Roddick
Say one thing for Andy Roddick, he sure has been in some of the most incredible matches of the decade. Today’s five set victory over Lleyton Hewitt was emblematic of those other occasions, because usually they are five setters Roddick shoudl’ve wrapped up. Today was no exception.
I can’t say enough about Hewitt’s resurgence in this tournament. His victory over Juan Martin del Potro was scintillating and his follow up performances have been grand. He served 21 aces against Roddick, which is just exceptional for Hewitt.
Listening to radio Wimbledon during this match was a treat, as usual. There was no doubt that they were Hewitt partisans. They were incredulous that Roddick, who had a 2 sets to 1 lead, suddenly looked lost, clueless and unconfident. As they called the end of the fourth set, the commentators exclaimed “that was an appalling backhand from Roddick!…his wife isgoing to need a manicure out of this because she’s eating her nails!” They called his game “irresponsible” and as a longtime Roddick fan, it’s hard to disagree with this assessment. Roddick is a curious case as a tennis player, because he is not a choker…. yet when the matches get tight during grand slams, Roddick loses his mind and his nerve. He plays scared. He has yet to be able to channel the mental stress into shots that will close matches out. And no doubt he should’ve caused out Hewitt sooner.
Radio Wimbledon Loves Lleyton
That said, the commentators were worshipping Hewit pretty hard. Take for example the fifth set, which saw Roddick holding serve easily and pushing Hewitt – hard – on Hewitt’s serve. You would’ve thought Roddick was the 1,000 ranked singles player as on every shot they screamed “what great play from Hewitt!” When Hewitt’s groundstrokes went haywire, the commentators sobbed that “Lleyton’s forehand is causing him pain and anguish, and Roddick is now looking the calmer of the two and don’t think this match is over if he breaks because it’s Hewitt on the other side of the net!”
Ok, down boys. We all love the way Lleyton competes. But Roddick is no slouch and truth be told, I would take Roddick serving for the match over just about anyone. He struggles way too much on the way to serving for the match…but seriously, I knew the guy would serve it out. He’s a bundle of nerves, but never a choker.
The commentators kept acknowleding Roddick’s backhand, which was just superb. But lost on them was the fact that we have never before witnessed Roddick hitting so many superb backahnds. It’s always been one of his weaknesses.
Roddick is a polarizing figure among tennis fans. Like Jon Wertheim at CNNSI.com, I remained confused about why. He showed great class in victory today, giving the Aussie fans a thumbs up and appluading them for their superior support for Hewitt.
In his interview, Roddick said he was “relieved and really really happy, I haven’t been in the mix in the grand slams for the last two years, now I’ve made my second semi of the year.” He praised Lleyton and offered his opinion that Lleyton hurt himself in the fourth set. As to the mutual appreciation of the players at the net, Roddick said “we used to get into it a bit when we were younger, but we’ve earned mutual respect and now we’re a couple of old married dudes.”
The Brit commenators are still superior even with the Hewitt hyperventiallating. The bluntness is refreshing. I’d much rather listen to them tell it like it is – that Roddick’s brain is “AWOL” and he had no idea what he was doing… we don’t hear that on American tv, even from John McEnroe.
Key Statistics
Roddick scored on an astonishing 73% of first serves, with 43 aces to just 4 double faults. That should tell you something about how well Hewitt played when he did get a look at a second ball. Two statistics must be improved upon by Roddick. First, he approached the net 42 times, but Hewitt actually got to the net more, 47 times. That can’t happen. He must be more aggressive.
Second, he had 15 break point chances but only converted 4 times, 27%. That’s not good enough. Give credit to Hewitt though for some big serving at crucial points.
So where does this leave Roddick?
With a very difficult match against hometown hero Andy Murray annd a well deserved #6 ranking, which will probably be #5 after the tournament. Andy had to work his ass off to get back in the semifinals of these tournaments and hold steady at #6. It’s deserving and not easy with the emergence of younger players with great potential.
I disagree with the commentator’s conclusion that Murray would much rather play Roddick than Hewitt. Not true. The serve alone makes him more dangerous. But it’s a huge mountain to climb against a confident Murray, who I think will win.
Passing Shots 
Posted on July 1, 2009
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