always to not give your opponent the same look. Always throw something different, never give him the same one twice. (Squillari misses a drop shot) His drop shot’s run out of juice.
ANDY: Also, by, if you run them to the forehand first, it opens up the backhand side. Sometimes to get out the backhand, you have to go with the strength first.
JOHN: And you get the feeling now, to me Ted, that Agassi is mentally really into this thing, and he’s-he’s starting to take over. (he wins a point) Look at that. Feel that coming? He started running before he hit it. This, to me, was a case, Squillari gave it away by how he turned his body, he turned it so much…
TED: Like a telegraph.
JOHN: Telegraphed it. Still, you still gotta go over there and hit that shot. See, when you turn that much… Agassi, a couple break points. 1-1, 3rd set.
ANDY: Squillari doesn’t want to give him an early break here. (Andre wins a point)
JOHN:Well, he just did. So much for that.
TED: So Agassi has leveled the match, now he has a break in the third.
COMMERCIAL
(We see a thing that says Andre won this in 1999, Courier in 1991 & 1992, and Chang in 1989)
TED: So there are the American champions in Paris, and that’s not bad. Four in the last 12 years. The only hope now remaining for an American champion on the men’s side this year is Andre Agassi. There’s not been a women’s champ in 16 years here, and 2 remain. Serena Williams and Jennifer Capriatti, who will play each other tomorrow in the quarters.
(Squillari hits a winner)
TED: You will see that on our USA coverage.
ANDY: Even though Squillari hit a winner on that one, Andre’s liking the fact that he’s trying to hit winners from above his shoulder. You know, on returns. If he can hit those, that-that’s just too good.
(Andre wins a point)
JOHN: You see-you see why this guy Andy Roddick’s going to be a great player? Take a positive out of a negative like that and, what, how many people would look at that. You spin a serve in, the guy rips a return winner, he’s feeling good about it?
(laughter)
JOHN: Tough point, but Agassi benefited from that net cord. Helped him win it.
ANDY: Andre’s feeling good now. When he-he gets going like this, it’s-it’s, I don’t think it’s looking good for Squillari anymore.
JOHN: Squillari started letting up, to me, or just sensing he had lost the groove, or whatever, about a set and a half into this match, and now it’s really, you can just sense, what Andy was talking about, he’s starting to steamroll here. Which allows me to throw in a question, an email question, from Glenda Love. “I was wondering why there isn’t a men’s tennis calendar.”
TED: I thought there was.
JOHN: But maybe, maybe there’s not. “And we, the female fans, would need to vote on the 12 picks.” Here, you ready for the twelve picks? For example: “Marat Safin, Patrick Rafter, Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Lleyton Hewitt, Andy Roddick, Gustavo Kuerten, Jan-Michael Gambill, Alex Corettja, Magnus Norman, Mark Philippoussis, and twelve, John McEnroe.”
TED: Yeah, right!
(laughter)
JOHN: You don’t think I would’ve read it otherwise. Of course, not necessarily in that order.
ANDY: Are we saving the best for last there?
JOHN: Well, you know…See? He knows how to butter up the old guy.
TED: Well, somebody for the mature set to look at, right?
JOHN: And proceeds, this is even better! Proceeds could go to benefit grass-roots tennis. Or some other good cause.
ANDY: I’m sure there has to be a calendar out there somewhere.
JOHN: There’s a seniors tennis calender, you know. That’s a big seller.
(Squillari wins a point)
JOHN: That’s 3 out of 3 for Squillari, a nice backhand volley.
TED: I was just checking to see if Patty Smythe sent that email in.
(Chuckling)
JOHN: That’s harsh. Come on. You just thought there was something behind that. I feel better, my suit feels better right now, you know. I feel like putting the tie back up.
ANDY: A little bit more energetic?
JOHN: Yeah, I wanna go practice now.
TED: You know Andy, you made a comment, I believe it was just before the-before the French Open started at a press conference, that somebody asked you if you could play doubles with one player, and the answer you gave was:
ANDY: I think-I think it was, if you could play doubles against Andre and Pete, uh, you know, who would you pick? I you know, picked Johnny Mac, I thought we could, uh, have a little fun out there.
JOHN: (laughs) Hey, that sounds great to me. Are you available tomorrow? Too? When?
ANDY: Anytime.
JOHN: Now, you should tell people why you’re here too, by the way. You’re still in Paris. Tell them about
this award or whatever you’re picking up tomorrow.
ANDY: Uh, there’s, there’s a Champion’s dinner tomorrow night, and since I was world’s junior champion last year I get to hang out and go to like a pretty cool dinner tomorrow night and, they do the mens and the women’s professional, they award them also.
TED: Nice. Tuxedo?
ANDY: I gotta go out and buy a suit.
TED: Woo-hoo.
ANDY: Yeah, getting all decked out.
JOHN: That’s right, you gotta do that.
ANDY: No more tee-shirts and jeans and hats for me.
JOHN: You could probably get a freebie, you just, you know, send the word out.
ANDY: Yeah, if anybody wants to send me a suit.
(laughter)
JOHN: But there would, I predict there’d only be a portion, this is only American TV. You gotta do an interview with the French TV.
ANDY: I’ll see what I can pull off today.
JOHN: Who’s the junior, the female champ, who was that, this past year, do you know?
ANDY: Maria Emilia Salerni.She ah, played well this year, and qualified, and I think she lost the first round though. But, very young talent. Argentine.
JOHN: Well, speaking of Argentines who lost, Squillari…down a set, I mean excuse me, down a break in the third, and now another break point so, this third set is gone if he wastes this.
(Agassi wins a point)
JOHN: How’s that for a return? Oh.
TED: Andre stepping in on a second serve, licking the lines, and 4-1, Agassi.
COMMERCIAL
(Show Andre at the 2001 Australian Open)
TED: The year began for Andre Agassi down under, and another Grand Slam, as he faced France’s Arnaud Clement in the final. Andre had survived a very difficult battle with Pat Rafter, Rafter had him down in an earlier-round match. And Agassi, in the finals, put Clement away. Defending there, 4, 2 and 2.
JOHN: Well Ted, when Agassi came back from 2 sets to 1 down against Rafter in the semis, that’s what caused poor Patrick, who has some of the best hair-hair in the tour, who overtook…
(Show which players have won the French & Australian in the same year)
JOHN: Oh. Talking about the slams. Big talk. Little early perhaps, but Agassi the one that can try to pull off the seemingly-almost impossible.
TED: Of course the…
JOHN: He cut his hair, you know you see him now, for a guy who’s losing his hair like me, and just trying to hang on, to see Rafter do that with his beautiful locks is sorta sad. Maybe you should let yours grow out, Andy. Plenty to work with at 18.
TED: We’re talking, as you saw that note about how tough it is to win the Australian and the French, to take it a step further and win the French and Wimbledon in the same year, hasn’t been done since Borg. The tournaments are just two weeks apart now and held on such extremely different surfaces.
JOHN: Which, at least, I like to give Borg credit, at least once a tournament, to win six Frenches and five straight Wimbledons, that’s a pretty good tournaround. A pretty good effort.
ANDY: That’s amazing.
JOHN: Agassi’s just new guy now. He’s-he’s taking Squillari and squashing him, at the moment.
(Agassi wins his serve game)
TED: So Agassi holds at love, for 5-1.
JOHN: So your plan is, presumably, hopefully, you’re gonna skip this week and the next couple days, make sure everything’s cool, and go over to Queen’s, and you would presumably take a week off, just practice, or are you actually…?
ANDY: I’m gonna play Nottingham, actually, in between Queens and Wimbledon, so I need to…
TED: Queens first, then Nottingham?
ANDY: Then Nottingham, right. I, I haven’t played a-a lot of grass, actually, so ah, I’m gonna try to get in as much as possible.
TED: And you did not play Wimbledon juniors last year, right? You were hurt?
ANDY: Yeah, no I didn’t play last year.
TED: Okay. Had you been to Wimbledon before? You played juniors there?
ANDY: I played juniors two years ago. Yeah. Very badly, but I played. (laughs)
TED: With your serve right now, you’re not going to play badly there again.
ANDY: I hope not.
(Squillari misses a shot)
JOHN: Way wide there. Agassi just about ready to finish Franco off here in the 3rd.
ANDY: Yeah, he’s-he’s forcing his shots here a bit. He doesn’t have-have to hit that. He’s going for ah, a little too much out there.
JOHN: What do you think your best surface is by the way. What do you play best on? Still too early to tell?
ANDY: I’m-I’m not sure yet. I haven’t, I don’t think I’ve played enough on everything. I think right now, hard, but you know, I played better than I thought I would on the dirty stuff so… (laughter)…we’ll see.
TED: You enjoy it? Playing here?
ANDY: Yeah, it’s fun, you know. I like, that’s, what makes tennis so special, you know. It’s a different game on each surface, it’s not, you know, the same thing all the time.
TED: Must be great for the Americans though, to have Andy Roddick win two tournaments on American clay. Came over here, fared well here. Seen Michael Russell do well here.
JOHN: Yes, yes absolutely. Need more that inspire the young troops. And, as I always said Ted, we gotta give the young kids a chance to play. We gotta try and make this game more accessible and affordable in America.
(Andre wins a point)
TED: Here we come now to set point for Agassi.
JOHN: Remember when Squillari in the first hit that nice slice backhand for the winner and now those are going into the bottom of the net? The drop shots totally ineffective.
ANDY: He’s not getting to them quite as quick anymore.
JOHN: That’s what Andy was talking about, wearing them down. Making your-his opponent work, it appears twice as hard as he’s working.
ANDY: Andre wants this game to start off serving in the 4th set too.
JOHN: You can tell from even, when you first initially practiced with him in Davis Cup, he wants every game. Even in that practice, he was getting annoyed.
ANDY: Yeah, I mean, he’s definitely a competitor, you know. He wants to win every point.
JOHN: Let’s see what the call is here. I remember one thing he said to you is, and he didn’t say it in a nice way, but you would step into the return, and then sort of move back after you, you know…He-he was wondering why you didn’t…
ANDY: He called it my poke-and-run. (laughter) Said either step in and attack it or step back and, you know, play kinda in-court, but don’t do kinda the step-in and poke. Oh, nicely done.
TED: Squillari with his 9th ace. Well, Squillari holds his serve, so he’ll force Agassi to have to serve out the set.
COMMERCIAL
TED: Our coverage on USA continuing from Roland Garros. It’s been a pleasure to have Andy Roddick with us as Agassi serves for a 2 sets to 1 lead. Did playing a couple of matches here now Andy, give you kinda the appreciation of the physical wear that it would take to try to do 7 matches in 2 weeks?
ANDY: Yeah, it’s definitely a grind mentally as well as physically.
(Andre loses a point)
TED: There’s a backhand. Now quickly to 0-30.
JOHN: He seemed down-and-out, and now he’s giving it one last effort to hang in this 3rd set. Still down 2 breaks, but looking to get one of them back. Nice and low, bend the knees. Hey, is that a score? Here’s an Andrea (can’t spell her last name) email. “How do the players scout out their opponents in a tournament?” Do you watch, Andy, the other player’s matches? Do you have paid staff members?
ANDY: No.
JOHN: Keep scouting out the competition and report on their style, etc…?
ANDY: Um, well, I travel with these guys year-round and play the tour. So, you pretty much know…
(Andre loses his service game, 0-40)
JOHN: Wow, that was quick. Well, you get, that’s what the coaches are for, huh?
ANDY: Well, you pretty much know most players and you’ll ask a couple, maybe a couple of your friends who have played them before. Or get out and watch their match if you finish before they do, get out and watch a little bit.
JOHN: What was your game plan, by the way, when you went out against Chang?
ANDY: Um, I wanted to, definitely take my chances when I could get them. Um, you know, I’m-I’m not going to beat him with the consistency drill, that’s for sure. So, ah, you know, kinda had to go out and play my game. I went out and kinda rushed too much at the beginning.
(Squillari wins a point)
JOHN: Squillari, just picked it up out of nowhere. That’s why, to me, it’s so tough to win this thing here, because you just go through these ups and downs, and looked like Agassi couldn’t loose a game. Now all of a sudden, Squillari looks like he thinks he can win this set again.
(Andre wins a point)
JOHN: That was well-disguised and unexpected. That was a lot tougher that it looked. Looked like he was going to flick it cross-court and hit that shot at the high part of the net, well done.
ANDY: Yeah, the ball didn’t come much up off the court either, it stayed pretty low.
JOHN: Squillari with a big forehand winner. When did you start getting, by the way, this big serve? I know, I understand, that it’s been within the last couple years, year or two, that you’ve grown as much as you have?
ANDY: Yeah, since…
JOHN: How do you serve so freakin hard?
ANDY: (laughs) There’s not a lot of technique involved. I just kinda throw it up, and give it a whack.
TED: Do you think you’re going to grow any bigger?
ANDY: Ah, yeah. I’m…
TED: 6’2”, you said now, right?
ANDY: Yeah, I’m, my growth plates aren’t finished.
TED: Wow.
ANDY: Yeah, so…
JOHN: That’s good.
TED: That’s not, that’s not good news for the tour.
ANDY: So maybe I’ll get another inch or two.
TED: 7’3” Andy Roddick. Blasted 308 aces.
JOHN: How close is your brother?
ANDY: Ah, the rest of my family is ah, more vertically challenged than I am.
(laughter)
JOHN: That’s a nice way of putting it.
ANDY: They’ve ah, they’ve all been, the males in my family, 5’9”, 5’10”. But I have some uncles that are 6’5”, 6’4” and 6’5”, so I think that’s where I get it from.
JOHN: Well, 6’2” is good enough. I mean, that’ll cut it. Agassi’s not even 6’.
(Squillari wins a point)
TED: Well, Squillari’s come to life here. So, Andre will have 1 more chance to serve out the set.
COMMERCIAL
(Show Jennifer Capriati will play Serena Williams)
TED: Well, tomorrow a wonderful day of tennis here at the French Open on USA. Quarterfinal action, Jennifer Capriati and Serena Williams will battle head-to-head. Many are thinking Jennifer’s actually the woman to beat on that side of the draw. And then, this is history. Gustavo Kuerten, the 2-time champ, in each of his winning years he’s had to beat Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the quarters, and both times it’s been a 5-setter. And of course, Kafelnikov’s a former champ here. So, they’ll meet again in the quarters, our action will begin at 9:00 a.m. Eastern, 6:00 a.m. Pacific on USA.
JOHN: Well, Martina Hingis, first of all, will have something to say about your calling Jennifer the favorite on this surface, even though Jennifer did beat her down under, which is uh, make sure, to me, the story of the year coming into this event.
(Andre wins a point)
JOHN: Boy, twice, Squillari just trying to float and loop those backhands.
ANDY: It’s a whole lot easier to swing free when you’re down 5-1 than it is 5-4.
JOHN: Right. That’s also why you get up a couple breaks. You get-you get tight maybe, on the first one, you still got on in the back pocket.
TED: And now, 3 set points for Agassi. Mr. Roddick, you’re sounding like a prophet.
JOHN: Who do you like in that Kuerten/Kafelnikov match? Who do you see on the men’s side?
ANDY: Well, I’m not sure. Uh, it’s a tough call, they’ve both had some tough matches. Um, I-I think you have to go for it right now, but I mean, Kafelnikov can beat anybody on any given day. You know, that’s-that’s a very tough one to pick.
TED: There is the third set. Been a battle today. A little over 2 hours, but Agassi finally has the edge. Now 2 sets to 1 over Franco Squillari. Andy Roddick is very smart.
(Show Ted, Andy, and John)
TED: You can’t see it at home, ladies and gentlemen, but this is a Yankees cap he has on. I knew he was coming to deceive Johnny Mac. Well, thanks for being with us, congratulations on a great run. Queen’s
Club next, right?
ANDY: Yeah, thanks Ted.
JOHN: Good luck, Andy. And look, you made this fun for us. We appreciate it. The fans as well keep it up.
ANDY: .Thanks. (He waves at the camera)
JOHN: We love it.
TED: Andy Roddick joining us, Andre Agassi up 2 sets to 1. We’ll continue in a moment.
COMMERCIAL AND THE END.
Here's the transcript of Andy Commentating on the Agassi vs. Squillari match at Roland Garros. Thanks to
Erin From Andy Roddick Yahoo Club
