Game and Set, Roddick

Interviewer: Can you just take us from 4?All on. Up to 4?4, you’re in the match. Then you got broken?

Andy Roddick: Yeah, 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?

Actually, what we saw was how a man, who could have gone on to become so dominant at the top, was humbled into being second best by another. This pretty much sums up the career of Andy Roddick.

Flashback to 2001

Pete Sampras was a spent force, nearly. Andre Agassi was already eligible to play at the senior tournaments. Names like Kafelnikov, Ivanisevic and Rafter were being pushed away from the spotlight. A new pack of success-hungry youngsters was emerging. They were not only ridiculously talented, they were also faster, smarter and more powerful. Three people lead this ravenous pack – Marat Safin, who on his day could thwack a ball to the moon; Lleyton Hewitt, who defined the word counter-punching; and Andy Roddick.

Andy Roddick’s career has always been known for the serve. He doesn’t have the advantage of being very tall, like Karlovic or Isner. Yet he cracks 220+ kmph serves routinely. A cannon-blast of 230 kmph down the tee is his money shot. His fastest serve was clocked at 253 kmph. He once served so hard that the ball got lodged into the clay. Against nine out of ten players, this aspect of his game alone would have been more than enough to get the job done. The tenth player, unfortunately, was more often than not Roger Federer.

But his serve isn’t the only aspect of Roddick’s game. His movement on the court has been overlooked by many. He isn’t the quickest, but he is quicker than most people would credit him for. And at times, this has worked to his advantage.

Roddick was never the most consistent player and every now and then, he would become the victim of an upset. Yet he would also frequently produce dream runs which would leave most in the wake.

Wimbledon 2009 was Andy Roddick’s career in two weeks.

He moved through the earlier rounds with relative ease, despite dropping a set in each match, which is something that wouldn’t surprise you. He played exceptionally against Tomas Berdych, who would only a year later go on to play there in the final. He went the distance against Hewitt, winning 6-4 in the fifth.

Then he entered into a zone where he was nearly impossible to touch. No one gave him a chance against Andy Murray. Murray usually picks up his game in Wimbledon and the clash of the Andy’s was widely expected to go in the favour of the Brit. Even the bookies would have you believe so. Yet, even as the whole world was audibly calling him the underdog, he played like an alpha. For a third time, he found himself in the Wimbledon final. Unfortunately, on the other side was Roger Federer, once again.

Wimbledon in 2004 and 2005 and the US Open in 2006, World No. 1 and many more titles – all would have been his if not for that man from Basel. As with the semis against Murray, he wasn’t expected to do much in the final. He was expected to be just a formality in the pages of history. The only pity is that that is exactly what he did end up becoming. What you might not see in those pages is that for a greater part of that match, Andy Roddick played better than his opponent. He served better, rallied better and amazingly, out-manoeuvred one of the greatest movers of the game. He had five chances to take a 2 sets to 1 lead. He was only ever broken once in the match, and that was a fatal break.

He would have deserved the call of “Game, Set and Match, Roddick”. After winning 2 sets and 14 games, to end up losing, is an example of the cruelty of this sport.

I’m the most successful bad player ever.

His only Grand Slam success came in 2003, in the US Open. In front of a capacity crowd in his home country, he defeated Juan Carlos Ferrero to lift the championship trophy. He remains, till today, the last American to win a Major, and the last man to lift a title in his country.

A big favourite of the media, his wit and character in the press-box has had many reporters squealing with delight. He once remarked that if there was ever a ranking for press conferences, he would never have to worry about dropping out of the top ten.

When you come off something really disappointing, you want to come back and kind of regroup and get involved in something positive right away.

In hindsight, it would be unfair to call his career disappointing. But for a few moments, he could have had an amazingly successful career. As he gets set to unstring his racquet for a final time, all I can hope is that he continues to be associated with the sport.

Andy Roddick the player was great to watch. Andy Roddick the commentator would make the sport even more fun!

All the best Andy!