Friday, June 24, 2011

Andy Roddick


Andy Roddick of the USA, the No. 8 seed, is a three-time Wimbledon runner-up. He lost Friday in the third round to Feliciano Lopez of Spain 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-2), 6-4. He spoke with USA TODAY's Douglas Robson.
I made it onto Centre Court again Friday, and I can report that my camp was 0-fer again in predicting where I'd play. They had to play someone first, and it wasn't going to be Andy Murray. I thought it was going to be Rafa Nadal .
Lopez would have beaten most guys today. There are only two or three guys that would have had a look at him today the way that he played. He played less predictable than when I beat him at Queens a couple weeks ago (I got on his serving patterns, and he played a horrendous game when he was up a break in the third set).
  • DIARY: Roddick talks about his career

He mixed it up well. He was also 4-for-4 or 4-for-5 on passing-shot winners in the tiebreakers. I thought he played well.
  • DIARY: Grip adjustment helps serve

I heard a stat that 10 of my 11 losses at Wimbledon have involved losing a tiebreaker. I lost two today, but I think that's a B.S. stat. Of course if you lose a couple of them they are crucial, but my tiebreaker record over here is ridiculous.
My season? Pretty average. It doesn't change anything as I head into the summer hardcourt swing. I have a sense of urgency. I've had that from the word go. I'm always playing for whatever week I'm in. I don't take a loss and say, 'Oh big deal.' I feel them. I always have. You just go back to work. This loss today will not hurt like last year, when I lost in the fourth round to Yen-Hsun Lu. I was so mad at myself I couldn't stand it. That was tougher for me.
It wasn't a great day for another promising American player, Ryan Harrison, who lost in five sets to David Ferrer after their match was suspended in the fourth set Thursday. We actually warmed up together. I didn't sense any nerves from him. We honestly had a great hit. I told him I thought it was good that he stopped last night because Ferrer was starting to get on his serve. I told him it's a good thing because you have to start over, and he'll have to find his range again. It's not a fifth set. It's a one-set shootout. But you'll have to start well. It was a tough loss, but he'll learn.
I'm looking forward to our Davis Cup tie vs. Spain in Austin in a couple weeks. Since it's where I live I feel like my professional and personal worlds are coming together. In my mind, the lineup is set. I don't know who else (captain Jim Courier) would pick besidesMardy Fish, the Bryan brothers and myself. A bigger question is Nadal. I don't know if Rafa is going to play. He traditionally hasn't played Davis Cup right after Wimbledon. And he's never come over to play a tie in the States.
As I said the other day, I wish we had more celebrated stats in tennis. Football a 1,000-yard rushing season, which is sweet. Someone with a 70- or 80-win season in tennis? Unbelievable. I just wish we had more tangible numbers in our sport. It's crazy to me, Mardy and I have discussed this a lot. In the NBA, how many guys make the All-Star team? Like 24? But someone in the top 20 in the world in tennis doesn't get any respect. Mardy would be a four-time All-Star by now. I don't like the way the bulk of the media represents somebody as 18 or 20 in the world and don't give much respect to it.
As for me, I'm reading and watching less of the press and TV than I ever have when it comes to tennis. I used to be a big fan of the Google search of myself and now I don't do it. It doesn't help much. To be honest, I am a little tired of defending a career that will at least be reviewed by the Hall of Fame. I think I've reached the point that I'm a little tired of defending it. Being where I've been in the game is a blessing in a million ways, and I wouldn't change it for a second. But I might have stopped focusing on media coverage last summer when I had to defend why there wasn't an American guy in the top 10 over and over. I shouldn't be the one defending that.
Speaking of court placement, I think Serena and Venus have a point. If you compare their Wimbledon success to their closest male contemporaries, say Rafa and Roger, I don't think you would see them on Court 2 ever. I'm sure Wimbledon has its reasons. With Li Na yesterday, for instance, there's a whole world over there going nuts about tennis now, so I understand putting her on Centre Court. I get it. But I think Serena and Venus might have a right to be hacked off, too.

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