Even though I always wanted him to win, I’ve often been harsh on Andy Roddick in the past, accusing him of not trying hard enough, and that he was more concerned with being a celebrity than a top-level tennis player. I was wrong.
Roddick proved that today, with a hard-fought loss to Federer in the Wimbledon final. Andy stretched the match as far as possible, when Federer broke his serve for the first time all match at 15-14 in the marathon fifth set.
Early in the match, I thought Roddick might prove me right, when he blew a 6-2 lead in the second set tiebreaker to throw away a chance to go up 2 sets to none. He kept his energy level up, though, even after he lost another tiebreaker in the third set. I’ve never seen him cover so much ground on the court and run after so many borderline balls. He left it all on the court, and at the end of the day, there’s no shame in losing a match like that to the greatest player ever.
Andy Roddick may never be the next great American tennis player, but today he proved to me that he has the heart of a champion. I’ll be cheering for him in the US Open.
5 Responses:
Great quick article. Roddick gained a fan in me today. That whole match I wanted to see them both win. Epic stuff left out on the court. Great job Roddick.
Roddick should have been the next great tennis player, but unfortunately for him great tennis players now come from all over the world, as opposed to the US/Australia/Germany limitations of a decade ago...
In other words, its much harder to be a great tennis player now than it was 10 years ago...
Roddick has experience in marathon fifth sets. I remember his 22-20 fifth set against Younes El-Anouye in Australia back in 2003.
Or Aynaoui. Close enough.
Roddick seems to get into marathon matches every couple years.
I remember watching the 2001 French open when he beat Michael Chang in five sets that came in just under four hours.
I've been a disappointed Roddick fan since then; he's had so much potential, and he just hasn't ever quite put it together.
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