I hope so, but it’ll be tough to take down Roger Federer given his recent dominance and past success at Flushing Meadows. Either way, that’s not stopping some critics from predicting an upset.
THINK! Tennis is a strategy as much as a physical thing. Don’t fall apart just because you’ve fallen behind.
Roddick has heard these things for years, from one coach after another.
It took this long to finally hit him that his career had peaked, and was only going to go one direction from here.
What Wimbledon showed, what made for the converts, was that Roddick finally understood. He had started listening to the latest coach, Larry Stefanki.
In defeat at Wimbledon, he was a guy not afraid in crunch time, a guy who had lost weight, learned a backhand, come to the net occasionally.
He was a guy fighting to the death on the other guy’s, the king’s, favorite court, the sport’s most-hallowed ground. Roddick is going to win this Open. The draw opened up perfectly for him. Nadal, Andy Murray and Juan Martin del Potro will have to fight it out on the other side of the draw.
I’ll be rooting for Roddick the entire tournament — I just don’t think his chances of winning are very high. He and Federer are in the same draw, along with Novak Djokovic, Fernando Verdasco, and Robin Soderling, who’s been impressive all year. The earliest Roddick could face Federer is in the semifinals and I still believe the Swiss would get the better of the rebounding American.
Roddick has only one Grand Slam to his name while Federer holds the record with 15. Roddick’s victory came at the 2003 U.S. Open and ever since then he’s been stopped by Federer and Rafael Nadal. Now that Americans (and foreign tennis fans as well) have come around to Roddick, hopefully their support will give him that extra boost if he happens to meet Federer. I’m amazed at what Federer has accomplished in his career, but now it’s time to root for our own guys. Roddick’s win at the U.S. Open wouldn’t just matter for his career, but it is something American tennis desperately needs. We have the Williams sisters, but the competition is so thin on the WTA Tour it’s often grueling to watch. After Andre Agassi retired, Roddick was supposed to carry the torch as America’s dominant male tennis player and win Grand Slam after Grand Slam. While he is undoubtedly the best in the country, it would certainly help the sport in America if he could capture the U.S. Open championship this year.
Three things that are obvious about Andy Roddick: 1) His wife, Brooklyn Decker, is a smokin’ babe; 2) He looks like Stifler from the “American Pie” movies; 3) Roger Federer always beats him in the important matches. This has been Federer’s year, but enough already! I’d like Roddick’s work ethic and drive to pay off where it counts. And what better place than in New York at the U.S. Open?
The U.S. Open starts tomorrow and will conclude on September 13th. Early round coverage will air on ESPN2.
