Roddick Watch

Roddick Watch on Indefinite Hiatus

2010-10-22T18:32:00.017-04:00

The time has come to state what now has become obvious: this blog will be on indefinite hiatus. Which basically means I will update it whenever I'm inspired enough to do so but it will be intermittent and most likely dependent on how well Andy plays next year. Should Andy realize his dream of winning Wimbledon (or any other slam for that matter) I can assure you I will be back to spam this place like nobody's business, but the combination of a new demanding job that has me working 10-hour days, personal issues that suck the emotional and mental energy out of me, and general tennis burn-out, has contributed to my dwindling interest in updating this blog on a regular schedule that fans can depend on. You guys deserve better.

Don't think that I've given up on tennis, I certainly have not, but real life has finally infringed upon my virtual tennis fandom world. I find that I simply don't have the time or energy to watch as many tennis matches as I used to. Just now I am getting around to watching some of the US Open matches, that's how far behind I've gotten. I don't mind the tennis backlog, it gives me something to look forward to during the fall and winter when tennis is in hibernation. But to do a blog properly you need to be up-to-date and on the ball, and I have been neither in the past year.

I have not given up on the Roddick either, nosiree. I have, in fact, moved updates from this blog to Twitter, which is much easier for me to handle at this time. You can follow at http://twitter.com/roddickwatch I will follow you back. This twitter feed will be nothing but Roddick-related news, videos, and photos. You can still follow me at http://twitter.com/tangerine_dream for general tennis comments and updates, which includes my fangirling over "Rafole" (Nadal and Djokovic) and "Mad Men"; the occasional political comment; a few grumpy observations about life in general; and other random everyday things, if you're interested.

I've enjoyed writing this blog for Roddick fans, and hope to do so again soon, and I look forward to connecting with other Roddick/tennis fans and continuing the fanfare on Twitter.

"Anyone can give up. It's the easiest thing in the world to do, but to hold on when everyone else would've understood why you fell apart - that's true strength." —Andy Roddick

I still believe.

Andy Begs Fans to Follow Him on Twitter

2010-07-15T16:39:00.004-04:00

The new US Open series commercials have aired! As in real life, Serena Williams plays the straight (wo)man to Andy's clown, LOL. These two are going to make a great mixed doubles team in the 2012 Olympics.

If there's anybody out there who's not following Roddick on twitter, seriously, what's up with that? He's one of the best sports twitterers out there. He's honest, funny, and keeps it real. If you insult him he'll retweet you, and you'll gain tons of new followers! He actually tweets on his own and doesn't get a publicist to do it for him; he doesn't try to sell us crap or use twitter as public relations tool (ahem, Serena), he trash talks Serena (she gives as good as she gets) and other athletes who are dumb enough to challenge him to a duel. To see Andy grow from a daily "Morning!" tweet to him mocking Lindsay Lohan and Mel Gibson brings a tear to my eye. Nobody does the twitterverse better.

The Tennis Channel's James LaRosa offers us "The Tennis Player Twitter Ten Commandments", and Andy doesn't break any of the cardinal twitter rules, especially the first one, THOU SHALT NOT BE BORING.

1. THOU SHALT NOT BE BORING.

I told you this was the cardinal rule, did you think I was joking? This is going to hurt, but I say it with love: I don't care what you had for lunch. Seriously. Did you just have a killer workout and now it's off for treatment? You and everyone else chick. Flight delayed? Loving your new iPad? Zzz. No one's asking you to spread locker room gossip (Direct Message me with that shiz) or trash talk your next opponent, but behind the scenes anecdotes? We love 'em! Unless they're about Jean-Claude Van Damm. Then we're just concerned for you. Ain't nothin' going on but the rent? Start a twitter slapfight with another player.

Exhibit A: From Andy Roddick and Serena Williams:

Andy to Serena - @serenajwilliams you shut your mouth when you're talking to me

Serena to Andy - @andyroddick u r such a jerk. Lol

There's some context here, but it doesn't matter. Mommy and daddy are fighting! Not boring. Well done, Serena and Andy.

Can you imagine how dull Roger Federer would be on Twitter? "I played a fantastic match today it was unbelievable I'm so happy everybody saw me win again, thanks again for being my loyal fans." Zzz. Or Maria Sharapova? (publicist) "Miss Sharapova's new perfume "Shrieker" is available at Macy's, text 666 to win!" Zzz.

$100,000 cash reward to the person(s) who can convince Novak Djokovic or Dimitry Tursunov to get on twitter!

Hi, I'm Andy Roddick, Check This Out

2010-05-21T13:04:00.005-04:00

Here's a video of a great between-the-legs shot Andy pulled off in his exo match with Josselin Ouanna yesterday. Unfortunately he lost in two tiebreaks but he did beat Mikhail Youzhny today 6-3 6-2. After pulling out of Madrid with a stomach bug, this small exo is the only way Andy can get in some match play before Roland Garros begins Sunday.

The draw for Roland Garros is out, and this would be a great draw if it were Wimbledon. But it's french clay and unless a miracle occurs I don't see how Andy will get past David Ferrer in the fourth round. If he can escape from Paris injury-free I will be happy. At this point in Andy's career it's all about winning Wimbledon.

Peter Bodo would rather not have to watch Roddick play Jarkko Nieminen in the first round:

No. 6 Andy Roddick versus Jarkko Nieminen: Roddick has played exactly zero matches on clay this year, having pulled out of Madrid with a stomach bug. I like Andy Roddick; it pains me to see Roddick lose early in tournaments, and Nieminen is a crafty, somewhat eccentric stylist with a deep bag of tricks. This is a perilous one, and it's way too early in the tournament to bite my fingernails down to the quick.

Tennis Siesta

2009-12-09T19:24:00.022-05:00

It's the tennis off-season, hurray! Andy's knee is finally healed and he's started training again. He has been busy playing in many charities and entertaining us with his player impersonations. Here's one I hadn't seen before, Andy does Pete Sampras:

If you missed seeing Andy and Serena play at World Team Tennis last night the entire video is available free online. To sum up: Andy is quite rusty, Serena beat Andy again, Elton John has a wicked forehand, it was a fun time had by all.

Mary Carillo says she senses that Andy Roddick could be one of 2010's big tennis stories. Let's hope so! If anybody deserves to have a great year, it's Andy.

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Andy in ACE magazine. Scan courtesy of claire.

My brain went on an extended tennis siesta after Andy lost to John Isner at the US Open, and when he came up lame vs Stan Wawrinka in Shanghai I was almost relieved that he was forced to sit out the rest of the year so that I would have an excuse not to watch any more tennis. Seriously, I may be a tennis nerd but the season is too freaking long.

Catching up on some Roddick news:

SI mailbag, December 9:

What's your best tennis memory from 2009? —Kate C., New York

JON WERTHEIM: Here's a less obvious one. I'm watching Andy Roddick play John Isner during the middle weekend of the U.S. Open. I turn around and see a vaguely familiar face. Eventually I realize that it's Jerry Roddick. He's sitting in the stands, far from the players' box, where television cameras are unlikely to find him. Some context here: In his previous Grand Slam, Andy Roddick reached the Wimbledon final and, of course, lost heartbreakingly to Federer in the fifth set. As the match progresses, Jerry Roddick is a statue. His facial expression doesn't change. There's no outward emotion. No cheering and scowls over unforced errors or bad line calls. The match goes to a fifth set. Then a tiebreaker. Isner dials in his serves and -- just like that -- Roddick is eliminated from another Grand Slam in a five-setter, a few points making all the difference. You can only imagine what it must be like watching your son lose like this yet again. But, as thousands of fans go nuts, Jerry Roddick grimaces a tiny bit, shakes his head as if to say, win-some, lose-some, and leaves his seat and walks onto the concourse unnoticed, his head buried in a baseball cap but held high. In a sport (culture at large?) that doesn't always do restraint and dignity real well, I was struck by this.

City and Shore magazine: "Advantage Andy Roddick: Tennis star wraps an extraordinary year with ninth charity weekend":

C&S: What was it about Brooklyn Decker that made her the one?

AR: I 'stalked' Brooklyn because she was so beautiful and informed about all sports. Curiosity got the best of me. I somehow managed a date and fell in love with a truly beautiful and intelligent woman. How lucky can one guy be?

C&S: Brooklyn has been credited with encouraging you to reinvigorate your game. True?

AR: To be successful, you need people to believe in you. Brooklyn is my biggest fan and the most positive person I know.

C&S: Any goals for 2010?

AR: Winning Wimbledon is at the top of my list.

Click on the link above for more interesting Q&A.

Charles Bricker: "Looking at the 2010 Andy Roddick":

Why has Roddick improved? Here are the salient points:

• Higher fitness level after some weight loss.

• Higher confidence in the longer rallies. He has never been as good as he is today grinding points, and that accounts in part for his best-ever round-of-16 finish at the French Open.

• Transition game. It's still a work in progress, but compare Roddick's work inside the service line today with even a year ago. He's a more solid volleyer. His footwork around the net is better. Most of all, his flow to the net from the backcourt is smarter, more technically sound.

[. . .] He will continue to be a factor at the three fast-court Slams because, unlike a lot of players who just sort of "play it out" in their late 20s, Roddick continues to learn.

Click on the link above to read more of Bricker's breakdown of Andy's improvements.

Cute Andy icon created by Ethan at RF.com

I Don't Mean To Brag But...

...the World's Best Worst Tennis Player has been ensconced in the Top Ten for eight years straight now (seven years in the top eight). Andy finishes his 2009 year at world number seven. Vamos, Andy!

SI mailbag, November 11:

Hopefully this makes the mailbag because I just killed two hours of "work-time" researching this. Hi, Jon, something for all of the anti-Roddites out there: Roddick and Federer will finish the year in the top 10 for the seventh consecutive year. The only other players to accomplish the feat (since the ATP began keeping rankings in 1973) are: Connors (16 years in a row), Ivan Lendl (13), Sampras (12), Stefan Edberg (10), Guillermo Vilas (9), Andre Agassi (8 in a row and 16 of 18), Boris Becker (8), Bjorn Borg (8), John McEnroe (8) and Mats Wilander (7). Not a bad list to be included in. —Blake Redabaugh, Denver

JON WERTHEIM: Next time we read one of those grim reports about productivity, we'll think of you, Blake Redabaugh. I would like some consulting firm to study what percent of "work time" is devoted to on-line fun. Anyway, according to the ATP, Blake is correct. And, yes, this does speak well of Roddick.

I've written this before, but I've noticed that the "anti-Roddites" seem to be an international movement that uses Roddick as a sort of "tennis pr0xy" for everything they don't like about the United States in general: Lots of power but a deficit of nuance. A certain cowboy swagger. Wit and irony that, while funny and familiar to those of us who watch Jon Stewart, sometimes gets lost in translation. Assuming the polls and anecdotal evidence are to be believed, the global impression of the U.S. has surged in the past week. Maybe Roddick's popularity in the Republic of Tennis will spike accordingly.

In Wifey News...

Brooklyn is climbing her way up the high-end modeling ladder. She has recently modeled for Elle's new "Make Better" fitness/healthy/beauty DVDs, she talks about it here. There is more information about the DVDs here, where you can also purchase.

Kanye West Interrupts Roger Federer

2009-09-16T13:02:00.003-04:00

Via KanyeGate. Thanks for the laugh.

If you don't get the joke, watch this. Yes, it was staged, just like the Eminem/Bruno incident at the MTV Movie Awards earlier this year was also staged. These awards shows are so bad that they've become desperate for ratings. It's no wonder I haven't watched them in years.

btw, Federer and Nadal were joked about on "90210" last night:

"Aren't you supposed to be like Federer or something?"

"Nah more like Nadal."

Haha. It's nice to see tennis mentioned in popular culture.

Andy Roddick on David Letterman Tonight

2009-08-27T16:13:00.018-04:00

Updated August 28, 2009

Andy's appearance on David Letterman last night was great. Andy was relaxed and funny and best of all, no holes in his jeans! Although wearing black socks with brown shoes is a no-no. C'mon Brooklyn, help fix your man's wardrobe. :)

The US Open Facebook page has lots of photos of Andy making the rounds yesterday. Check them out. But those pics of Andy wearing a Yankees baseball cap? Ow, my eyes, my eyes...

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Originally posted August 27, 2009

Today is a busy day for Andy Roddick, and for his fans whose DVR's will be busy.

For the first time ever, the US Open draw was announced live on ESPNews early this afternoon. Andy is in Roger Federer's half of the draw, and in Novak Djokovic's quarter. Nadal, Murray, and Del Potro are all on the other side. Andy's first-round opponent will be Germany's Bjorn Phau.

At 1:00pm today, Andy threw out the ceremonial first pitch for the Yankees-Rangers baseball game.

NEW YORK - AUGUST 27: Tennis player Andy Roddick throws out the first pitch of the game between the New York Yankees and the Texas Rangers on August 27, 2009 at Yankees Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Getty Images)

This afternoon, Andy will tape his guest appearance on The David Letterman Show, which will air tonight (Thurs., August 27) at 11:35pm EST. This is Andy's first appearance on Letterman in six years.

Later on this evening, Andy will attend the 10th annual BNP Paribas Taste of Tennis. Also attending will be Lleyton Hewitt, Tommy Haas, Billie Jean King and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who will cook-up culinary aces alongside TV personality and celebrity chef Bethenny Frankel, Carla Hall and Ariane Duarte from Bravo’s “Top Chef,” and Gotham Bar and Grill’s Alfred Portale.

On Saturday, Andy will attend 2009 Arthur Ashe Kids' Day which will air on Sunday, Aug. 30 (Andy's 27th birthday!) on CBS from 12:00pm - 1:30pm EST. I will also be attending AAKD, yippee! Click here for more info if you want to go to AAKD. Other players who are planning to attend: Roger Federer, Serena Williams, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Maria Sharapova, Kim Clijsters, James Blake, and Rafael Nadal. A superstar roster, for sure.

Also on Sunday, ESPN Classic will re-air the classic Roddick-Nalbandian 2003 USO semifinal at 7:00pm EST. If you have ESPN Classic and never saw this match I highly recommend it. As one Twitter fan put it, "This was the match that made me a Roddick fan." He wasn't the only one.

Andy, Bobby, and a Huge Bucket of Fail

2009-07-29T15:02:00.009-04:00

The Object: You have ten chances to get Andy Roddick's serve back.

Result: Lifetime humiliation and an honorable mention at the Fail Blog.

Click here to listen to the "Bobby Vs. Andy's Serve" podcast, and here's their preview of the showdown from the day before.

Click here to browse other Bobby Bones podcasts.

Roddick Rains on Murraymania Parade

2009-07-04T18:22:00.024-04:00

SF: Roddick def Murray 
6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (9-7), 7-6 (7-5)

And I'm still over the moon about it, nor can I quite put into words what I'm feeling. What a legendary performance from Andy Roddick. No doubt this ranks as one of his best wins in his career.

As it happened: Andy Murray vs Andy Roddick, Wimbledon 2009 [The Guardian]

Nobody gave Andy a snowball's chance in hell of beating Murray. Not any "expert" or pundit, not the bettors sites, not his own fans and defenders (not even me), and certainly not the British media who have been drunk on Murraymania all week long and had looked past Roddick in anticipation of their "dream final" of Murray vs Federer.

Larry Stefanki and Team Roddick did not get that memo. They had a master plan worked out and Roddick executed it beautifully. The world ate a massive piece of humble pie when the forgotten and dismissed champion, Andy Roddick, sent the Scottish hero home to bed without any supper. Eat up, everyone. Om nom nom.

Here's a video of Andy's interview with Mary Carillo and John McEnroe after his semifinal win over Andy Murray. You can see just how much the win meant to him and how humbled he is by making another Wimbledon final, something he thought he'd never do again.

"I feel like the guy who shot Bambi." — Andy Roddick, on beating Murray

And here is Andy's after-match oncourt interview with the BBC. If you saw this live tell me you did not tear up watching this. I don't cry often over sports but seeing Andy collapse on the stairs while the Wimbledon club members applauded him really got me choked up. Mary Carillo said Andy did not know that the cameraman was right behind him. What a moment.

Video: Roddick beats Murray then collapses

"Our Andy beat your Andy!" — gleeful headline from ESPN's Sportscenter

Collection of Web Headlines

Andy Wins Five-Set Thriller

2009-07-01T18:46:00.028-04:00

Updated July 2, 2009

The USTA has begun rolling out its new US Open series commercials, "It Must Be Love", featuring several tennis players talking about how great it is to play the summer North American hardcourts. Here's Andy's video. You can view other players including Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Serena and Venus Williams here.

New US Open Series commercial: It Must Be Love

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Updated July 2, 2009

ESPN Video: Andy Roddick on Advancing to the Semifinals

Related news items:
• "Roddick kept career on track" [SF Gate, Bruce Jenkins]

A lesser man would have retreated by now. Perhaps not an outright retirement, but a slow fade into irrelevance. Credit Andy Roddick - "the best bad tennis player of all time," as he jokingly calls himself - for offering a remarkable study in perseverance.

• "Roddick has gotten crafty in his advanced age" [WSJ]

When he arrived on the tour in 2000, Andy Roddick had a thunderous 140 mph serve and little regard for finesse, not unlike a young Nolan Ryan or Randy Johnson. These days, Mr. Roddick, 26, still unloads on the ball, but it’s his Greg Maddux-like craftiness that allows him to remain the best server in tennis.

• "Hewitt writes off Roddick's chances against Murray" [AFP]

"I think it's going to be a tough one for Roddick to win. When I've seen Andy Murray at his best, I think he matches up extremely well against Roddick," said Hewitt. "A couple years ago I saw them play here because they were in my section, and Murray took care of him convincingly. Murray's a lot better player now than he was then. Roddick's going to have to play a helluva match to beat him."

• "At Wimbledon, Andy Roddick flies solo as America's ace" [NY Daily News, Filip Bondy]

Maybe it's time we stop picking on Andy Roddick.

This is no easy resolution, because Roddick is the only men's tennis player we get to kick around in America. He is, by default, the sole target for our frustration, rage and impatience. If we must rant about our limitations with a racket, about our six years without a single Grand Slam title, then Roddick is the guy.

• "Roddick wants to do more than show up" [NY Times, Christopher Clarey]

After succeeding in working his way back into the conversation at the top of men’s tennis, now comes the harder part for Andy Roddick: winning the argument.

• "Don't count out Andy Roddick at Wimbledon" [NY Daily News, Mike Lupica]

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QF: Roddick def Hewitt 
6-3, 6-7 (10-12), 7-6 (7-1), 4-6, 6-4

It's like 2002 all over again with the "New Balls" (now Old Balls, as Andy said in his presser) Andy, Lleyton Hewitt, Juan Carlos Ferrero, and Tommy Haas all in the quarterfinals. I'd add Federer to the list but he's been there all along; with these four it's more like a class reunion.

Reporter: It's a bit of a revival of the 'New Balls Please' campaign right now in the quarter-finals, yes?

Andy Roddick: Now we're just Old Balls. (entire room dies laughing)

This is Andy's fourth Wimbledon semifinal appearance in his career.

ESPN Video: Roddick Outlasts Hewitt To Reach Semis

So it's Andy vs Andy in the semis. The 'real' Andy versus the 'other' Andy (depending on where you live). That will be a crazy match. Keep it going, Andy. As Michael Jackson would say, Don't stop 'til you get enough.

What They're Saying on Twitter

andyroddick 124 home...... 4 left

Wimbledon Roddick says playing Murray will be something to remember. "I'm going to pretend when they say 'C'mon Andy!' that they're shouting for me!"

dougspreen Now that was not a match that was a war. Great win in 5 tough sets today for Andy. Very, very proud of him!!! Toughness and heart!!

Andy Roddick's Beast of Burden

2009-06-29T12:40:00.014-04:00

I hate to say it but I'm having a hard time getting into Wimbledon this year, partly due to Rafael Nadal having to withdraw. Whether you're a fan of his or not for a slam to not have its defending champion play at all is a big loss. I've been watching some of the matches with one eye open but I've mostly been distracted by the Iranian election protests, and then on Thursday two 80s icons, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson, died. Talk about a punch to the stomach. When the news of Jackson's death hit the internet I was feeling rather discombobulated about it all. I was surprised how much his death had affected me.

I'm not surprised that Jackson's death affected the tennis players, many of whom were born around the time Jackson ruled the airwaves (and MTV back when they used to play music videos):

Andy Roddick via Twitter:
oh my lord..... michael jackson died........ RIP sad and surreal

regardless of what u think of him he was completely revolutionary and will be missed

@mrbobbybones yeah absolutely this is a worldwide thing ... goes without saying. its continuin coverage on all major newsfeeds here
2:16 AM Jun 26th from web

Roger Federer said this:

Q. Where were you and what were your immediate thoughts when you heard the news that Michael Jackson had died?

ROGER FEDERER: I was at the house late last night. Obviously, you know, I love his music. It wasn't clear, you know, what had happened, you know. So I waited for sort of to see what's gonna happen and the confirmation.

Sure, a very sad moment I think in the music world. You know, he touched many people. Same for me. But I'll obviously still listen to his music for many more years to come.

Q. What do you consider the aspect that you appreciate the most of his performances?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, I remember, I don't know, back maybe in '88 or '89, he came to Basel. I was outside of the stadium, because there was such excitement that he would come. I was still very young. I think I went there with my sister, and we just listened from the outside, you know.

Yeah, always listened to his music. And, yeah, it's sad. You know, it really is.

And Serena Williams paid her respects to the King of Pop:

Q. What did Michael Jackson mean to you personally? Would you think about dedicating today's victory perhaps?

SERENA WILLIAMS: No, I mean, he was a great guy, a complete icon. Words can't express my shock and horror, you know, just thoughts and prayers that go out to him and his family and just everything. It's just terrible, terrible, terrible thing.

I'm surprised nobody has elicited a response from Novak Djokovic about Jackson's death because Novak did a great dance routine of "Thriller" at the Monte Carlo party this year:

As for Farrah, my sister and I used to watch "Charlie's Angels" all the time. We had the dolls, the hideaway house, the Farrah bust where you could style her famous hair and put on her makeup. We could never get the hair to look like the real-life Farrah's. Many people hated that show but to little girls like us, Charlie's Angles' were the original Girl Power supergroup. RIP to both Ms. Fawcett and Mr. Jackson.

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Getting back to the tennis, with regards to this blog post's title, ESPN aired a nice profile of Andy's trials and tribulations of living in the Federer-Nadal era. Watch it here. And good luck to Andy today, I hope he can beat Tomas Berdych in straight sets.

Andy visits with Jonathan Ross, hilarity ensues

2009-06-07T00:45:00.024-04:00

Andy Roddick did a radio interview with Jonathan Ross today. It'll be available for six days. The intro for Andy begins around 2:09:55. Andy himself finally shows up somewhere around 2:40:30.

You can also download the .mp3 file here, thanks to Freedom Fly for the file!

Jonathan Ross LOL: "I don't have time to watch tennis it's on for bloody hours."

American Clay Monster

2009-06-01T13:07:00.030-04:00

Updated June 2, 2009

R16: Monfils def Roddick 6-4, 6-2, 6-3

"The Parisian crowd is quite stupid." — Toni Nadal, Rafa's uncle and coach.

Yeah, that's about right.

Congrats to Gael Monfils for jumping around like a goon and inciting the partisan crowd after breaking Andy in the third set when you were up two sets to love and in no danger of losing, that was real classy; congrats to the French Tennis Federation for their court judgement and biased scheduling, you got what you wanted, one of your home boys into the quarterfinals; and congrats to the tournament director who wouldn't call the match as it got dark even though they did it for Fabrice Santoro in the first round when he played Christophe Rochus when Rochus had only one game left to serve out.

Congrats to Andy on his best showing yet at the French Open and for behaving quite well considering the odds you were up against that day. Onwards now to playing real tennis on grass.

"Clay is for Mars." — Janko Tipsarevic

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R128: Roddick def Jouan 6-2, 6-4, 6-2
R64: Roddick def Minar 6-2, 6-2, 7-6(2)
R32: Roddick def Gicquel 6-1, 6-4, 6-4

"It's amazing, because you never hear the story of a clay court specialist, why don't you prepare and play better on grass? I've never once read that story in my life." —Andy Roddick

Once again Andy Roddick is the last American male standing at a grand slam, and frankly it's about time he lived up to his seeding and to his potential at Roland Garros. I've always felt that he's a better player on clay than people say he is. He has underperformed at the French, be it bad luck with injuries or (mostly) the lack of belief that permeates most of the American men's thinking. Finally, Andy has risen above all that and he fights today for a place in the quarterfinals, which would be his best showing at Roland Garros ever in his career. He has not dropped serve or a set yet.

You can watch Andy's completed matches and highlights here (U.S. residents only, I think). I found a livestream of Andy's match with Monfils here.

Here's Andy's interview with the Tennis Channel after his third round match.

Related news items:
• "Roddick keeps going and going and …?" [ESPN]
• "Roddick Sculptures Another Win in Paris" [New York Times]
• "Roddick Breaks Through to Fourth Round" [New York Times French Open blog]
• "Roddick's rebuilding finally makes him a threat on clay" [Yahoo! sports blog]
• "Improved Roddick putting on show at French Open" [Matt Cronin, Fox Sports]

Andy spams Twitter, calls Bobby Bones to Chat

2009-04-28T13:30:00.026-04:00

Andy and Brooklyn cut their honeymoon a bit short to attend a Dave Matthews Band concert in Charlotte last Friday. This morning Andy spammed on Twitter, admitting that he's only just learned how to use it today, wrote a new blog entry talking about the wedding and such, and called in to the Bobby Bones show to talk some more about his wedding and honeymoon.

Listen to the audio here.

Updated 4/30/09: Now Brooklyn has gotten into the Twittering habit. Check her out here.

He sounds happy and relaxed. Funny about his comment on the paparazzi photos of his wedding. He really was surprised by the media response. Unfortunately for him, by not selling rights to an official wedding portrait for charity that only made the paparazzi guys rich. Now that he knows better, he should keep this in mind for the next big event (hint: baby). Once burned, twice shy. Looks like Roger had the right idea selling exclusive rights to his wedding photos.

Tennis Weddings in the Media

Besides Roger's wedding making the cover of Hello! magazine, both he and Andy were also featured in this week's People magazine. The Broddick wedding was the No. 3 top story on People's website that week, and they also made Yahoo!'s home page featured story.

Back briefly to tennis, Rome has been interrupted by rain over the past few days and it's not due to clear up soon. Good thing Andy decided not to go, otherwise he would have likely picked up another injury on the muddy clay.

Bad Rumor Alert

I'd like to take this opportunity to ask various celebrity gossip sites to stop parroting one another by recycling this latest dumb rumor about Andy supposedly being obsessed with Mandy Moore. Both are now married to other people. Can't the rumor-mongers come up with anything better than this? Honestly, the only girl Andy should be obsessed with (besides his new wife) is the one that got away and her name is Wimbledon.

Andy and Brooklyn's Wedding Photos!

2009-04-20T11:46:00.014-04:00

I figured it might be either TMZ or JustJared to get the scoop on the Roddick-Decker wedding and TMZ did not disappoint! Lots of photos to scroll through here at TMZ. Brooklyn makes a gorgeous bride (she is wearing Vera Wang). Andy managed to get some golf in (he was wearing Tom Ford). See the families arrive for the event. Look at the lovely bridesmaids. Thanks, TMZ!

Andy and Brooklyn will honeymoon in Costa Rica. He should be back in time to play Rome, where he has semifinalist points to defend.

"Andy and Brooklyn Keep the Party Going": [People]

The Texas skies may have poured rain all day Friday, but that didn't dampen the anticipation of Andy Roddick and Brooklyn Decker leading into their wedding that night, pals of the newlyweds tell PEOPLE.

And the festivities spilled over into Saturday night, where the newlyweds partied with 250 guests at Stubb's Bar-B-Que, a large restaurant boasting live music in downtown Austin. A guest tells PEOPLE that the invitation specified a "denim-only" dress code, in keeping with the down-home atmosphere – though the groom wore cargo shorts while the bride sported a long dress.

The Spazmatics played till midnight, and the entire party danced and chowed down on brisket of beef and cole slaw as they ate on satin tablecloths decorated with lanterns and flowers.

When it came to Friday's nuptials, "Andy always wanted a backyard wedding," says a friend. As a result, rather than saying their vows outside of Roddick's lakeside home, the couple headed into a tent erected to protect the party from the stormy weather.

Federer Sells Out

In other bride news, Roger and Mirka sold exclusive rights of their wedding photos to a Swiss magazine, Schweizer Illustrierte.

Basler Zeitung:

"The 'Schweizer Illustrierte' is at least as happy as the newly married couple The magazine has won a contract to supply the world's first wedding pictures to show. This is done in the current issue as well - exclusively and at 12 pages. Federer, who secretly married over Easter had wanted for the pictures supposedly just the customary fee, which is now on his foundation's good."

It'll be interesting to see Andy and Brooklyn do the same thing.

Married!

2009-04-17T23:20:00.012-04:00

Updated April 19, 2009

James Blake, the handsome groom, Justin Gimelstob, Mardy Fish.
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The dirty deed has been done!

Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Roddick!

Via People magazine, "Andy Roddick and Brooklyn Decker Tie the Knot":

Andy Roddick married his fiancée, Brooklyn Decker, in a twilight ceremony at his Austin, Texas, home on Friday, PEOPLE has confirmed.

The tennis pro, 26, and the swimsuit model, 21, exchanged vows in an intimate candlelit ceremony before a group of close friends and family.

"They are absolutely perfect for each other," a family friend tells PEOPLE. "I think they knew that from the moment they met that they were perfect for each other."

At the ceremony, bridesmaids wore strapless, chocolate-colored gowns, and the setting was decorated with bright, tropical flowers. Guests – including tennis greats Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi – were also treated to a musical performance by Roddick's longtime friend, Sir Elton John.

The wedding was followed by dinner at Roddick's local country club.

Roddick and Decker, who started dating in 2007, announced their engagement in March 2008. The pair first met after Roddick asked his agent to track down a number for Decker, who appeared in Sports Illustrated's swimsuit edition.

Details on Broddick Nuptials Emerge

2009-04-16T20:25:00.011-04:00

Updated April 17, 2009

Weather's not looking so great in Austin, Texas today.

Looks nice and sunny in Charlotte, North Carolina. Too bad they're not getting wed in Brooklyn's neighborhood.

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Now that the whole world knows where they're getting married this weekend and what she'll be wearing, what are the chances this wedding will be ruined by the stalkarazzi? Or rain? Or wedding crashers? People are blabbing about private details and the local media is going bonkers over this "hush-hush" wedding. According to an Austin blog:

Brooklyn will wear a Vera Wang dress. Vera Wang offered to make the dress. She is a good friend of Andy’s. They know each other because Vera and Andy have stayed in neighboring properties in Hawaii for some time.

Andy had offers from several designers including Austin-born Tom Ford for his wedding outfit. However, he is keeping the look a secret until the wedding day.

There will be 30 people, mostly family and a few friends.

The Saturday reception will be at Stubb’s.

Andy doesn’t want to provide photos to the media.

Elton John will play at the wedding, which will likely be outside.

There isn’t a backup plan if there’s bad weather on Saturday.

Andy keeping his wedding look a secret? What's he gonna do, wear flip-flops? Ruffles? A new mohawk cut (after losing yet another bet to Brooke?)

They say they won't be releasing any photos to the public. That pretty much guarantees uninvited paparazzi guests. Smart move!

I'm still waiting for the punchline when somebody says "Ha ha, fooled ya! We eloped in Peru two weeks ago!"

Related news item: "Elton John expected at Andy Roddick's wedding" [People.com]

New AT&T commercial: Andy Roddick vs Bill Kurtis

2009-04-12T18:12:00.026-04:00

It looks like Andy has a new sponsor, AT&T. Check out his new commercial with Bill Kurtis. The copy line reads: "Andy Roddick may have the fastest serve in professional tennis, but Bill Kurtis proves that he's faster — on the Internet."

Andy doesn't say a word but his expressions are hilarious. A+ ad.

Andy and Brooklyn to Marry Next Weekend

That's the word on the street. Twitterers also report that Andy was seen celebrating his bachelor party in New Orleans this weekend. Their wedding is planned for next weekend in Austin. Sounds like a perfectly good reason to skip playing Monte Carlo! Andy joked about it at Indian Wells:

Q. Your upcoming wedding plans, any coincidence that's during the clay court season?

ANDY RODDICK: Well, it's — I mean, it's a little bit poetic. No, I'm joking. No, it's just — yeah, that's purely coincidental, I'm sure. *wink*

People magazine has reported it on their front page today.

US Weekly has also placed them on their front page.

And now Just Jared has too, as well as MSNBC.

Both Andy (#6) and Roger (#1) were named to SI's Top Ten Pop Culture Hot List this week:

Federer Finally Says "I Do"

Speaking of wedding bells, Roger Federer finally married his longtime love Mirka Vavrinec in a shotgun wedding in Basel, Switzerland. They will honeymoon in Monte Carlo where Roger accepted a wildcard to play. Their first baby is due this summer. Congrats to them!

Updated April 14, 2009

The World's Cheesiest Tennis Commercial Ever?

Speaking of commercials (or, viral videos), here's a new one for Head starring Novak Djokvoic and, um, this will either be the dumbest thing you've ever seen, the best, or my personal favorite: the cheesiest!

He's Come Undone

2009-04-04T14:40:00.009-04:00

"Don't feel too sorry for Roger because none of us do. He’s spent far too long getting right into our heads, now let’s see if he’s going to be subjected to a little anguish and self-belief problems." — Andy Roddick

Roger Federer is losing his mind. ESPN called it the best forehand he hit all day. I was shocked when Roger obliterated his racket like that but check out the end of the video where he's tossing his empty water bottles around while the ballboys scramble to pick them up. LOL. And people complain about Andy's behavior?

Regarding Andy's quote above, would you believe that he said that over a year ago, just before Queen's, but only now it's being reported? Craig Hickman had an interesting take:

It almost seems as though people have been sitting on this stuff just waiting until Raja fell.

Quite frankly, I have a problem with that.

Don't build a person up and then take pleasure in kicking them in the gut when they're down.

I don't want that for anyone, whether I like them or not.

Yes, Raja has the titles and the records.

But too many people propped him up. Not because he didn't deserve to be propped up, but there was virtually no critical insight into the majestic world Raja had created, not just through his tennis, but through his obvious efforts to "get right into [his competition's] heads." Many of these writers and analysts painted that world with saturated colors. Safe to say some even did their part in trying to ensure that the technicolor world never ended. As though they had a personal stake in its longevity. As though they couldn't live with themselves if Raja didn't break every record in tennis and wanted -- no needed -- to do all they could to help.

Andy said this last year and it's just coming out now?

That in itself is a story that someone needs to tell.

Amen, Craig. And what about the "He's human!" battlecry Roger's fans have been crying lately. Just now they figured that out. So who exactly are they trying to convince? I'll tell you who: themselves. It was they who put Federer on the Jesus pedestal in the first place. Now the shine has come off, and Roger's fans are understandably alarmed. The facade Roger has worked so hard to maintain all these years has crumbled like dirt under Nadal's feet. What to make of it all.

Watching Roger's miserable post-match interview was stunning. Roger lacks the je ne sais quoi that Andy often shows in his interviews after facing a heartbreaking loss but I couldn't believe what I was hearing when he said "Thank God the hardcourt season is over. I don’t care anymore. I’m moving over to clay, a new chapter."

You hear that? The world's best hardcourt player can't wait to move on to clay, where Rafa Nadal will most likely be waiting to kick dirt in his face again and rob him of his French Open title dream again.

It's like watching Roddick circa 2005. The karma comes full circle. I've always thought that hubris would be Roger's downfall, and now it's happening before our very eyes. I can't stop watching.

Denial, meet Egypt.

Roddick, heat TKOs Djokovic, Federer up next

2009-01-28T21:42:00.047-05:00

QF: Roddick def Djokovic
6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-2, 2-1 ret.

SARS, bird flu, anthrax, now we can add heat exhaustion to Novak's long list of ailments.

"Djokovic is one retirement away from the Retirement Slam." — Patrick McEnroe, pointing out that Novak has now retired in all slams except for one, the US Open.

FACT: Andy Roddick has made the AO semis in every off year: 2003, 2005, 2007, and now 2009.

FACT: Serena Williams has won the Australian Open in the same off years: 2003, 2005, 2007, and .... 2009?

Thanks to the 130F heat, I feel we got gypped a potentially great quarterfinal match. The first set was a good indicator of what was to come, both players were tuned in and serving beautifully. Novak was the more aggressive player, looking to come in to the net whereas Andy stayed back (mistake). This proved the difference when Novak won the tiebreak. Andy made the needed adjustments to his game (coming to net and flattening out the forehand a bit) in the beginning of the second set but it was around this time that Djokovic began to wilt in the oppressive heat. Credit to Andy, I was really impressed how he did not seem affected by the heat at all, he was bouncing around, running down every drop shot Novak played, and at one point he skipped back to his chair after breaking Novak's serve while Novak walked slowly and heavily back to his before calling for the trainer. By this point we were all thinking the same thing: Novak's gonna retire again.

I feel for Novak. After what happened at last year's USO you just know that Roddick was the last guy Novak wanted to retire against so he must have been really suffering to quit like that, and he even looked like he was debating with himself about it before finally walking over to shake Andy's hand. Novak tried to fight through it but then he began to cramp and finally tapped out in the third game of the fourth set right after Andy broke him. Credit again to Andy, he's not one to gloat and say "I told you so!" He had a very subdued reaction after Novak left the court, sitting down and putting his head in his hands to privately digest the fact that he has made a slam semifinal for the first time in two years. In his post match interview he didn't say one word criticizing Novak's decision to throw in the towel (that was Federer's job, see below). Andy Roddick, the guy who was basically dismissed as a real title contender the entire first week and was asked if it bothered him that he wasn't in the conversation along with the "Big Four", is now one of four remaining. To quote Dick Enberg, isn't that delicious?

Said Novak about Andy afterwards: "He's improved. I think his new coach has an impact on that. He's been playing really well throughout the whole tournament and absolutely deserves to be a winner."

Federer Bashes Djokovic Again

"I'm almost in favor of saying, you know what, if you're not fit enough, just get out of here. [. . .] If Novak were up two sets to love I don't think he would have retired 4-0 down in the fourth. Thanks to Andy that he retired in the end. Andy pushed him to the limits. Hats off to Andy." — Roger Federer, Daddy-O.

Ever notice how Roger never fails to upbraid the younger generation when given the chance? Rafa, Novak, Murray, they've all received a tongue-lashing and white glove slapping from The Mighty Fed, Djokovic more so than the others.

I get the distinct feeling that Roger doesn't respect Novak very much.

Here Come the Annoying Bandwagon Fans

From this week's SI.com mailbag, now that Andy's made the semis suddenly everybody thinks Roddick is a great guy and they want to root for him because he shows respect for players. Here's a newsflash, people: Andy has always shown respect for other players, even when he's lost. He's never made excuses for any of his losses, no matter how bad they were. He's never cheated or tried to steal a point that doesn't belong to him. He may get a bit intense and prickly oncourt and he's had some memorable meltdowns but it's only because he wants to win so badly. It's his job to win, he's a professional athlete. But his sportsmanship and character have never been in doubt. Buy a clue. *boots the fair-weather fans off the wagon*

I was extremely impressed with Andy Roddick's interview after the Djokovic match, not to mention his on court performance and behavior during the match. The genuine respect he showed for Federer and what he said to Novak when the match was over was really nice. I know people have been giving him grief over the things that he has said or how he behaved in the recent past... I'd like to give Andy props for his sportsmanship and attitude and I hope he goes very far this year! — Rise Gilliland, Rochester Hills, Mich.

JON WERTHEIM: Agree. Roddick has really distinguished himself with his play and his disposition. (Was it just a year ago that he humiliated a linesman?) No question he took the high road with Djokovic, who, let the record show, has now retired from a match deep in Grand Slam play three times in the last two years. Question about Roddick: did he lose weight? He looks a bit slimmer. Kidding. The chestnut about weight loss is encroaching on Ana Ivanovic-practiced-in-a-drained-pool territory.

Related bandwagon article: "Can Roddick at last live up to his potential?" [The Guardian]

Related News Items:

• "Roddick fresh as a daisy in extreme heat" [ESPN]
• "Michael Stich: Djokovic disrespected Roddick" [Eurosport]
• "Roddick just fine with Djokovic retirement" [Douglas Robson, Tennis.com]
• "Old World Order still in rule" [James Martin, Tennis.com]
• "The resurgence of Andy Roddick" [Bleacher Report]
• "Roddick ready to rejoin the conversation at Slams" [USA Today]
• "Second serves: Roddick's win leaves us hanging" [FOXSports.com]
• "Roddick handles the heat and Djokovic" [The Daily Fix: WSJ blog]
• "Revitalised Roddick evokes memories of … when was it again?" [Sydney Morning Herald]
• "Andy Roddick, all grown up" [LA Times]
• "Fitness is the answer for Andy Roddick" [Times Online]

Previews of Roddick-Federer Semifinal Tonight

"The Federer-Roddick rivalry has more often appeared like a rivalry between a hammer and a nail." — ESPN

ESPN's preview of the Fed-Rod semis.

Andy Roddick: "I think it helps that I stopped a big streak against him in Miami. It's certainly not going to hurt at all."

"He has nothing to prove. He's created quite an animal for himself, where if someone wins a set they're questioning his form. He deserves a lot more respect than that. You're dealing with a guy who's probably the greatest ever."

Roger Federer: "It's always a pleasure to play against Andy with his serve and his character. And it's nice to see Andy doing so well, he's hung in for so many years. People don't give him enough credit."

Related News Items:
• "Breaking down the Aussie Open semifinals" [Fox Sports]
• "A-Rod's ready for Roger … and hopefully a different result" [Sydney Morning Herald]
• "Roddick facing mammoth Federer task" [The Guardian]
• "Roddick has a real chance against Federer" [LA Times]
• "The Fantastic Four: Nadal, Federer, Roddick, and Verdasco" [Tennis Talk]
• "Australian Open: 5 Reasons Roddick Will Beat Federer…Or Maybe Not" [Tennis-X]
• "Federer/Roddick: An Insomniac's Delight" [Bleacher Report]
• "Roddick fit and reaady for Federer" [ESPN]
• "Andy's sharp but Fed looks better" [Yahoo Sports Blog]

Good luck to Andy tonight (3:30AM EST live on ESPN2. Live streaming video can be found on channelsurfing.net, Justin.tv, and www.ATDHE.net). Fingers crossed for a dream final....featuring Andy Roddick vs Fernando Verdasco!

Roddick-Djokovic Fireworks Tonight

2009-01-26T17:36:00.027-05:00

R16: Roddick def Robredo 
7-5, 6-1, 6-3
R32: Roddick def Santoro
6-3, 6-4, 6-2
R64: Roddick def Malisse
4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (1), 6-23

Here's the quarterfinal match we've all been waiting for. Admit it: we're tuning in to watch the Djokovic-Roddick quarterfinals to see some fireworks. Everybody remembers what happened at the USO last year. We are thinking: is this payback time? Will Andy have another mental meltdown on the court and flip out on the chair umpire? Will Novak lash out at the crowd for not supporting him enough? Is somebody going to break down and cry, or call for the medic? Tune in tonight to find out! They are scheduled third on Rod Laver Arena tonight, "not before 15:00 GMT" says the AO website which is around 11:00PM EST in the U.S. Check out the world clock here for times in your area.

Here's a short preview of match: "No love lost as Djokovic meets Roddick" [Tennis Talk]

Bragging Rights: Once Upon A Time, Serena Beat Andy

...way back when they were like, ten. Serena doesn't think a rematch is necessary. She said she won by 6-1. He said 6-4. Who do you believe?

Related articles:
• "Serena Williams still savouring Andy Roddick 'win' 16 years on" [Times Online].
• "Roddick winces under weight of Serena boasts" [Reuters].
• "No rematch with 'sweet kid' Roddick, says Serena" [AFP].

Schadenfreude: What Big Four?

Fernando Verdasco defeated the undisputed favorite to win the Australian Open, Andy Murray 6-2, 1-6, 6-1, 3-6, 4-6 in the fourth round.

Sorry, Andy (UK). There's no "Big Four" or "Fantastic Four". There's only the big two (Nadal, Federer) plus one (Djokovic).

The British press gobbles down a massive piece of humble pie. Eat up!

Related articles:
• "Flying under the radar" [Australian Open website]
• "Roddick ready to crash Djoker's party" [ESPN]
• "Butterfly Feet" [Tennis.com blog]
• "Roddick ready to rejoin the conversation at slams" [USA Today]
• "Forgotten Andy Roddick firing" [Herald Sun]
• "Confident Roddick is keen to regain lost ground" [The Peninsula]
• "Rebuilding Roddick all about taking him out of comfort zone, says new coach" [Sydney Morning Herald]

AO 2009: Roddick Opens With Win

2009-01-20T11:45:00.018-05:00

R128: Roddick def Rehnquist
6-0 6-2 6-2

Good win but it's hard to read how Andy's game really is when he faced one of the worst players I'd ever seen. Up next is Andy's pigeon, Xavier Malisse. Hard to believe they haven't played a match since 2003 (!). Unfortunately, their match is scheduled last on Hisense Arena so U.S. residents probably won't see it until around 1:00 in the morning.

The only point worth watching in that atrocious match was this one (number two on the list):

Video here of Andy speaking with Chris Fowler in the ESPN studio after his first round match. You can clearly see how much weight he's lost, his face is much thinner now. He almost looks like a teenager again.

Quote of the Day
"Andy Roddick is a practicing pagan who drinks the blood of newborn babies." — Jon Wertheim, SI.com

Roddick Still a Fan Favorite But No Longer a Favorite to Win

Q. We've seen in the last 18 months a bracket of younger players emerging to challenge Roger. People talk about the big four, and you're not in that. Do you feel you still belong in that top group?

ANDY RODDICK: Not until I earn my spot back. They absolutely deserve to be the four that get talked about right now. My results last year, especially in slams, don't warrant me being talked about.

The thing about sports is no one really remembers yesterday, and that's fair. You have to go out and prove yourself on a daily basis. I have no problem with that.

For the first time I can ever remember, Andy Roddick is no longer being talked about as one of the favorites, a contender, or even as a "dangerous floater", for a grand slam that's on one of his better surfaces. Surprisingly, Andy Murray, who hasn't won a slam yet, is considered the favorite, even moreso than Federer (Roger had a few choice words to say about that, lol), then there's the Federer/Nadal dynamic duo, and even defending champion Novak Djokovic isn't being a labeled a favorite, either. Guys like Gilles Simon and Juan Martin Del Potro are being named ahead of Roddick. Will this get Andy's dander up? Intellectually, he gives a good answer and you can't argue with it because his slam results this past year have been terrible. But emotionally, I'm hoping a bit of his pride is wounded enough to get the claws sharpened and engine roaring. He has made the AO semis in every off-year for the past few years now (2003, 2005, 2007). I'd like to see that continue in 2009.

Related News Items:
• "Can Roddick Slam Again?" [Yahoo Sports]
• "Roddick Loses Weight of Expectations" [Herald Sun]
• "Slimmer Roddick Weighs His Chances" [Australian Open.com]
• "Regimented Roddick Ready for Change" [ESPN]
• "Roddick Soars, Eagles Have Landed" [Tennis.com blog]
• "A-Rod Aces Aussie Rules" [Australian Open.com]

Watching athletes try their hand at other sporting pursuits is always an entertaining prospect, and such was the case this morning when Andy Roddick played kick-to-kick with several AFL footballers on Court 4.

The world No. 8 from the United States met with the Richmond Football Club’s Nathan Brown, Jack Riewoldt and Adam Thomson, and took a brief lesson from the trio on how to kick and handball. Roddick certainly did not disgrace himself, handling the Sherrin well before sprinting down one end of the court to take a running mark – narrowly missing the courtside fence in the process.

The four then took part in a friendly hit followed by a tie-break, during which the boys from Tigerland revealed that they were all surprisingly handy tennis players. Brown was especially impressive, managing to rifle back a bullet serve by Roddick with a textbook double-handed backhand.

Roddick admitted the footballers were better at tennis than he was at Aussie Rules, and said he was impressed by their standard.

“I asked them [if they’d played before], I was expecting to be teaching guys who had never played before, and they came out and he [Brown] serves at about 120 mph on the first one. I was like, ‘Alright, we’re going to have to play here’,” he said.

Brown claimed that while he used to play in his younger days, he had not hit for 10 years. “I think I got lucky with the [serve] I got back, it certainly came down quick,” he said.

“It was fantastic [to hit with Roddick], he’s obviously one of the best players in the world and very recognisable. We taught him a few things, but I think he [preferred] the NFL-style ball. It was a great thrill for us and something we’ll remember.”

Riewoldt relished the opportunity to team up with the American during the tie-break.

“Are there any wildcards left in the tournament?” he joked.

“I reckon in the doubles tournament we might be a chance. Maybe we’ll have to get onto Tennis Australia about that and see if we can get a gig in the doubles tournament.”

Roddick said it was a great experience to learn about a different sport.

“I’ve never been shown how to really do it much [play Aussie Rules], so it was cool to learn,” he said.

“I might have to get out there again and practice with my coach and stuff, but this was a good time, it was a fun little event.”

Andy Leaves Them Laughing

2008-12-16T13:21:00.010-05:00

Updated December 19, 2008

Merry Christmas from Masters Series TV

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Originally posted December 16, 2008

It is the tennis off-season and you know what that means: lots of charity work (the Andy Roddick Foundation raised $1.1 million this year) and more hilarious player impersonations from Andy. Check it out, from Rock n Racquets in Knoxville, Tennessee:

LOL, looky here, Andy impersonates Novak Djokovic again (hopefully Novak can take the joke this time):

Related News Items:

• "Meeting Roddick a dream come true for 95-year-old" [Knoxnews]

It will be a dream come true for the living legend, 95-year-old Dave Carey of Asheville, N.C., who has won 31 USTA national seniors titles.

"I'd love to meet him," Carey said Tuesday at Centre Court Racquet Club during a visit to Knoxville, where he once lived. "I hope I can meet him. I have some suggestions for him."

Carey, visiting with his wife, Peg, and his son, Peter, has been a huge fan of Roddick for years.

He has written letters to Roddick with suggestions for his tennis game - particularly ways to improve his backhand - and followed Roddick's rise to stardom.

"I've always admired the way he plays," Carey said. "There's not too many guys today who have the ability to serve-and-volley. I learned tennis as a kid on English grass courts, and we were always told never to let the ball bounce because on grass you never knew where it was going to go."

Carey admires Roddick's willingness to play for his country.

"I'm very proud of the fact that he is devoting himself to Davis Cup," Carey said. "In the old days, I played a lot of tennis with a guy named Gardner Mulloy. Gardner and I are the same age, exactly, 10 days apart.

"(Mulloy) always used to say he would rather play Davis Cup than one of the big tournaments, to play for your country and all that."

• "Roddick, Williams (and Pearl) dazzle crowd" [Knoxnews]

Andy Roddick may have a career as a stand-up comedian once his playing days are over on the pro tennis tour.

Roddick, ranked No. 8 in the world, delivered one funny one-liner after another Sunday afternoon during the Rock-n-Racquets/BB&T charity exhibition before 3,600 fans at the University of Tennessee’s Thompson-Boling Arena.

One of his best came after he and Serena Williams beat John Isner and Caroline Wozniacki in a tiebreaker to win a pro-set, during which UT basketball coach Bruce Pearl was chair umpire.

“As Coach Pearl knows, it’s tough to be in the shadow of a woman,” Roddick told the crowd before leaving the court while the women warmed up for singles.

Of course, Roddick was referring to Lady Vols basketball coach Pat Summitt, who has won eight national titles, and himself, who has won one Grand Slam title to Serena’s nine.

Roddick Announces Stefanki As New Coach

2008-11-20T13:10:00.076-05:00

Updated December 9, 2008

Andy at his annual charity, Dec. 7. (click for larger image)

There is a great interview Steve Flink of the Tennis Channel did with Larry Stefanki recently where Larry goes into deeper analysis of Roddick's game and mindset and what his plans for coaching Roddick in 2009 will be. Reading the interview is getting me excited for the Australian Open to begin already. It's apparent that Stefanki is thrilled to be coaching a world-class athlete like Andy. Here are a few choice quotes from Larry, click on the link to read the entire interview.

"Steve Flink: Chronicles of Roddick" [The Tennis Channel]

"Andy is going to be the last guy I will ever travel with. When this is over I would like to get involved with junior development in this country. So it just felt like the right time. I felt like working with Fernando had gone its course. He had gotten to No. 5 in the world. I am excited about this because I feel I can really help him. Andy being an American was a big part of the decision for me."

"Let's face it, with a guy of Andy's caliber, winning another Slam or two is the gig. He is a past No. 1, a Grand Slam winner and he has had a dry spell for five years. I know he has the capability of winning another Slam or two. He is the best server in the game bar none, and he is looking to improve his return of serve, and coming forward and ending points a little sooner. Andy is a big body athlete, more of a Boris Becker type of athlete. He is not a David Ferrer or a Davydenko so he needs to make an adjustment and take risks at the right times. This past year he was below 30% on capitalizing on break points and he needs to bring that percentage way up. With some adjustments, there is no reason why he can't win a couple more Slams."

"He hit one return against Janko Tipsarevic at Wimbledon on a big break point in the bottom of the net. We talked about that and he said he was choking badly. And I said, 'No, no, no, no. That's where you have to know that you have the best return and it's rock solid and you are going to be aggressive. That knowingness and that thing in your head that clicks in is what you need to draw on. And knowing it and bluffing it are two different things.' Andy definitely knows how to win but he can get better at some things when he gets under the fire. I'm encouraged about that, and so is he."

"I think it appealed to Andy that I have worked with so many different personalities, so many different nationalities, some one-handed [backhands] and some two-handers, such a diverse group of guys. You learn something from everybody when you coach at the highest levels as I have. Andy is a great competitor. What stands out to me is his heart, his desire, his determination and his competitiveness. And he knows at his level you can't bluff it. I am very impressed with Andy."

"This guy is an incredibly hard worker. He is a mule. You tell him to do something and he does it. If you asked him to run through a wall and he knew that would make him a better player, he would do it."

"I was impressed with Andy's groundies when we worked in Austin. Very, very impressed. He has got an underrated [backhand] chip. We talked about that. Andy said, 'I get no respect for my chip.' He does from me."

"Like every great player, Andy is a perfectionist with the highest standards. He knows he doesn't want to fall into the trap of just getting balls back."

"Andy's mentality now is 'I am not going to be denied.' I love that. How can you not want to work with a guy like that?"

"His fiance [Brooklyn Decker] was there and she is an absolute wonder and asset. She is the greatest thing that that has ever happened to him. She has an unbelievable calming effect on him. I think my personality should work well with his. I will be there for him, but I am not his Daddy. I told Andy, 'I am not going to carry your bag.' He is going to get married so he is in charge of his own life. He doesn't want a guy coaching him who is a control freak. He is in control of his own life. This job is not about me — it is about me helping him achieve the goals he has decided to take on. Andy is a winner, and I am really looking forward to these next two years. He has so much going for him."

I really like what Larry has to say but I have to be honest and admit that I am worried that he may try to mess with Andy's serve the way he's done with previous protege's (like Tim Henman). We have seen over the years that coaches who try to "tweak" Andy's strengths end up messing up his entire game and as a result Andy's confidence takes a dive, and then he starts losing to every Tom, Dick, and Gilles. A perfect example is Andy's forehand, which at the height of its power during 2003-04 was one of the most feared weapons he had; nothing but flat power and precision. Somewhere during the nightmare 2005-06 season he got it into his head that he should use more topspin and loop the forehand more, which is fine to use against certain opponents such as Lleyton Hewitt who cannot create their own pace, but it got to the point where Andy was relying on the loopy topspin more than the flat power forehand and that's just not where his strengths lie in his game. I don't care how "one-dimensional" his serve/forehand combo is. That is what got him to the top of the game and that is how he won his lone slam title. He won a slam with a backhand that was worse back then than it is now! And what is so bad about being one-dimensional anyway? Serena Williams is one-dimensional. She is the proud owner of nine slam titles. Heck, Rafa Nadal is one-dimensional and he beats everybody including Federer. Andy recently said that his game is more well-rounded nowadays, which I agree with and think it's nice, but here's the million dollar question: is he a better player today than he was in 2004? My shocking answer: No, he is not. We've tried tweaking with his game, adding a few things like slice and topspin, and his backhand and ROS are better, but what I'd like to see again is the good old one-dimensional power/confidence player Andy back in 2009. When he feels good about his game, then everything else will fall into place. He will win more often and therefore win more titles. He can beat anybody when he's on his game, including the top five players in the world. Believe it. Simple as that.

My Challenge to Team Roddick in 2009: Focus on Winning That Elusive Second Slam, Forget the Clay Season Altogether

Personally, I feel that Stefanki's one and only goal in 2009 with Andy should be to help him win that elusive second slam, and I think Stefanki feels this way too. That's it. Just one more slam. I don't care if it's Wimbledon, just win a slam, any slam. Andy has three good chances to do it: at the AO, at Wimbledon, and at USO. The French Open is a lost cause. Seriously, I would advise they skip the clay season all together. Clay is not Andy's forte, not his strength, he doesn't like playing on it, and worst of all, he always ends up getting injured on it and it ruins the rest of his season. It's not worth it. Playing on clay adds absolutely nothing to his ultimate goal of winning Wimbledon. I say to Andy and his team: dump the French Open; skip Monte Carlo, Rome, and everything clay in between. It's Rafa's surface to own anyway, so let him have it. I'm not kidding. The European clay tournaments are not worth your time, not worth getting injured on, not worth ruining your chances on grass, and you hardly get any points anyway. Deep six it. Find other ways to stay match-tough.

Random Photo of the Day. Ahh, that rant felt good to type. Now back to Brooklyn, here is a tag-free photo of her attending the Vogue Fashion Fund in NYC in November.

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Updated December 2, 2008

I hope our American friends had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

Continuing on the story behind Roddick hiring Stefanki as his coach, a lot of fans were wondering "What about Gonzo?" As far as anyone knew, Stefanki was still under contract with Fernando Gonzalez and Gonzo gave no indication on his blog that he knew Stefanki had been hired by Roddick, instead of the USTA, which he originally thought.

"Stefanki Not Hired by USTA to Coach Roddick" [TR.net]:

There has been some confusion caused by a recent Fernando Gonzalez blog, where the Chilean says that he was told that his now former coach, Larry Stefanki, was hired by the USTA and in a LTA-Brad Gilbert type of deal where he would be coaching Andy Roddick with USTA supervision. No such deal exists. Roddick privately hired Stefanki. [. . .] Apparently, Roddick’s management informed Gonzo that it was a USTA deal, maybe to soften the blow and also possibly to convince Gonzalez to let Stefanki out of his contract six months early. Stefanki was signed up to coach Gonzalez through ’09 Roland Garros. [. . .] Stefanki is a very talkative sort who might be a bit too chatty for Andy (remember that Roddick eventually tuned out Brad Gilbert) but at least he stands by his men for a substantial period of time, unlike Jimmy Connors, who abandoned Roddick when the going got tough earier this year.

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Updated November 24, 2008

More About The Stefanki-Roddick Partnership

UK Times Online:

Stefanki, 51, says that Roddick, having called him two days after pulling out of the Masters Cup in Shanghai with an ankle injury was "so pumped up I want to get going now. Can you be here tomorrow?" "Hold on," he replied "I'm going to the Big Game on Saturday. This isn't like Texas vs. Texas A&M," he said, in reference to the state where Roddick has made his home, "this is Cal vs. Stanford (the biggest college football game in the Bay State).

And so Roddick will have to wait another week to get down to work. Stefanki is just as eager. "Andy Roddick is the best server in tennis," said Stefanki, "and not only does he have the biggest serve in the game, he gets 68 percent of his first serves in. He held serve 91 percent of the time this year. That's an amazing stat. He just doesn't get broken very often. But (he pauses here) he's No.20 on return of serve.

"Confidence is built on the right mechanics and having the right philosophy. Andy, especially on second serve returns, needs to get more aggressive. Not necessarily going for everything, but not just sitting back and returning the ball. He's not a David Ferrer 5'9" road-runner. You've got to take more risks and unless you do you're not going to create that presence you want on the court." [. . .]

Was Stefanki surprised to receive Roddick's call? "A year ago, when Fernando made the Masters, we had dinner together - me, Andy and his brother, John. We talked largely about ATP politics. He had some interesting suggestions and he wanted to know what I thought. Then, this year, after he beat Fernando at the US Open (6-2, 6-4, 6-1 in the fourth round), I told him: 'That was the best I've ever seen you play.' I think maybe that conversation stuck in his mind. Now I'm absolutely overjoyed. I haven't been this excited in a long time, especially knowing he's even more excited about getting started."

Like most Roddick fans I am "cautiously optimistic" about this new partnership. Cautious, because we've been down this road before and recognize the pattern: Roddick will be energized and play lights-out for a few months, but after one or two bad losses he'll stagnate and then fall back into old bad habits; Optimistic, because an infusion of new ideas and new blood is always good to have on hand just before a slam right around the corner. I'm eager to see what magic Stefanki can work on Andy.

While we're on the subject of Andy's coaches: Jimmy Connors was recently arrested after refusing to comply with an order to leave an area near the entrance of the Thunderdome following a confrontation at a men's basketball game.

Jimmy defended himself, releasing a statement saying in part:

“Jimmy said he wanted to stay and wait for his son to watch the game, and as a result was taken into custody,” the statement said. “Police told Jimmy that he was being taken into custody for ‘being a non-student refusing to leave the campus.’ Jimmy is extremely disappointed and embarrassed about the way the situation was handled.”

Whatever, Jimmy.

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Breaking news from AR.com:

Team Roddick is thrilled to announce that Larry Stefanki will be joining Andy on the road as his head coach.

Stefanki was most recently the coach of Fernando Gonzalez. Click the AR.com link to read all about it.

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Updated November 21, 2008

Roddick and Blake are not chokers, says Jim Courier

Jim Courier is in Dubai for the Legends Rock event and has dismissed suggestions that Andy Roddick and James Blake are underachieving 'chokers' in a recent interview:

"With Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal around life has definitely become difficult, but I think it's a dangerous assertion to say that those guys [Roddick and Blake] are choking."

Courier said Roddick would have won more than his 26 career titles to date, including one Grand Slam, had he not been part of the era in which tennis was dominated by Federer and Nadal.

"I think Roddick has had an incredible career so far," said the 38-year-old Courier, who won 23 career titles, including four Grand Slams, during his 12-year career. "I think he's an over-achiever. He won the US Open in 2003, reached No 1 in the world and has also won the Davis Cup. These are things some players only dream of, so I get a little disturbed whenever it is suggested that he's under-achieving and choking. People need to look at the guys he's faced throughout his career. He's been up against Roger Federer, who is simply the best player I've ever seen; the most complete player ever. Timing is everything in life and unfortunately for them their peak coincided with the peak of Federer and Nadal, so it's very, very challenging for them."

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Updated November 21, 2008

Rafa Watch

Jon Wertheim has apparently given up trying to get Roger Federer named as Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year, so this year he nominated Rafael Nadal, perhaps thinking that would confuse the committee into actually voting for a tennis player as Sportsman of the Year. No tennis player has won SI's Sportsman of the Year award since Chris Evert in 1976.

Right now Rafa is on vacation enjoying the sun and sand and resting his battered knees. He will not be playing in this weekend's Davis Cup final vs Argentina. Talk about a buzz-kill.

Rafa named one of GQ magazine's Men of the Year

The accolades for Rafa continue to pour in. (right-click for larger image).

Is The Tennis Season Over Yet?

2008-11-10T18:04:00.100-05:00

Updated November 16, 2008

Brooklyn (and Andy) on the Dan Patrick Show

Brooklyn did a radio interview recently talking about a new Sports Illustrated photoshoot and halfway through they decided to give Andy a ring in Shanghai. Good stuff.

Brooklyn Decker
The Sports Illustrated model issue talks about Dan's role in the upcoming swimsuit issue and mediates as Dan argues with her fiance Andy Roddick on the phone.

Listen to Brooklyn on the Dan Patrick Show here.

Thanks to Kate for finding the link.

Andy and Brooklyn's Wedding Plans

USA Weekend:

We told you yesterday that our Dennis McCafferty is in Charlotte, N.C. today for a cover story shoot involving Sports Illustrated swimsuit models and NASCAR drivers. (Yes, we always give him the tough duty.) Well, who should show up with the models today but tennis great Andy Roddick, who is engaged to model Brooklyn Decker. Roddick was just casually hanging out and reading The Wall Street Journal while the ladies were getting ready so, ever the good reporter, Dennis asked Andy about the couple's wedding plans. He learned that while there is no date yet, the ceremony is to take place in Austin, Texas, where Roddick has a home, and that Decker is being cool about the whole thing. "She's certainly no bridezilla," Roddick says.

Djokovic Defeats Davydenko for TMC Crown

From worst to first, the Faker defeated the Fixer 6-1 7-5. It wasn't the most exciting or memorable TMC final ever, but it's a great win for Djokovic who has been low on confidence in the second half of the season. He bookends the 2008 year, starting with the Australian Open win in January and finishing with the Masters Cup in November.

With this win Djokvoic finishes the year at number three. Had he defeated Tsonga in the third round robin he would have knocked Federer from the number two spot. As it stands now, they are only ten points apart in the rankings and Novak could still overtake Federer before the Australian Open begins Jan. 19, 2009.

Andy Roddick finishes his year at number eight.

Angry Djokovic Fan Flames Jon Wertheim

Speaking of Djokovic, did anybody see this hilarious letter that was published in the SI mailbag a few weeks ago? I don't know what's funnier, the fact that they even published this letter or that Wertheim actually knew what a Fedtard was. LOL.

Hey, Jon, seeing as how you're a Fedtard, if you really think Roger's win over Novak Djokovic in the USO semis was so big then why didn't you consider the fact that Djokovic shot himself in the foot by attacking the N.Y. crowd, thereby stressing himself out in the semis? There's no doubt Novak came out flat-footed and uninspired during that match, he clearly was afraid of upsetting the crowd again. I'll bet you won't publish this comment, or even mention this fact in future mailbags. We all know how biased you are. -- Anonymous

WERTHEIM: You really have to respect the courage of someone who sends an anonymous letter to a Q/A column about tennis. Just so we're straight: I am a biased "Fedtard" because ... I asserted that Federer's win over Djokovic was meaningful. And then I neglected to mention the point -- totally irrelevant to the question -- that Djokovic had "shot himself in the foot by attacking the N.Y. crowd?" Where to begin? Start with this: I have too much respect for Djokovic to accuse him of playing "uninspired" tennis in a Grand Slam semifinal because he is afraid of upsetting the crowd.

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Updated November 15, 2008

TMC Final: The Fixer vs The Faker

Shanghai will crown a new year-end champion this year. Raise your hand if you predicted this unlikely final between the guy who was accused of fixing matches by the ATP last year or the guy who scolded the entire US Open crowd for believing that he was faking his injuries.

Both players have had a mediocre second-half of the year after winning titles in the first half (Novak winning AO, Indian Wells, and Rome, and Davydenko shocking everybody by beating Nadal to win Miami). Personally, I would like to see Novak win. I think it would be good for his confidence to finish his year with a TMC shield. For Davydenko, winning TMC would be his highest career achievement to date, and perhaps some personal vindication of his place in the top five.

The final begins at 4:00pm local Shanghai time. Check this clock to get times in your area. Visit justin.tv to get live streams.

Here's new video of Andy signing autographs for fans just before he announced his withdrawal from TMC:

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Updated November 14, 2008

Is The King Dead? Or Just Sleeping?

Bah. I was rooting for Roger. His year has been quite the annus horribilis. But as Roddick himself has said, every player would love to have Roger's year, except for Roger himself. In fact, he's downright miserable about his demotion to world number two:

"When they (court announcers) say 'This is the world No. 2' it just doesn't sound right to me because either I'm No. 1 or I'm a grand slam champion," Federer said. "I'm not world No. 2. I just don't like the ring of it when I'm introduced on court. It just sounds awkward to me because I've been up there for so, so long it just sounds unfamiliar."

This sounds more arrogant than it really is. There were quite a few broadcasters, both here and internationally, who kept correcting themselves when they started to announce Roger as "the world number one." This is indeed unfamiliar territory. 2008 has wreaked havoc on the ATP. I have a feeling that 2009 won't get any better for Roger. Or Andy. Or Rafa. Seriously, how can Rafa top himself in 2009 after such a brilliant year? And will our Andy finally grab that elusive second slam or has his time come and gone? Oh questions, many questions, for 2009.

Don't look now but the TMC semifinals are comprised of Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Gilles Simon, and Nikolay Davydenko. How hard would you laugh (or cry) if the likes of Simon or Davydenko walked away with the TMC trophy? For me: if Simon wins, I laugh. If Davydenko wins, I cry. And then I give up watching tennis.

"Bring me my towel, you slug!"

Say It Ain't So, Jo! The Best Worst Excuse I've Heard Yet

Speaking of laughing and crying, I was prepared to hand James Blake the award for "Best Worst Tennis Excuse of the Year" for blaming TV commentators for the way he played at the French Open this year but then Jo-Wilfried Tsonga went all Djokovic on us and came up with this beauty when he lost to Davydenko in his first round robin match:

"I lost a lot of energy, because when I asked for my towel, my towel didn't come. Sometimes in this match, I lost energy with that. Sometimes I have to take my towel alone, so for me, it's maybe 10 meters [33 feet] more. But if you count at the end of the match, it's like one kilometer [0.62 miles]."

That ought to tone down the Tsonga-walks-on-water rhetoric from the tennisheads for a while.

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Updated November 12, 2008

Roddick Sprains Ankle During Practice, Withdraws from Masters Cup

Can this guy ever catch a break? Luckily it's not serious and it shouldn't interfere with his off-season training.

Watch Andy's withdrawal announcement here.

From the AP:

Andy Roddick has withdrawn from the Masters Cup after spraining his right ankle during practice - an injury that he said did not appear to be serious.

Roddick made the announcement Wednesday, hours before he was to play Roger Federer in a Red Group match. He was replaced in the tournament by 26th-ranked Radek Stepanek, the first alternate here.

Roddick said he rolled the ankle during a warmup drill for practice Tuesday and initially hoped treatment would allow him to play, but he realized during his pre-match warmup that he couldn't run or serve well enough.

"I came out here and tried to warm up 45 minutes or so ago, and it was pretty apparent that my movement was probably 30 per cent or 40 per cent," he said.

"Unfortunately that's just not good enough to get it done at a tournament like this," Roddick said. "I didn't feel like I could go out and try to compete and win a tennis match. It's definitely a tough prospect trying to beat Roger with no serve and not being able to move much.

"The risk/reward wasn't there. You're risking further injury where it might cut into preparation for next year."

Roddick said his trainer and a doctor told him the injury didn't appear to be serious, and he anticipated being able to do his planned training during the off-season.

"I don't think we're looking at anything more than a week or so," he said. "I was planning on going home anyway. Basically I'm just starting that process four days earlier by not being able to finish here."

Stepanek, of the Czech Republic, could qualify for the semifinals but would have to win both of his matches and hope no more than one of the other players in his group finish with two victories.

"I called him this morning at about 10:00 or 10:30 and said, 'You should prepare like you're going to play. I'm probably 50/50 to play tonight, and I'll let you know as soon as I try to warm up,"' Roddick said.

The 26-year-old Roddick has been hampered by injuries this year, twice sitting out a month - the first after retiring from the Rome Masters in early May after just three games with a shoulder injury.

"Hopefully I have all these nicknack injury things out of way," Roddick said. "They've been pretty frustrating. I feel like I've been playing catchup a little bit ... as far as not being prepared and ready. So I'm very much looking forward to getting healthy and actually having some time to try to get fit again and be prepared going forward next year."

One thing the early departure does is allow him to focus on acquiring a new coach. He split with Jimmy Connors earlier this year, and had since been working with his brother John.

"There's a short list," Roddick said without naming any candidates. "I didn't want to start going through the process of talking to people either over the phone or in person until my season was finished. That's something that I'd definitely like to get taken care of in the next couple weeks."

Roddick, who was making his sixth straight Masters Cup appearance, is a former No. 1 who has been no lower than 12th in the rankings since 2002.

Radek Stepanek took Andy's place, and Roger defeated him 7-6(4) 6-4. Stepanek is ranked 27 in the world. Eighteen other players ranked higher than Stepanek did not want to play in Shanghai! James Blake (10) and David Nalbandian (11) had both made clear that they were not interested in being alternates this year.

Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic, who won both of their matches, are into the semis.

Highlights of the Roddick/Murray match can be viewed here.

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Originally posted November 10, 2008

Is The Tennis Season Over Yet?

Zzz. What tennis?
I don't know about you all but my brain checked out from tennis about a month ago. More and more every year I grow to really dislike the end of season. Everybody's tired, injured, wiped out, doesn't care, whatever. Does anybody else find the indoor season to be utterly depressing? It looks depressing. On TV everything looks gray and the colors are muted, even the players look dreary. Stands are so empty you can hear the sound of the ball echo. They play to sitting-room-only audiences with maybe a handful of fans quietly watching, giving no indication that they care who wins or loses or if they even know what's going on. The season is just too damn long. Need more proof? Rafael Nadal had to pull out of the Davis Cup final with Argentina because his knee just can't take it anymore; Roger Federer is taking painkillers for his back and just lost to Gilles Simon today, putting Federer's fans in more agony; Andy Murray is whining about being tired, continuing to train the UK to have low expectations for him; Del Potro, in his first year at TMC, looks like someone told him to go sit in the corner. The only one who truly seems happy to be there is Gilles Simon. Allez, Simon!

Announcing: The Top Seven Players in the World. Thanks for Coming, Andy.

Andy Roddick is the Invisible Man.
Not only am I grumpy because tennis is still going on when it should have ended by now, but also because our main man Andy Roddick couldn't be bothered to show up in time for the portrait. Personally, I love these portraits and look forward to seeing Andy in it every year but this year he couldn't make it in time, for whatever reason. With the way Andy's year has gone, and the fact that he continues to fall down the rankings by a notch or two every year, I am certain that this may be his last trip to TMC. And with him missing from the portrait, well, it feels almost prophetic. The thought of no more Andy at TMC makes me sad.

TMC Red Group
Murray def. Roddick 6-4 1-6 6-1

Well start, Andy! /sarcasm/ Federer is up next for him. Federer has a bad back and can't serve but I'm sure he'll suddenly feel 100% better once he sees Andy across the net from him.

This entire post today has been rather depressing, hasn't it? Here's some happy stuff to read:

News Items

• "Fast-talking tennis players" [ATP Tennis]

"Andy [Roddick] will spit facts at you quickly, but it's not as constant like James and not so choppy. There is a rhythm. I love his wit and how he deals with the press. He doesn't let them get away with silly questions."

• "Roddick to play tennis nude for $15,000!" ... Psyche out!, never mind, Roddick chickens out:

"It was kind of said in jest and the lady who bid on it was really cool afterward, saying her main concern was helping the cause." Last week, the Los Angeles Times reported that Roddick "originally was going to auction a private, hour-long tennis lesson to the highest bidder. Then, to sweeten the deal, he offered to take off his shirt for the 'one-on-one instruction.' Finally, the recently engaged Roddick offered to give the lesson — fully nude! Winning bid: $15,000 from a female fan."

• "Roddick's still a grinder" [James Martin, ESPN.com]

How does Andy Roddick do it? All he does is perform well year after year, beating the players he should, trying to win every time out. He's tennis' version of a grinder, writes Tennis.com's James Martin....Roddick is one of the most consistent, and consistently overlooked, top performers on the men's tour. [...] What does Roddick's record tell us about him? For one thing, it reveals a player who is mentally engaged for every tournament he enters, a canny competitor who understands that he has to earn his ranking points anywhere he can get them. Roddick knows his limitations all too well. Indeed, can you remember a top-ranked player who has taken so much flak for his shortcomings, which in Roddick's case are his hacker's backhand and choppy volleys? I can't. Yet he ably compensates for these weaknesses by relying not only on his celebrated serve, but also his gritty, if sometimes grating, mindset that sees him through so many matches.

• "Are we too focused on Roddick's failures?" [Sandra Harwitt, ESPN.com]

It could be said that if it weren't for Roger Federer, Andy Roddick could be displaying at least three Grand Slam trophies at home instead of being a guy with only one major victory. So what? Why does the No. 7 Roddick get a bum rap when he has proved to be a hard-working, dedicated player who readily accepts challenges?

• "All hail Andy Roddick, the nice guy of the ATP tour" [Neil Harmon, Times Online]

It is about time that Andy Roddick's contribution to men's tennis in the past nine years on the ATP Tour received full and unequivocal respect and the Net Post does not mean it should happen now just because of the gesture, when he lifted the China Open yesterday - the 26th title of his career - to donate $25,000 of his prize money to those still suffering after May's catastrophic earthquake in the country's Sichuan Province. He has deserved his panegyric for a long time.

This is a rare positive article coming from the UK press. Be sure to leave Neil a nice word in the comments section.

• "Who's got the power? Tennis power rankings for the month of October" [ESPN.com]

Andy Roddick reportedly offered to give a tennis lesson in the nude to the highest bidder at a charity event this month, drawing a $15,000 offer from a female fan. Roddick, engaged to swimsuit model Brooklyn Decker, later said he was joking about the nude part. Clothed, Roddick had a successful Asian swing, winning a title in China and making the semis in Japan.

You may have missed them: Andy and Brooklyn in New York

Another coffee run from last month.

Dog duty, same day.

Thanks to Marion for the links!

Djokovic Socks it to Roddick...and the NY Crowd

2008-08-25T13:55:00.101-04:00

Updated September 10, 2008

Federer Laughed at Roddick's "Bird Flu" Joke

As reported by the Star-Ledger:

Roger Federer revealed he loved Andy Roddick's jokes about Novak Djokovic, claiming he suffered from "bird flu" and the common cold -- a dig at Djokovic's many ailments that led to a small tirade by the Serb on court (and a torrent of boos) after he beat Roddick in the quarterfinals.

"I thought it was quite entertaining myself, being from the outside," Federer said. "I wouldn't love to have been Djokovic, myself. But it's a tough situation. Andy played a great joke on him. You've got to give it up to Andy. It's unbelievable."

LOL. Think maybe there's some underlying tension between Roger and Novak? I noticed some passive-aggressive verbal sparring going on between them at the US Open:

Q. Last year in the finals you met with Djokovic. There's a chance you might see him again soon. He's changed over the year, not imitating so much on the court. How is it different now if you were to play him compared to playing him year ago in the finals?

ROGER FEDERER: Only played twice since, Australian Open and Monaco. We haven't played that much really. He gave up in Monaco, which was only one set on clay.

Q. On that note, you always seem to speak with tremendous sportsmanship, especially about some of the younger players coming up through the ranking. Is that something maybe as a statesman now you feel a responsibility to do?

ROGER FEDERER: I mean, Rafa I always knew he was going to be a great player from the first moment I played him on. And I think Novak's done a incredible job of improving because I wasn't that impressed from Novak in the first place when I played him in Monaco. But Rafa, from the first moment, I knew he was going to be unbelievable.

And then Djokovic said this after he lost to Federer at USO:

The Serb, beaten by Federer in last year's U.S. Open final, had no complaints about the New York crowd on a humid day at Flushing Meadows.

"I think they were pretty fair," he said. "It was obvious that they are on his side because he's the ex number one and still the second best player in the world. He's defending champ here four times and people love him. He deserves that support."

I'm sure there are a few of you out there thinking, "What's so bad about these quotes?" and you wouldn't be wrong, maybe I'm looking for something that's not there, but I really feel that word choice is important when communicating. For instance, instead of saying Novak "gave up" during their match in Monaco (gave up=quit) Roger could have simply said "Novak retired". See? Harmless. But instead he chose to needle Novak, who is in fact notorious for quitting too many matches.

Same with Novak, he could have been more gracious and said "Roger is a great champion so of course the crowd will support him." But he didn't. Novak knows that keeping the world number one rank was important to Roger, so he rubbed salt in the wound by calling him "the EX number one." Zing!

These guys are smart and their grasp of English is excellent, so there's no reason to believe that this is some kind of lost-in-translation thing. No doubt, these are personal digs, and personally, I love a good bad blood fight.
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Updated September 5, 2008

QF:
Djokovic def Roddick 6-2 6-3 3-6 7-6(5)

You know that expression, "Be careful what you wish for, you may get it?" That totally applies to the match we just saw. We got the theater, the drama, some good match play (when they weren't choking or just pushing the ball around), and one of the most bizarre oncourt interviews I've ever seen. Talk about falling out of favor in a heartbeat. This is the same crowd Djokovic had eating out of his hand just last year. And now he leaves the court to boos as tennis' new villain. For the first time in years, I think Roger Federer can expect to have close to 100% of the crowd behind him when he faces Djokovic in the semis on Saturday. Everybody get your popcorn ready.

The link to Roddick's complete presser is here.

Q. You've clearly ticked him off with comments about SARS and bird flu and everything. He took himself to bring it up in front of a stadium that booed him loudly and even Michael tried to steer it and he just kept it going. Is that a bad call on his part?

ANDY RODDICK: Well, I mean, listen, here's the deal: I mean, if you guys haven't ever seen me joke in a press conference, I'd be shocked, okay?

I think you guys know it was completely meant in jest. Listen, I had four questions from each one, I had eight questions about all the other ones. Finally after 12 questions I decided to make light of the situation and it actually stopped after that. Or it screwed me up and you guys got me out of it.

I'm willing to talk about it. I don't know if, you know ‑‑ he took it as seriously. I figure if you're going to joke and imitate other people and do the whole deal, then you should take it. Listen, if someone makes fun of me I'm most likely going to laugh. If I'm over the line I'm going to come in here and say I was ridiculous. And I was wrong. I've been the worst of it in the past. By no means am I sitting here trying to be holier than thou or anything like that. But I promise you that if somebody makes a joke about it I'll probably laugh.

I'm sorry he took it that way. There's nothing else to say. I don't think I was over the line. It wasn't my intention, and, you know, I'm sorry he felt that way. Maybe I did him a favor tonight.

Q. It was our comments back and forth, and to be honest with you, today I heard from five or six or seven people, I heard it on ESPN, I heard it on USA, those types of things have legs, whether you like it...

ANDY RODDICK: I should know better, but listen, I joke all the time. I don't think anybody in their right mind takes me serious. I think it's very clear when I give a serious answer and when I don't give a serious answer.

Maybe that part ‑‑ maybe I should know better, you know, but in my eyes it's an innocent comment. I felt that most people found it funny and I tried to build it up ‑‑ if you look at the transcript, I'm saying, I'm 3, he's 8. It's straightforward. I'm trying to build it up as like I'm the favorite. I said listen, if you want to go last 10 days or go the last 10 months, he's been the best hardcourt player. I'm throwing truthful things the whole time. If someone wants to focus in on that and use it, then by all means, but especially in Novak's case, if you're going to dish out all the stuff, then be able to take it with a smile, is the only part that I don't quite agree with.

Q. Have you had an opportunity to talk to him afterward?

ANDY RODDICK: Anything that's going to be said between Novak and I is going to stay between Novak and I because I'm not going to air out private conversations in front of you guys, because I just don't feel like that's necessary.

The link to Djokovic's complete presser is here.

Q. Andy, I mean, based on the comments on the court, Andy clearly upset you, angered you with some of the comments that became public. Was that a factor? How much were you angered by those comments?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Now, look, I had a very, very tough day yesterday. Physically I was feeling very exhausted and very empty.

I wasn't able to practice. One of the reasons was physically that, you know, I was exhausted and the other reason was that I just mentally had a lot of pressure.

Unfortunately, Andy made a statement ‑‑ I don't think it was intentional, okay. He made a joke and it was a misunderstanding, so I don't blame it on him. Okay. I did react on the court. Maybe I reacted. Maybe I exaggerated and reacted bad in that moment. No, I apologize if I reacted like that. But this was just impulsive, you know.

I had a lot of emotions in last two days. It's not nice when you get that from media all around the world and from players, and I never needed to make any excuses in the press. I just didn't need ‑‑ because I know that what I'm doing is right, that I have all the rights to take the medical timeout, that I'm doing it just for the purpose to make my physical condition better and just that I continue playing better.

I never made medical timeout because I wanted to distract the player, the opponent, or, you know, make the result look worse, you know.

And I just never did it. I didn't pay attention when I took the medical timeout. I just didn't care about it. Medical timeout is there because physiotherapist are there and doctors are there to help you out. This is what I did. I just took the medicals to help me out.

Maybe the people think that I'm exaggerating with these things, but it's just ‑‑ it's nothing bad, nothing negative, because I just ‑‑ I twist my ankle, I feel bad, you know. I get the pain in the back.

I just want to make it right, you know. Andy was always nice to me when I got to the tour, so this was just a clear misunderstanding.

Q. Have you spoken to Andy in the locker room already?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yes, but this is just between us.

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Updated September 4, 2008

US Open: It's Showtime!

This was the headline on ESPN's front page (click on image to read accompanying story). Boy, am I looking forward to this match. I think a lot of tennis fans are. Two intense guys who are somewhat similar in temperment should make for good theater. I will be curious to see how Djokovic is feeling after skipping out on a practice session yesterday to rest. I know for a fact that Roddick will come out guns blazing, as per usual.

The media is having a field day trying to create tension between the two players but I don't see it. Andy's mocking of Novak's injuries wasn't done in a mean-spirited way and he wasn't accusing Novak of faking either. It's just that Novak has a flair for the dramatic, much like his countrywoman Jelena Jankovic. I personally have nothing wrong with dramatic types, they make watching tennis all the more interesting and fun. After the rather anti-climatic Gonzalez match, I'm hoping Djokovic will be fit and cured of his ailments and put up a better fight tonight. Andy needs to be pushed. If Andy should beat Novak tonight, Federer awaits him in the seminfinal, and then it'll be either Nadal or Murray in the final. A tall task but not impossible. Good luck, Andy!

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Updated August 30, 2008

R16: Roddick def Gonzalez 6-2 6-4 6-1
R32: Roddick def Seppi 6-2 7-5 7-6(4)
R64: Roddick def Gulbis 3-6 7-5 6-2 7-5

This result made me so happy I made a happy gif. Enjoy!

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Updated August 28, 2008

R128: Roddick def Santoro 6-2 6-2 6-2

Boy, do I love watching Andy play when he plays like that, like his old bully self again. That's the kind of intense, focused, power playing that made me a Roddick fan. Well done, Andy! Play exactly like that for the next six matches, please.

“I'm an Andy Roddick fan.” — John McEnroe, commentating on last night's match.

Up next will be Ernest Gulbis, who shares the same birthday as Andy (August 30). Too bad they're not playing that day. They've never played before but I think Gulbis, another big hitter, could pose problems for Andy. Andy needs to bully Ernie around exactly the way he did Fabrice; he needs to take it to him and not stand around waiting for Ernie to screw up or fade away. That's a mistake Andy has made too many times before.

There was some controversy at the end of the match when Andy accidentally hit Santoro with a 140mph serve. Santoro took it personally and refused to play the last point. Andy was apologetic but he really didn't need to apologize. Whether he meant to serve to Fabrice's body or not, it is a legal serve. You can download the video here (in English) (thanks to cardio for the video). Or you can watch it on YouTube here (in French).

Filling in as Andy's temporary coach, Patrick McEnroe is batting a perfect 1000 so far.

Related News Items

• "Great for a Day Under P-Mac: Roddick Blasts Santoro Under Temporary Coach" [TR.net]

"Roddick didn’t have a lot of time to try and bring in a new coach, so he turned to McEnroe, who is heading USTA Player Development and also doing commentary for CBS here. He hasn’t even thought about who is next full-time coach will be, but the man who has helped steer him in Davis Cup over the past seven years was the perfect choice in Flushing. McEnroe can push him a bit and knows most of the right levers too pull. "I think Patrick is the absolute best, obvious short term solution for me at this event." said Roddick."

• "Roddick takes the fast train to 2nd round: despite pressure, U.S. star composed in opening match" [NBC Sports]

Andy Roddick played like he couldn’t wait to catch the No. 7 train back to the city, grabbing his ticket and leaving Fabrice Santoro on the platform 6-2, 6-2, 6-2, in his most impressive performance this summer. He put on a serving clinic (averaging almost 130 mph on first serves) and a detonating forehand whenever he had the opportunity. I was thoroughly impressed with Roddick’s complete performance in the last men’s match of the U.S. Open first round. The scattergun shots that often plague his game never appeared. He simply was magic against the player known as the Magician.

• "Once No. 1-ranked player on the planet trying to regain form" [ESPN]

Two camera crews and several dozen fans were waiting for Andy Roddick when he arrived at the practice courts on Tuesday afternoon. "Andy! Andy! Andy!" shrieked several small autograph seekers. Roddick, moving with a casual ease, smiled and flashed one of those cute, quick, finger-to-palm waves. "I'll be back," he said, without a trace of irony. But will he, in the rhetorical sense, ever regain the place he once held in tennis?

• "Best Laid Plans of Andy Roddick Have Gone Awry" [NY Sun]

It's easy to forget how novel Roddick's serve, and its abbreviated, violent delivery, was when he turned pro in 2000. Back then, Roddick was the Joba Chamberlain of tennis — a tall, powerful 18-year-old from Nebraska with a fastball like no one else in the sport. His serve regularly approached 140 mph, unthinkable in tennis at that time. (In 2004, he set the record that stands today, 155 mph.) Roddick finished his first season ranked no. 158 in the world, but it was clear he would eventually become one of the game's best players.

• "Facing Forward: Roddick into back half of career" [Tennis.com]

He’s heartfelt, sincere, and realistic; more humble than one might expect, yet also a mite edgy— defiant, you could say, in a way that fuels the sentiments of Roddick’s fans as well as his detractors. Critics of Roddick have never been in short supply, driven by a tsunami of resentments. Roddick’s meat-andpotatoes power game, in an era dominated by the artistic Federer, is found wanting by those who prefer to see tennis as a performance occasionally hampered by the presence of a rude opponent. His lead-with-the-chin honesty is strong medicine in an image conscious time. Roddick can’t resist the acid wisecrack, he’s overtly patriotic, and that isn’t just his heart on his sleeve—it’s his testosterone, too.

• "Andy Roddick Interview - US Open, Aug 27" [Tennis-X]

Q. How did you and John come to your decision that it was time to make changes?

ANDY RODDICK: We just met in Washington afterwards, and, you know, I think John's, he's been feeling the effects of the road for a little while. When we first got together, it was temporary, you know. And he was kind of just helping me out and was going to help, and then all of a sudden it's two‑and‑a‑half years later. I think he was spent, and I was struggling, and so it was a very ‑‑ it was an easy conversation, you know. He was just like, "I'm kind of tapped," and it's pretty intense day to day, and I'm pretty intense day to day. It's probably not the easiest.

More updates later.
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Originally posted August 25, 2008

I apologize for the lack of updates. Tennis-wise, my head has been spinning since spring and the number of tennis stories to keep up with has been overwhelming. Is it my imagination or did the world just suddenly wake up and realize that tennis can be an exciting sport? Thank you to the casual sports fans for finally tuning in, and to the US media for finally waking up to one of the best rivalry in sports. Unfortunately everybody jumped on the bandwagon three years too late. For all we know the Wimbledon final may have been the peak of the Federer/Nadal rivalry and it'll be downhill from here on out. At least Federer finally got the Sports Illustrated cover that his fans have been whining about for years. Albeit, it's not a very flattering photo; it shows Roger from behind flailing at a ball, and our focus is directed towards Rafa, but who cares? Tennis is on the cover of SI! (click here to read the cover story). In the US where tennis is a niche sport, this is momentous! So thanks to Roger and Rafa for finally getting American couch potatoes to pay attention to tennis. The bad news is that thanks to the added exposure and hype, the crowds at the US Open this year are going to be absolutely hellish and I thought they were pretty bad last year. I'm not looking forward to crush, but attending the USO is a must for me.

Andy and Novak goofing off at Arthur Ashe Kids Day, 2008

I have been begging Andy to impersonate Novak and he finally obliges me. I'm glad Novak obliged the audience too because he had said earlier this year that he was no longer going to do player impersonations because he didn't want to offend anybody (read: Federer and Nadal, both of whom were not happy with his joking on them at last year's US Open). Luckily, Andy doesn't appear to suffer from the same "stick-up-my-arse" problem that Rafa and Roger have. Maybe Novak should just stick to doing Andy and Maria impersonations, they seem to be the only two players who have a sense of humor about it.

You can download the entire segment here at rapidshare.

Speaking of sense of humor, check out this hilarious promo for the US Open, where the WWE's Undertaker puts a petulant Andy Roddick in his place.

Undertaker vs Roddick

Related News Items

• "US Open: A Fashion Battle" [ESPN magazine]

"Have you seen what Blake is wearing?" Andy Roddick says to a friend as he struts through the halls of USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center Saturday afternoon wearing an "I love AZ" hat, khaki shorts and white tee. "He is wearing man Capris. They look like parachutes. I can't believe it."

• "Five Questions with Andy Roddick" [Tennis Week]

"I watched the Olympics every night. It’s great. What Phelps has done is amazing, and I’ve even watched the women’s gymnastics. I love watching the Olympics."

• "Andy Roddick Answers Your Questions" [Sports Illustrated]

"The Wimbledon final this year was amazing. It seemed like it was all anyone was talking about for a couple of days, which was nice, considering it happened in Europe. Coming home and hearing people excited about it was a great thing."

• "Roddick Looks to Reignite Former Glory" [USA Today]

It would be unfair to lump eighth-ranked Roddick in with some of the other so-called One-Slam Wonders such as Petr Korda, Thomas Johansson or Albert Costa, says former American star Michael Chang. "I don't think you can put Andy into that category," says Chang. If Roddick hasn't been fortunate enough to cross the finish line at a major, it's not for lack of effort. Many in the sport say he is among the hardest workers on tour.

• "Roddick: 'I Can't Get No Satisfaction'" [Inside Tennis]

“I could probably coast and not train and be a top-10 player and kind of have a cushy lifestyle and be set for as long as I need to be set for. But I don’t know if that appeals to me. I don’t know if I’m satisfied with that.”

"The Wall Street Journal catches up with Andy Roddick" [You Tube]

Andy at Taste of Tennis

Andy at Macy's Celebrating Lacoste's 75th Anniversary

"Andy's Roddick's Vision" [Lacoste]

Flying Under the Radar at Wimbledon

2008-06-25T22:03:00.034-04:00

Wimbledon Day 4
R64: Tipsarevic def Roddick
6-7(5) 7-5 6-4 7-6(4)
Wimbledon Day 2
R128: Roddick def Schwank 7-5 6-4 7-6(0)

It's possible to be outplayed the entire match and still walk away with a straight set win, which is what Andy did vs Eduardo Schwank in his first round match at Wimbledon. Even though the scoreline was tight and Schwank showed some great shot-making abilities, I don't think anyone felt that Andy was in danger of losing the match. Andy's experience in big matches and playing the big points better is the only reason he won, not because he played better than Schwank (although Andy's serving was very good). Andy did what he usually does in early rounds vs low-ranked players: serve big and then wait around for his opponent's unforced errors and the inevitable choke. Unfortunately this tactic works most of the time, which only encourages Andy to continue to play so passively. Then when he meets a more determined or experienced player in a later round, he loses because his defensive game doesn't work anymore. This is why I hate so-called "easy" draws for Andy, it makes him play lazy. Needless to say, I'm not happy with Andy's tactics, and quite frankly if he plays the same way vs Janko Tisparevic tomorrow in the second round Andy can book his flight home. Even his former coach, Brad Gilbert, who is back commentating on ESPN2, was unimpressed and couldn't understand why Andy still plays so defensively and doesn't take more chances when he's holding serve so easily. Why didn't he try coming to the net more just to get in some practice? Andy says he won't take Tipsarevic lightly. He said the same thing about Philipp Kohlschreiber at the Australian Open this year and look how that turned out. Sorry for the rant but I'm annoyed at Andy's stubborness in refusing to change-up his tactics, or learn from past mistakes that he keeps making over and over again. I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Andy arrives with Martina Navratilova at the All England Club on June 23, 2008 in London, England. (WireImage) (right-click for larger image)

Then again, the bad play could have all just been nerves: "First round matches are always a little uncomfortable at any slam. It's just new surroundings, normally have the week before to get all hyped up and it's a battle with nerves," said Roddick. "It's a battle with kind of anxiety and wanting to get out there and start. So it's never really that comfortable."

One fan made a more optimistic observation: "Having watched the match while listening to Radio Wimbledon, I did not think that Andy played badly. I think he played what was necessary to dispatch Schwank in straight sets - no more no less. Andy always has these weird struggles against players he has never faced before -- Janko should be a different story since they have previously played at Wimbledon."

Just before Andy's first match the BBC reported this fun tidbit:

"Just been over to the practice courts to conduct what turned out to be a tortuous interview for all concerned with fourth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova. Flagging spirits and wounded egos were soothed by watching Andy Roddick show off some outrageous left-handed shots in a Kevin Pietersen-esque switch-hitting manner."

Andy and Tipsarevic are third up on Centre Court tomorrow after Venus Williams' and Andy Murray's matches. You can listen to the matches via Radio Wimbledon or several available live streams.

Related videos: "Rested Roddick could make a run" [MSNBC Sports]
Andy's ESPN studio interview with Chris Fowler and Patrick McEnroe [ESPN]

Related articles:
• "Injury forces Roddick to reign in serve" [ESPN]
• "Despite tantrum, Roddick ready for Wimbledon" [SignsOnSanDiego]

What Are Andy's Chances of Going Deep at Wimbledon?

Let's ask media-shy John McEnroe what he thinks:

While less than convinced by the players ranked four and five in the world, John McEnroe does believe his fellow American and world number six Andy Roddick could spring a surprise at the All England Club.

The big-hitting 25-year-old has pedigree on the grand slam stage, winning the 2003 US Open and twice finishing as runner-up to Federer at Wimbledon in recent years, and McEnroe insists that Roddick will be a dark horse for the title if all the pieces fall into place when play begins next Monday.

'[Roddick] is written off quite a bit, but at the same time he's still been ranked five, six for the past five years,' he said.

'When it comes to grass, he's got the hardest serve I've ever seen anyone hit. He's got a very loose arm; he's got that huge forehand. So he's got that puncher's chance to win another major - win a Wimbledon. Most guys can't say that. He's one of a handful of guys [who can win the title].'

Let's see what other tennis pundits think:

Tennis Forum: Wimbledon Preview Parts One and Three:
WERTHEIM: Does anyone see a player outside "The Triad" winning? Should Andy Roddick be in the conversation?
BOUIN: Why not?. He impressed me in Davis Cup against our French team and impressed me even in Rome on clay before he got hurt. But strangely enough, I think his game has improved in a direction that will not help him on grass.
BIERLEY: As Rafa demonstrated at Queens: keep the ball in play and Andy will bury it is the net sooner or later.
CLAREY: I think Roddick is in the conversation, but he's going to have to grab the microphone, hold onto it with both hands and hope that laryngitis strikes one or more of the top three. Personally, I think Roddick's best chance of winning a second Slam will come in New York at the U.S. Open, where the big three will be weary after Beijing.
TEBBUTT: I disagree. Roddick has the hammer for Wimby. He doesn't have to hit as many groundstrokes and can slip into the event after his loss to Rafa at Queen's.
BOUIN: Roddick has to be careful: Richard Gasquet is trying the same gambit: no Olympics in order to prepare for New York.
WERTHEIM: Gasquet? Name rings a bell.
BOUIN: A little bell, like the one around the cat's neck, or Big Ben?
CLAREY: I think Roddick will take the odds and Gasquet over a fully rested hardcourt field.
WERTHEIM: The US Open will be decided by jet-lag medication.
CLAREY: Absolutely Jon - the wonders of tennis scheduling.
WERTHEIM: I see that Brad Gilbert is returning to the ESPN booth. Hate to say it, but chart Murray's demise with the timing of Gilbert's exit from the Murray camp.
CLAREY: It certainly looks that way. Andy Roddick has yet to win another Slam since Brad left his employ. Coincidence? Perhaps. Gilbert's departure also happened to coincide with the real rise of Roger Federer in the men's game, which would have happened whether Gilbert was coaching Andy or not. What do you think of Murray's chances Steve?
WERTHEIM: What about Steve's other point? There does seem to be this dirty secret of contentment in the men's game. I wonder how many players are secretly okay with winning their $800k, reaching the odd semi and saying "too good" to the Big Three.
CLAREY: Roddick strikes me as somebody who's still hungry and still eager to challenge. He just has limited means when confronting an all-time great like Federer, although he has beaten that all-time great this season. But burning ambition is not so palpable among the rest of the chase pack. It will take fresh legs and unscarred psyches to challenge the hydra.

Jon Wertheim: Wimbledon Men's Seed Report
Andy Roddick: Top American has dropped out of the conversation a bit since Miami. The lingering effects of his shoulder injury are a cause for concern as was last week's loss to Nadal. But given Roddick's past success on grass, his fine play in 2008 and a favorable draw, there's a big opportunity here.

Matthew Cronin: 10 anxious men, Can anyone stop a Federer-Nadal three-peat?
Andy Roddick: With a huge serve and a love of fast courts, he’s the obvious No. 4 favorite, but a bum shoulder kept him out of Paris and who knows if it will hold? Scored his first win over Fed in nearly five years and can fire his way past Nadal and Djokovic on grass on a great day, but clearly is behind The Big 3 and can only prove he belongs by putting up a significant result.

Matthew Cronin, FoxSports.com
Andy Roddick: The American sees himself as one of the top five picks, and rightfully so. He owns the biggest serve on tour, volleys better than he used to, and firmly believes that if not for Federer, he could have pocketed a couple Wimbledon crowns of his own. His return of serve is his greatest weakness, but if he can hold serve a ton and keeping moving forward on his own terms, the semifinals should be his. He might have to play fellow American James Blake in the fourth round, but his Davis Cup teammate has never won three rounds in England and is unsure of himself on the surface. Roddick's quarterfinal foe might be No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko, but the Russian is incompetent on grass and won't likely get there. All signs point a Roddick-Nadal semifinal, and by then the American should have enough matches under his belt to make a big push. But if Nadal is cutting loose on his forehand and getting enough returns into play, Roddick's best probably won't be good enough.

Bud Collins, MSNBC
Andy Roddick might catch fire but his right shoulder is questionable and if he makes the semifinals and it’s Nadal who’s across the net from him, does the American win that encounter? Nadal has won three of their five career clashes, including the only one they have waged on grass – that being at Queen’s Club this summer.

Nick Bollettieri's picks
If it isn't Federer or Nadal, the obvious next choice for the favorite is Novak Djokovic. He had Nadal on the ropes in the first set in the finals at Queen's Club but couldn't close it out. If he wants to win this title, he cannot let those kind of opportunities slip away from him. After Djokovic, you have guys like David Ferrer, Nikolay Davydenko, Andy Roddick, David Nalbandian, James Blake, Richard Gasquet and Andy Murray. Out of those men, Roddick, if healthy, has the best chance of being a serious threat.If the seeds hold, Nadal will face Andy Roddick in the semifinals. These two just met at Queen’s Club with Nadal winning in straight sets. Roddick’s bum shoulder kept him out of Roland Garros, and he is going to need it to be healthy to get this far. If they play, I know I will be watching this one!

Peter Bodo: Plenty to win, and lose, at Wimbledon
Andy Roddick: Starting in 2003, he lost in the semifinal and two finals (to Federer), then crashed out in the third round and in last year's quarterfinals. Neither of those was the evil "bad loss," but still. Earlier this year, Roddick's results suggested that he's still a contender for Grand Slam titles on any surface but clay, but if he squanders this opportunity on a surface that likes his serve-based game, the doubts will arise anew.

Steve Tignor: Forecasting the Fortnight
Third Quarter: Not getting bumped up in the seedings worked out pretty well for Andy Roddick. He ended up across from Nikolay Davydenko, and in a soft-looking section of that quarter to boot—Roddick's fourth-round opponent might be James Blake. The question is: Who’s coming out of the other side? I refuse to bet on Davydenko, but that leaves, who? Mathieu? Ljubicic? I'm glad I don’t have to pick that one, because I think Roddick will beat whomever it is. Semifinalist: Andy Roddick

ESPN Wimbledon chat with Bonnie Ford and Greg Garber
Q: People keep weighing in on another Nadal/Federer final, but who that you see could trip either one up along the way?
FORD: Djokovic has to be in the discussion, along with Roddick.
Q: Do you think that there were players who got an unfavorable seed?
FORD: Personally, I'm not clear on how Davydenko could be seeded above Roddick when Roddick is a two-time finalist here and Davydenko has never been past the fourth round... the committee here has the option to factor in grass court performance but didn't. They're in the same quarter, as you probably saw, so it may be moot in the end.
Q: What was the LTA/All England club thinking seeding Davydenko 4th? I know the 5th ranked player in the world (Ferrer) is another clay-courter, and that people seem to love to hate Roddick, but if gambling were legal...I'm pretty sure my money would be on Roddick 10/10 times against Davydenko on grass, so why not move him up?
FORD: Totally agree with you.
Q: Which USA tennis player is coming into Wimbledon riding the most momentum?
GARBER: The answer is Roddick (semifinals at Queen's) and Blake (semis at Halle). Coincidentally, they both are up about now. Roddick is up 3-2 on serve against Schwank, Blake follows Lindsay Davenport, who just won her first set against Voracova.
Q: Andy Roddick has no chance, he is the most over rated tennis player in the world!
GARBER: This is a sentiment we hear quite often. The kid WON the US Open and played Federer decently in two finals here. He's seeded No. 6 here, which is about right. How is that overrated?
Q: Who comes out of the lower half of the quarter to challenge Roddick (as many suspect)?
FORD: Not sure who suspects what there, Andrew, but I think IF Ljubicic can keep it together -- and that's a big IF -- that would be an entertaining match. It's unfortunate for US fans that Blake is in the same 1/8.
Q: Will Roddick ever win another major? Can he win the US, it seems to be his best surface? The competition my be right for him to make a run.
FORD: It's one of the more interesting questions in tennis. I think he will, although the window is shrinking and he knows it.
Q: Does Roddick have a chance this year?
FORD: Getting this question a lot -- it will probably boil down to him and Nadal in the semis. Interestingly, they have played the last four finals here.
Q: I just don't understand why american men have such troubles in these tournys...r they that weak with their games or is it the surface or what????
GARBER: Roddick HAS been to four Grand Slam finals, two of them here. Blake,considering his terrific talent, probably has underachieved, but with three great players who have distanced themselves from the field, it's tough to break through.

MSNBC: Andy is One of the Best Players Never to Have Won Wimbledon

How reassuring. Here's hoping one day Andy can become one of those miserable two-slam wonders instead.

JustJared.com is Just Dandy with the Broddick photos

Click here to see more photos of their coffee run!

Photo caption: Andy Roddick and his fiancée Brooklyn Decker pop into a coffee shop in Wimbledon town center on Tuesday. (right-click for larger image)

Andy's Outside Magazine Scans

Related video: "Andy Roddick: Behind the Scenes" [Outside Online]

Grass Recovery

2008-06-10T23:34:00.024-04:00

Updated June 15, 2008

Andy's Studio Interview with Sue Barker and Greg Rusedski

I wrote a short review of the matches in Halle and Queens over here on Craig's blog.

Happy Father's Day to those celebrating it.

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Posted June 10, 2008

I can't believe the Halle and Queen's grass tournaments are already starting, I've barely recovered from the Roland Garros drama. Forget the players, tennis fans deserve a break from tennis, especially after such an emotionally draining grand slam. I'm still gobsmacked by the Nadal-Federer final. In a word: wow.

But, yippee! Andy Roddick will be back in action tomorrow! He's first up on Centre Court with good friend Robby Ginepri. The matches start at 12:30PM local time (7:30AM EST here in the U.S.). You can watch a livestream of all the day's matches on the BBC's website here.

The Stella Artois Championships now also have their own YouTube account so if you can't view the videos on their website (as I can't, because I'm on a Mac, and that's a sin), Stella Artois is now uploading them onto YouTube. Yay!

So How's the Shoulder?

The word on Andy's shoulder sounds encouraging but nobody really knows for sure until he plays. Robby has been on a bit of a hot streak lately (he was the last American man standing at Roland Garros, finally breaking the clay jinx and making it into the fourth round. He's our clay hero!) but the good news is that Andy usually comes out playing strong when he hasn't picked up a racket in a while; all that pent-up energy is just waiting to burst out onto the court. So even though Robby can play Andy tough, I think Andy will prevail in his first match since retiring from the Rome semifinals a few weeks ago. Looking a bit further down the draw, there's a potential tantalizing quarterfinal match with Andy Murray.

Related article: "Queens champ Roddick gathers himself for record fifth title – and the Wimbledon dream." [Scotsman]

Related video: "Relaxed Roddick happy to be back at Queen's" [BBC]

Tennis.com reports:

Andy Roddick is hitting with Richard Gasquet, sans cap but with new coach Guillaume Peyre, who's had plenty of experience teaming with another highly talented though seemingly mentally fragile artisan, Marcos Baghdatis. They play a few games and finish things off with a tiebreak. Peyre let's out a "magnifique" when a forehand winner gets things going. The joy is short lived and Roddick, popping his serve, prevails 7-2.

Afterward, John Roddick is free to chat; the Roddick team arrived in England a few days ago. A combination of shoulder and back injuries kept brother Andy out of Roland Garros and Hamburg.

"Andy's just been practising, working hard, rehabbing his shoulder a little bit," John Roddick says. "Schedule wise it's just been a lot of training, so nothing really fancy. I mean, you saw him, he was serving really well. The only worry is if it creeps back a little bit or regresses, but it is what it is."

The shoulder still gets tired, although the soreness is gone.

"Well, I think he's there, but it's just a matter of going out now and seeing," he continues when asked if the shoulder is 100 percent. "Today was really good in that he was able to serve as good as he did. And actually I think it's helped him with his location because he slowed it down and didn't serve big for a while. Now all of a sudden his location is really good."
.............

A serious foodie, Ginepri joined Roddick and Fish at the noted Mr. Chow's restaurant in west London.

Who else was surprised to hear that Andy was practicing with Mr. "I don't want to play Andy in Davis Cup" Gasquet?

And Charles Bricker says:

Andy Roddick arrived in London, fully fit after his back problem in Rome, and ready to begin his Wimbledon quest at the Queens Club warmup tournament this week. After beating Federer at Key Biscayne and (presumably) watching Nadal take him down in Paris, there is no reason why Roddick shouldn't arrive at the All England Club thinking a Grand Slam title is within his grasp.

Andy and Brooklyn Caught Red-Handed Walking Out on the Streets of London!

JustJared.com strikes Broddick gold again with these new paparazzi photos of Andy and Brooklyn leaving Nobu restaurant in London. Andy's jeans have no holes in them, he's wearing a very nice maroon shirt, and his hairline is starting to recede. Brooklyn is wearing a really cute outfit while carrying a really cool handbag. I give them an A+ for their cutesy coupledom. Aww. (right-click for larger photo)

A Walk Down Memory Lane

Remember around this time last year when Andy made a hilarious guest turn on Jonathan Ross' show? If you missed it, here it is again. Watch Andy Murray's recent appearance on the same show and tell me who you think Mr. Ross would invite back in a heartbeat?

Confirmed: Andy and Brooklyn Are Engaged

2008-03-31T15:57:00.041-04:00

updated April 3, 2008

"I think I lost half my fan base today."
—Andy, on his engagement.

Still in shock?

So am I. Andy's been full of surprises this year with Connors leaving then Andy beating Nadal and Djokovic to win Dubai on his debut there, then he decides not to go to Beijing for the Olympics, and now he's suddenly engaged. Not that I'm complaining, I'm enjoying this sudden unpredictability and him keeping us guessing. Maybe he'll have some more surprises in store for us as the year progresses.

I think I'm more stunned by how the media jumped on the news of the engagement, not just in the U.S. either. Making the front pages of Yahoo! (Brooklyn was the #1 searched-for celeb that day), CNN, Sports Ilustrated, Metro UK, the ATP, UPI news, and every gossip/celebrity blog that's out there? Come on. Think maybe the press overreacted just a bit? I mean, in U.S. sports Andy is small potatoes, it's not like he's Tom Brady dating supermodel Giselle. That the media pounced on this non-story and ran with it shows just how warped our society has become with its focus on celebrity culture. People have become obsessed with celebrity weddings/babies, etc. and in this day and age pretty much anybody is deemed a celebrity, it doesn't matter if you're just a C-list wannabe or a reality TV "star". Even high-priced prostitutes become "stars" in this day and age. Pfft.

"Never underestimate the allure of escapism," someone said. You got that right. Crazy times.

And I can't believe that People magazine actually showed up during his postmatch interview to ask about the engagement. WTF? Roddick himself admitted that he was kind of freaked out by all the attention this has gotten. I would be, too.

A. Roddick def I. Minar 7‑6, 6‑4

An interview with: ANDY RODDICK

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. From People Magazine.
ANDY RODDICK: Oh.

Q. It's begun. It started.
ANDY RODDICK: Thanks for breaking the news. Appreciate it.

Q. We wanted to know how you popped the question, where you were? Did you get down on one knee and what kind of ring you had. Just little details like that?
ANDY RODDICK: Just little details I'll probably keep to myself. It's our business. It was nice. I got down on a knee, but I think the details we'll keep close to our family and friends. Thanks.

Q. Do you have at least a date that you did it?
ANDY RODDICK: Couple weeks ago.

Q. So does it feel any different to be an engaged man other than, you know, questions in People Magazine and all that?
ANDY RODDICK: Yeah. I think so. I think it's a life choice, so it is a bit different. I think I lost half my fan base today.

Q. You did. I think so.
ANDY RODDICK: No, but, you know, I'm happy, and, you know, Ivo Minar played the same way. I don't think he really cared. (laughter.)
That was my main concern today.

Q. I think he was trying to give you an easy win.
ANDY RODDICK: Then I'll take it. Apparently I should have done it sooner, then.

THE MODERATOR: Are there any tennis questions, by chance?
.........................

Q. You know what the ups and downs are of being in the spotlight, and I know Brooklyn has been in the spotlight herself. But do you feel like she knows what she's in for?
ANDY RODDICK: Yeah. You know, she's a very, very smart girl, so I think ‑‑ I think so. But, you know, to be honest, I think it's big news today. I don't know if it will be big news next week.

Q. Are you and Mardy going to share wedding planning tips and stuff?
ANDY RODDICK: Hopefully that's ‑‑ I was just trying to take heat off Mardy. Hopefully they can talk wedding plans and maybe we can go do golf or something.

Q. Who introduced you?
ANDY RODDICK: Guys, let's get to tennis, please.

Roddick's engagement wasn't news to Justin Gimelstob, the former pro from Delray Beach who is close to Roddick.

The Sun-Sentinel blog reports:

"I love Brooklyn. My girl friend and I double-date with her and Andy all the time in New York. She's a sweetheart. Andy is happy and, as a friend, that's all. . .you know. . .She's beautiful, fun, laid-back, athletic, loves sport, comes from a really nice family. She's like a perfect fit. She's just as nice as she is pretty," said Gimelstob.

So between Andy's engagement and Mikhail Youzhny acting like a crazy man and bashing his head in with his racket (which actually made YouTube's top featured video), tennis has gotten some good(?) exposure in the mainstream press this week.

Brooklyn also made it onto the SI Pop Culture Hot List.

What People are Saying About the Engagement

Below is a collection of real quotes I've taken from people, fans, non-fans and other interested parties, posting on various message boards and blogs, discussing the Roddick-Decker engagement. I am using their initials only so as not to embarrass anyone but I thought the passionate reactions of all who cared enough to comment was interesting to see.

RG: Why is he in such a rush to get married??? she just met her like a few months ago!!! god andy.....

DB: All I know is, it's a gorgeous ring so whoever picked it out has props from me.

WH: I prefer square-cut diamonds.

MG: Can't believe Andy would be tamed so easily... wow... I had always thought he'd be picking up one model after another until he's 40.

ST: HOLY CRAP. i always imagined him to be single forever.

C9: Oh, damn it Andy. I like this girl. Great personality, super cute and he had to go and blow it with this? She's 20 and they've known each other for 5 months. Forget the marriage not lasting, the engagement won't.

ME: wow, i can't believe Andy is engaged. it seems so soon. best of luck ARod.

PA: I'm not jealous, but it will be odd to think of him as a married man if the two should go through with the marriage. I am very excited for him though; he's 25: it's baby-making time!

GL: Congrats to Andy... but she's so young! I am older than her and can't imagine being married.

FE: Congrats and best wishes Andy and Brooke.

OR: Congrats to them? I dunno, they just seem too young to get hitched. Here's to a four-year engagement!

TL: wow, that's shocking. She's younger than me and they've been together less than a year, seems like such a rush! congratulations to them though, I hope they will be very happy together!

NF: They make a cute couple.

BL: So Andy boy is engaged. I really thought Roger would do it first.

DD: Andy Roddick engaged to a 20 year old? No comment.

FT: And they’ve known each other for less than a year? Interesting is all I will say on the matter.

JL: Are you kidding me? I thought he was bi/gay?!

JH: I’m very happy for Andy, but there’s one problem: He’ll need to win titles to afford her.

J4: Dude is making a HUGE mistake. He should just hit it and quit it.

SZ: his talent..overrated tennis guy. her talent...looking hot

GO: Another athlete ruined by marriage.

MM: Can someone explain why we are supposed to care about this? Since when have sports become "Access Hollywood?"

SB: a-rod is one lucky s.o.b!

RA: Good going Andy - after what Tiger has gone through it should only take you five years to get your playing form back too.

MN: First winner he's hit all year.

M1: Good for Andy, nailing a SI swimsuit girl. Now, please, win a damn title and knock off Federer before he catches up to Pete Sampras. Put the U.S. back on the tennis map.

TG: Only in America are you a loser if you're the 5th best tennis player out of 3 billion people. I love the way you overweight, out-of-shape, ex-high-school jocks tear down a world class athlete so you can feel better about yourselves.

JA: Personally, I think Mandy Moore was better.

BB: You can't say he didn't learn anything from Jimmy Conners.

BA: I think you are all idiots. SHE'S A GOD DA MN SUPERMODEL!!!

DG: Isn't she 18 or something like that? Hey, Andy... Ever heard of something called a pre-nup? Otherwise, I guess congratulations are in order!

OM: you can always object at the wedding or something...

CL: His fiance looks kind of like Hantuchova. I hope she likes beer and football!

GV: No way would I ever have gotten married at 20.

OK: I don't do blondes.

JT: Congrats, Andy! I suspect it will last forever.

MS: Has forever gotten that short?

FH: She's young but it can work if they want it to. The trouble is to many people don't try to make it work and run at the first sign of trouble.

KK: So let me get this straight: He sees her in a magazine. His agent hunts down her phone number. They meet. And now marry. No comment.

KY: I'm in shock... Thats insane. I don't really see it lasting, but congrats Andy.

KE: Yes, lets make it a nice, 10 year long engagement so as not to ruin Andy's tennis career. Or give us more excuses as to why he drops in the rankings.

OM: Let it be noted that last time Andy had a high-profile chica, he won a slam. This is a sound strategic move.

TA: What would Joan Rivers say?

CH: That rock is gigantic.

FT: Wow! What a catch! Brooklyn Decker is smoking!

NJ: They will make sexy babies.

SG: Roddick dates a girl for a year and proposes to her. Meanwhile, Federer has been with Mirka for almost 8 years and can't do the honorable thing. I have more respect for Roddick and beginning to have less for Federer. I never thought I would say that.

PT: Way to go Roddick! I too have a feeling he will have a hard time focusing on tennis.

TP: Do her parents need to be at the same table as her if she wants to have a glass of champagne at the wedding?

BB: Ugh, why marry?? You're young Andy, just go have fun. Wine and dine her sure, be boyfriend/girlfriend. But now you're gonna make promises of forever and legally tie up your estate? For what? Hope you get a pre-nup. Talk to Paul McCartney.

SL: So finally Roddick beats Federer in something?

JP: That girl is bearly out the cradle, she is way to young to be married. Some people may fall in love real quick but at twenty i would think she needs a little time to live her life and sweat being dump and irresponsible out, marriage is something else good but hella work and at twenty she don't know nothing bout being no-ones wife.

SD: Usually when a top ten player gets hitched, his tennis career goes completely down the tubes. Roddick had a few good years left. Once he gets married, it will be over for him playing career-wise. Agassi, Hewitt, Sampras, et al.

FF: YEAH RODDICK! Now who wouldn't want to be Roddick in this situation. Jerk or not he's still getting a babe.

BS: omg noo I've been having gay fantasies about him for years :( boo

RM: From a fans standpoint this is terrible news. His carreer is going to go down the hole. Man Just when he was getting better. He's going to be so distracted with married life that he wont be able to focus on tennis.

LA: It's nice to hear Andy's in love; maybe it will even reflect in his game.

TO: Nothing wrong with getting married at that age.. but can they stick to it?

MU: I. Am. Heartbroken.

BT: For some reason, I'm seeing a Agassi/Brooke Shields correlation here. Hope he doesn't end up falling out of the top 500 or something.

YB: I wouldn't hold my breath on this one. 2007... not enough time. They may make it, but it will be tough with all the travel. Absence DOES NOT make the heart grow fonder. If she travels with him, they may stand something of a chance, at least they'd get to know each other better. Who knows... good luck, Andy.

WB: It seems so sudden. Like I don't understand people getting married after a year of dating. Like how the hell do you know if you can live with someone for the rest of your life? And I'm sure that Andy hasn't even dated her that long... AND she's a swimsuit model?! Uh, yeah, this isn't gonna last. She's just a trophy wife for now... but I do wish them luck.

DL: I really think he felt left out because Mardy is getting married.

HY: She is not even old enough to drink. What's the rush! Baby must be in the bun.

DL: Now, now, now...let's not start any rumors...

AW: It appears that Ms Decker is 20, which might, in some circles, be seen as a tad young for making a lifetime commitment. But no doubt they've thought it all through.

CP: Ah, young love...via one's agent.

MK: if I were 25 and a tennis star, I'd have my agent do the exact same thing. Flip through the SI swimsuit issue and get some numbers! However, once the excitement of "I'm dating an SI swimsuit model" and "I'm dating a tennis star" wears off, I'll be curious to see how long they make it.

TT: Why so hard on Ms. Decker? I have a client who grew up in the same town as Brooke (as she was known) in North Carolina and said family nice, normal and she is a sports loving (evidently loves the UNC basketball team) really nice girl who moved to NYC and made it in a very tough business. I would think Roddick who seems a Texan, nee Midwestern guy via Florida and sports fan would have quite a bit in common with her as most people say he is a good, loyal friend and close to his family. Perhaps the images thrown off by their professions does not match the real people underneath.

BM: Advice to Andy: delay the wedding until you retire.

What the Blogs are Saying

• Roddick's upcoming nuptials sound death knell for his career. [Island Packet]
• Andy Roddick's fiance is one buff covergirl. [People]
• Four burning questions after the Miami ATP Masters event. [Athens Exchange]
• No wonder Andy Roddick feels lucky these days. [Gossip on Sports]
• Meet the Future Mrs. Roddick. [Deadspin]
• It's OK to be envious of Andy Roddick. [Mister Irrelevant]
• Off the market. [PerezHilton]
• Can we make up our minds here? [Sports Curmudgeon]
• Andy Roddick Pops the Question; Women Everywhere Have Unrealistic Hopes Dashed. [AOL Sports FanHouse]
• Andy Roddick has a tough life; engaged to a swimsuit model. [on205th]
• Andy Roddick's engaged, in case anyone still cares. [The Evil Beet]
• Andy Roddick engaged to swimsuit model. [OhNoTheyDidnt]

In other news, Andy is rumored to have purchased an apartment in New York City:
"Tennis stud Andy Roddick reportedly pays $1.19M for an apartment in Manhattan’s Gramercy area."

COMMENT ON THIS POST

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Posted March 31, 2008

AR.com confirmed it this morning. Congratulations to the young couple!

People magazine actually has the news on their front page:

This explains Andy's happy glow during the Lacoste event at Bloomingdale's recently (see photos below). Personally, I think this engagement comes much too soon and they are too young, but aside from my own misgivings I am very happy for them and wish them all the best. They make a great couple.

Here's a big photo from today's match vs Minar that shows the ring up close. Brooklyn was very accomodating by constantly flashing her left hand for us. She knows everybody wants to see the ring. Thanks, Brooklyn! Right+click for larger view.

As usual per big Andy news, AR.com has once again crashed due to overload.

Andy Roddick Helps Lacoste Celebrate Its 75th Anniversary, March 25, 2008, Bloomingdale's, New York City

This man is glowing. Click here for story.

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Updated February 13, 2008

Still Another Broddick Sighting

WireImage reports: SI Swimsuit model Brooklyn Decker and tennis player Andy Roddick attend The Sports Illustrated Unveils 2008 Swimsuit Issue Celebration Party at 7 World Trade Center February 12, 2008 in New York City.

Here's one photo of Andy and Brooklyn together. Thanks to lusa14 for the find. (right+click for larger image).

From MSNBC:

Andy Roddick and supermodel Brooklyn Decker kept their distance at the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition’s Party at 1OAK Sunday night. A source close to the tennis star said there’s no trouble in paradise, Roddick was just making sure Decker could have spend time with her girlfriends.

From the Charlotte Observer:

In addition to appearing in the magazine, Brooklyn Decker will host "The 2008 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Special" on TNT at 11 p.m. Saturday. The special will offer a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the issue.

Brooklyn also recently did an interview for a local sports radio station, WFNZ, in Charlotte. Click here to listen to her dance around all the Andy questions.

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Updated February 12, 2008

Another Broddick Sighting

Now we know why Andy left Austria in such a hurry. He wanted to get back home to warm up his girl, Brooklyn (as reported by the New York Post's Page Six). Click on the link for more photos.

What's funny in these photos is that Brooklyn is wearing practically everything that Andy had previously said he did not like on women: flats, big bags, and skinny jeans. The only thing missing are the giant Jackie-O sunglasses.

Brooklyn's new 2008 swimsuit gallery for Sports Illustrated is available for viewing.

Happy Slamming at the Australian Open

2008-01-15T22:13:00.037-05:00

Updated January 21, 2008

Super Saturday: The Aussie Open's Greatest Day of Tennis

The Most Amazing 31 Hours of Men's Tennis
Third Round Madness, January 19, 2008

2:05AM: Kohlschreiber def. Roddick 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (11-9), 6-7 (3-7), 8-6
• a total of 74 aces were struck. Roddick hit a career high 42 aces, while Kohlschreiber fired off 32 aces.
• Roddick's fastest serve of the night was clocked at 145 mph (unreturned by Kohlschreiber).
• Kohlschreiber hit an incredible 104 winners, Roddick hit 79.
• this loss marks Roddick's earliest exit at the Aussie Open since his debut in 2002.
• watch Roddick's meltdown here.
• As ESPN's commentator Chris Fowler put it "We can add Kohlschreiber to the list players Roddick brings out the best in slams." The esteemed list of Roddick-killers includes Richard Gasquet, Andy Murray, Marcos Baghdatis, Gilles Muller, and Joachim Johansson.
• Kohlschreiber went on to lose to Jarkko Nieminen in the fourth round (6-3, 6-7 (7-9), 6-7 (9-11), 3-6) which makes this the first time Roddick has lost to an opponent who did not go on to the AO final (Schuettler 2003, Safin 2004, Hewitt 2005, Baghdatis 2006, Federer 2007).

4:05PM: Blake def. Grosjean 4-6, 2-6, 6-0, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2
• this is Blake's second five-set match win at a slam (his first was at USO 2007 vs Santoro).
• for the first time in his career Blake came back from two sets down.
• this was Blake's first win over Grosjean, who had previously beaten Blake 3 times before.
• after Vince Spadea lost to David Ferrer in the third round, Blake became for the first time in his career the last American man standing at a slam.
• Blake advanced to his first non-U.S. quarterfinal grand slam appearance when he defeated Marin Cilic in the fourth round.
• Question: How many times since 2001 has James Blake gone deeper in a Grand Slam than Roddick? Answer: Four times, in early-round play in 2002, 2003, and 2006 at the French Open and at the 2005 U.S. Open, where Roddick suffered a shock first-round upset and Blake reached the quarterfinals.
• watch match highlights here.

9:14PM: Federer def. Tipsarevic 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-1), 5-7, 6-1, 10-8
• the match lasted four hours and 27 minutes.
• Tipsarevic (49) was appearing in just his first Australian Open third round.
• Tipsarevic and Federer had never played one another before.
• Tipsarevic ended Federer's 30 straight sets won at the AO.
• Federer served only one double fault, Tipsarevic six.
• Federer hit a career high 39 aces.
• For Federer, it was the earliest round that he has been extended to five sets since 2001 Wimbledon second round (d. Malisse).
• The fifth set was the longest of Federer’s career (previous longest 9-7) and the longest contested by a top seed at the Australian Open in the Open Era.
• watch the last few games in the fifth set here.

4:34AM: Hewitt def. Baghdatis 4-6, 7-5, 7-5, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3
• the AO broke its own rules of not starting any matches after 11:00PM. Hewitt-Baghdatis took to the court at 11:47PM. It was the latest start ever for a grand slam match.
• the match would end 4 hours and 45 minutes later, at 4:34AM, making it the latest-running match in AO history.
• There were a total of 13 breaks of serve throughout the match.
• Baghdatis committed 80 unforced errors, Hewitt made 56.
• a third of ticket-holders stuck around for the entire match.
• Hewitt has never lost a five set match at the Australian Open.
• watch the last game here with Baghdatis leaving the court in tears.
• shocking US tennis fans, ESPN2 gave 16 hours of continuous tennis coverage, most of it commercial-free, and stayed with matches long after it was supposed to sign off for other scheduled programming. If you were as thrilled with the tennis coverage as I was, please send ESPN your happy tidings here.

Related articles:
• 30 (hour) love [TR.net]
• Two days of madness [Tennis.com]
• Long Aussie Open nights play havoc with schedule [AP]
• Melbourne magic [Tennis-X]
• ESPN sets record for longest live telecast [The Washington Times]

Upset, Tested, Revealing, Loss, Inspiration, Need.

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Updated January 17, 2008

A Comedy of Errors

R64: Roddick def Berrer 6-2 6-2 6-4

Sometimes you come across one photo that perfectly encapsulates the match it was taken from. This is one of those photos.

After fans complained that Andy didn't do much of anything other than mope around in the first round match vs. Dlouhy, he looked more comfortable and solid in the second round vs. German Michael Berrer. He took the opportunity to practice a shot he rarely uses: the lob. He also took the opportunity to practice another shot nobody ever wants to make one time, let alone twice in the same match: the whiff. As the match went on it became so bizarre that it made me wonder how a talented upstart like Donald Young managed to lose to this guy in the first round. Even ESPN commentator Patrick McEnroe said that Berrer was playing like nothing more than "a glorified park player", and Jimmy Connors couldn't stop giggling at Berrer's amateurish errors. If you saw the match, can you blame him?

Roddick vs. Berrer comedy show highlights

Andy was in no danger of losing this match and seemed content to hang out on the baseline and wait for Berrer to make an error. Andy's laziness in early rounds vs low ranked players is a source of consternation to his many fans who wonder if he can up his game in time versus a more dangerous opponent. Many expect German Philipp Kohlschreiber to play the spoiler vs. Andy in the third round. If Andy shows up playing this kind of dinky, moonball tennis then he will lose. Andy is aware that Kohlschreiber is a bit on a hot streak right now, so I think he knows he needs to flatten that forehand out more, play more aggressive, and to quit futzing around ten meters behind the baseline.

Roddick's comments after the match show that he didn't treat the match as anything more than a hit-and-giggle session:

"I had fun out there tonight, and I kind of played a little bit differently out there. I enjoyed myself."

"It's a little bit of a cold night and I knew the ball wouldn't carry through the court too much. I was content to let him hit the ball hard and try to bully the ball around. It was a good workout ahead of my next match."

"I think I'm aware of the fact that [Kohlschreiber's] been steadily rising in the rankings. I have played him a couple of times and I'm definitely aware of his recent form, winning in Auckland and winning his first two matches here. So, you know, I think I'm more concerned with his recent form than the tales of Kohlschreiber since '05."

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Posted January 15, 2008

R128: Roddick def Dlouhy 6-3 6-4 7-5

"MARRY US, ANDY!" A public proposal for Andy Roddick. (right-click for larger image)

Not much to say except that was one awful first round match. Delete-worthy, really. Sure he won in straight sets but quality-wise, it was terrible. I was expecting that Andy might use the opportunity to practice flattening his forehands, maybe get in some net practice, work on his return game, etc. but he did none of those things. Instead he stayed back and just kind of pushed the ball back and forth all day long. He didn't look comfortable out there much. He did just enough to win while his opponent self-destructed. Judging by his grumpy demeanor and constant head-shaking, he wasn't thrilled with his play, either. Justin Gimelstob said afterwards that Andy hit for another half hour right after the match ended, so that's a good sign that he felt he needed to "hit it out" some more to loosen up a bit. One messageboard fan said, "Not to defend Andy's crappy play, but I wonder how much he was thrown/irritated by waiting for the Jankovic-Paszcek horror fest to finally end?" Good point. I know I was getting irritated by the minute waiting for the women's match to end and Andy's to start.

I would post match highlights except that the highlight for me was that it ended. Here's hoping a better version of Andy shows up in his second round match with Germany's Michael Berrer tonight.

Actually, there is one cool highlight to show you. ESPN gave us this: "Andy Roddick and the Art of the Press Conference".

So how do you like Australia's new "Smurf Turf" (as branded by Sports Illustrated)?

COLORFUL DEBATE: The new bright blue Plexicushion playing surface installed for this year's Australian Open is not really an issue for Andy Roddick or his closest supporters. "I don't really care, half my family is color blind anyway, so it doesn't matter."

The sixth-seeded Roddick rallied to beat qualifier Lukas Dlouhy of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 in the opening round Monday, afterward describing the new playing surface as slow and gritty.

But when it comes to the color, Roddick doesn't seem to care.

"I think that's something where people are watching on TV," he said. "I don't think it really matters to us too much."

Top-seeded Roger Federer on Sunday came out in support of the bright blue color, saying he preferred it to the green Rebound Ace surface of previous years.

"Oh, yeah, because you could tell that it bothered him a lot throughout the years," Roddick joked of Federer's success on the green surface, on which the Swiss star won the 2004, 2006 and 2007 titles.

Andy and other Americans are featured on the new cover of Chinese Tennis magazine this month.

Off-Season Mishmash

2007-12-12T17:40:00.005-05:00

Updated December 23, 2007

All I Want for Christmas is Andy Roddick

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Updated December 19, 2007

With the off-season comes lots of charity work and more hilarious player impersonations from Andy during exos. Check out these latest additions made to YouTube:

Andy impersonates Serena Williams

Andy impersonates Rafael Nadal

The YouTube user uploaded many other videos of Andy's impersonations including Boris Becker, Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Maria Sharapova, and John McEnroe. Really funny collection.

Robby Ginepri got even with Andy, though, and did his own (pretty good) impersonation of Andy! Check it out here.

Just in Time for the Holidays: Andy's Fragrance Hits the Stores

Andy signed a fragrance deal with Parlux such a long time ago that I was beginning to think his scent had been permanently shelved. But it turns out that it was released, just with very little fanfare. I don't recall ever seeing a press release about it.

SMELLS LIKE TEAM RODDICK. Sorry, no scratch and sniff available on computer screens. (right-click for larger image)

The scent contains such masculine aromas as Frozen Bergamot, White Birch, Blue Cypress, Frosted Nutmeg, and Blonde Woods. I have to ask, what the heck is a blonde woods? I Googled "blonde woods" and all I got was Elle Woods from "Legally Blonde." So what is Andy saying about himself with this? That's he's legally blonde? Hahaha. Also, do Andy's pheromones really smell like Frosted Nutmeg?, because that really gets me into the winter holiday mood, ho-ho-ho. Jingle my bells, Andy.

Beware, Hecklers: Roddick Will Make You Pay

One of the funnier aspects of Andy's appearances at exos (besides his impersonations of other players) is how he engages the crowd so well, in particular, how he calls out hecklers and makes them pay for their insolence. Muahaha.

From the Omaha World Herald: Roddick rocks the night.

Stop everything, Andy Roddick said. Hold on.

He called the heckler, an 18 year old wearing a self-designed T-shirt that declared love for Roddick, down from the crowd. He walked to the microphone.

Did you all hear what he said, Roddick asked the crowd of about 6,000 at the Qwest Center: "He said, Andy, you wuss."

So, in the middle of Roddick's singles exhibition match, he invited the kid to grab a racquet. Take position opposite the net. Get ready.

Then Roddick hit a serve, 144 mph, directly at the kid, who ran for cover upon contact.

The crowd roared.

"That's about as tough as a tennis player can feel - ever," Roddick said.

In his first-ever professional performance in the town where he was born, Roddick mixed world-class tennis with the charisma that makes him not just a racquet master, but a celebrity.

He came out of the locker room wearing a Nebraska football helmet, much to the approval of Tom Osborne. He ran the option with Eric Crouch, assigning the Heisman winner the I-back role. He consistently bantered with the crowd and fired balls into the cheap seats. And, of course, he displayed overwhelming power and deft touch.

[. . .]

The exhibition, Rock-n-Racquets, came to Omaha for the first time. Roddick started it in 2002 with Andre Agassi. Agassi has since retired, so Roddick called on Williams, owner of eight Grand Slam titles and an Olympic gold medal.

The idea: develop tennis interest in places like Omaha that rarely see the sport up close, said Williams, who'd never been to Nebraska. The idea worked, mostly because of Roddick.

"He's been really entertaining," said Dena Noe, a tennis novice from Lincoln. "I didn't expect that. He's got a great personality - and a really odd serve. I think they're having a lot of fun together."

ATTENTION FANS! Andy's player impersonations are great but what I really, really, really would love to see is him do next is Novak Djokovic. All spring and summer long Djokovic was making a name for himself as the ATP Class Clown doing hilarious impressions of various players, including Andy. I would very much like to see Andy return the favor. So to any of you who plan to attend any future exos where Andy is playing, take your phone camera, and demand that he do a Novak Djokovic impersonation. It's guaranteed to be a crowd pleaser. Thanks much.

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Updated December 17, 2007

Roddick Pinch-Hits for Justin Gimelstob Charity Event

The Star-Ledger, NJ. Roddick pinch-hits to help charity:

Tennis and snow don't often go together, but yesterday's sloppy storm created quite a treat for tennis fans at Justin Gimelstob's charity exhibition in Chatham.

When the storm grounded Murphy Jensen's flight from Los Angeles into Newark yesterday, Gimelstob found a pretty decent replacement. He just called Andy Roddick.

Fresh off his Davis Cup victory less than two weeks ago, the No. 6 player in the world pulled on his shorts and filled in quite adequately for the absent Jensen, adding some real flair to an event that already featured John and Patrick McEnroe, as well as Gimelstob and Luke Jensen.

Roddick, who is good friends with Gimelstob, came to New York to chill out for a few days, "to disappear," as he put it, and was actually hitting with Gimelstob on Wednesday at Centercourt.

It was a total surprise to the fans who crammed into the Centercourt club in Chatham, already content to see the McEnroe's and Gimelstob and help raise money for the Justin Gimelstob Children's fund for children with cancer and blood disorders.

"It's amazing that he would come here at a moment's notice like this," a beaming Gimelstob said. "I know I'm going to owe him a kidney or something now. But I hope people appreciate how cool this is, to have two huge champions like him and John here at the event, support tennis in New Jersey and doing their part for the charity."

The Star-Ledger, NJ. Tennis stars serve up fun:

Kevin Wolfer considered his $13,000 winning bid a bargain.

After all, not everyone gets to be Andy Roddick's guest for the duration of the U.S. Open.

"I go to the Open all the time," said Wolfer, the Cresskill resident who won the chance at Thursday night's tennis exhibition for the Justin Gimelstob Children's Fund. "I try to take my vacation during the Open. It was a good deal and it's for a great cause."

Gimelstob, of New Vernon, John and Patrick McEnroe and Luke Jensen took part in the exhibition at the Center Court Racquet Club in Chatham. The special guest of the evening? Roddick.

The presence of the top-ranked American men's player left the girls swooning.

"It is so exciting," said 14-year-old Katie Goepel of Chatham. "My sister and I were jumping up and down a few hours ago when we found out Andy would be here. He's good-looking and really funny. He's got a good sense of humor. Andy's an amazing player with an amazing serve."

Yulia Khaline of Millburn couldn't believe Roddick would be playing at Center Court.

"We had no idea," Khaline said. "We were surprised. Everyone in the whole world knows who he is."

Melissa Mann, another teen-ager from Millburn, said the news about Roddick was leaked by Jason Magnes, one of the state's top boys players. Roddick practiced with Gimelstob on Wednesday at Center Court. It was then that Gimelstob persuaded him to come back.

"It's amazing he's here," Mann said. "He's such a force on the tennis court."

Roddick, who played Gimelstob in his last U.S. Open in September, was paired with Davis Cup captain Pat McEnroe in the night's first match. They played Jensen and Gimelstob in a match Roddick referred to as "Champs vs. Chumps."

It wasn't long before Roddick teased Gimelstob, now retired. "You look like you put on some weight in your legs since you stopped playing," Roddick said.

Related article:
• "For some players, December is our time to give back" [Justin Gimelstob blog, SI.com]

There is a streaming video of highlights from the event here. If you have problems with buffering, you can download the flash video here (thanks to Raina).

Photos from the event (click on thumbnail for larger pic).

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Finally, A Broddick Sighting

The celebrity gossip blog JustJared.com has published several nice photos of Andy and Brooklyn holding hands while walking around New York City's Union Square. They make a nice looking couple. My only complaint is that ripped jeans have not been in vogue since the early 90s so I'm hoping Brooklyn's fashion sense will rub off on Andy and those awful jeans will disappear from his wardrobe.

Brooklyn Video
I found this video profile of Brooklyn where she talks about herself, how she likes living in New York City, and her favorite band is the same as Andy's: The Dave Matthews Band.

Why was Andy in New York Anyway?
The NYPost says:

WE HEAR: That after he helped the US win the Davis Cup for the first time in 12 years, Andy Roddick flew to New York for a routine checkup of his fast feet with Dr. Josh Dines and Dr. Rock Positano of the Hospital for Special Surgery.

A lot of fans seem to have already formed an opinion about Ms. Decker. Here's mine: there are only two things that concern me, One. Does she make him happy? Going by just the few photos I have seen of them together the answer appears to be yes. So far so good. Two. Does she inspire him? In other words, will Decker be one of those suck-the-life-energy-out-of-him type of parasitic trophy girlfriends or will she inspire him to be the best that he can be, both as an athlete and as a human being? Judging by his recent results on the court, and his relaxed attitude and behavior, I am inclined to believe that she has had a positive influence on him. Anything else about Andy's girlfriends I could not care less about. I don't care what she looks like, how old she is, if she's a model or a former frumpy "Survivor" contestant, or whether their relationship will "last", none of these things matter to me as a fan of Andy Roddick. I only want to see him happy and to succeed in his dreams. Should Andy win another slam on her watch, I will be the first to demand that Brooklyn Decker be cloned.

If the Tennis Thing Doesn't Work Out, There's Always "Dancing with the Stars"

It's the tennis off-season so that means nothing but useless celebrity gossip, tidbits, and other fun stuff to talk about, such as the idea of Andy appearing on "Dancing with the Stars". As reported by Sign on San Diego, Cheryl Burke, who tangoed to a title with Emmitt Smith in 2006, gives us five other sports personalities she'd love to partner with on future “Dancing With The Stars” seasons and Andy Roddick was one them. Cheryl says, "I've read a few quotes from him in the media and he seems to have the sense of humor that would make him ideal for the show."

Maybe she also heard Bob Bryan say that Andy showed off some "Jackson Five moves" when they recently celebrated their Davis Cup win.

**And You Thought You Were Obsessed**

Foals singer Yannis Philippakis has a huge man-crush on Andy. In almost every interview I've seen on this guy and his band, Roddick is always mentioned. A sampling:

From the Telegraph, UK:
One of the most bizarre of these obsessions is former World No 1 tennis player Andy Roddick. "He's not the most talented tennis player ever," Philippakis explains, "but the idea of psychological discipline and no Plan B - I like that. It's the pathos, too. There's a kind of tragic-hero quality. He's like someone out of The Great Gatsby."

From southscene.net:
So what would he be doing if a burgeoning music career hadn’t taken him in its grip?
Yannis: "Maybe playing tennis. I used to be really good actually. I have a thing for Andy Roddick, I think he’s f**king awesome."

From Spin magazine:
Fun Fact: Singer Yannis Philippakis is a tennis fanatic and American Grand Slam pro Andy Roddick is his favorite player. The lyrics for "The French Open" are based on Roddick's advert with Lacoste. [You can watch a live version of this song on YouTube here.]

The Foals. (photo from the BBC)

I think it's great that Andy inspires so many creative people (another fun fact: did you know that Boyd Tinsley's song "The Ghosts of Wimbledon" was also inspired by Andy?) Although, I'm surprised that somebody would sing a song called "The French Open" in honor of Andy. Why not use a more appropriate title, such as "No Plan B"?

Andy Has a Gay Moment (Without Realizing It)

Cover your eyes, chillen!!!!!!

While we're on the juicy tidbits subject, I guess now is as good a time as any to point you all to this bizarre photo of a fan getting a tad too close to Andy. It was taken back in 2005 after his loss at the US Open. It's clear that Andy was not in on the joke ("He had no idea I was that close to licking his face," says brazen fan Nate) which makes it even funnier. I'm surprised nobody saw this photo until recently. If he hasn't already, I'm sure that Nate will be hailed as a national hero in gay tennis circles. I'm also pretty sure that should Andy see this photo he will sh*t a brick or two. Or three.

GayWired has a profile this month's "World's Sexiest Athlete: Andy Roddick" here.

OutSports names it's Top Ten Sexiest Tennis Players and Andy falls in at No. 9:

Andy Roddick has an on-court attitude that leaves something to be desired. His overplayed machismo can induce vomiting, but fortunately the Top Ten Hotties List doesn’t have a gag reflex. The American is spoiled and whiny in defeat, pompous and arrogant in victory. In fact, one might say that Andy is a big Roddick. We complain about it during tournaments, but now is the time to come out of the closet and confess our crush on the man with one of the most punishing serves in tennis. After all, who doesn’t love a bad boy? Roddick struts around the baseline with his muscular chest poking out; he stares intensely while teasingly tugging at his crotch; and he pounds ace after ace after ace until we beg him to stop. Andy’s all-American good looks and self-satisfied grin are just as lethal.

I don't mean to nitpick with OutSports but their comment, "spoiled and whiny in defeat, pompous and arrogant in victory" couldn't be more off-base. I challenge them to show us a recent interview from Roddick that clearly demonstrates such characteristics. I'm not saying that Andy's a perfect little angel (don't make me laugh) but "spoiled and whiny in defeat"? Since when? It just goes to show that some people's perception of a media image can't be further from the truth.

By the way, No. 1 on their hottie list was Novak Djokovic. If OutSports needs to see what pompous and arrogant really looks like check out this hilarious interview of Novak from 2006.

Davis Cup: Band of Brothers

2007-11-29T17:54:00.007-05:00

Updated December 4, 2007

Davis Cup Trophy Presentation

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Updated December 2, 2007

1st Singles: Roddick def Tursunov 6-4 6-4 6-2
2nd Singles: Blake def Youzhny 6-3 7-6(4) 6-7(3) 7-6(3)
Doubles: Bryans def Andreev/Davydenko 7-6(4) 6-4 6-2
1st Reverse Singles: Andreev def B. Bryan 6-3 7-6(4)
2nd Reverse Singles: Blake def Tursunov 1-6 6-3 7-5

USA: 2007 Davis Cup Champions!

"We've been the ultimate team, and it's just been a blast and it's been an honor to be a part of that." — Andy Roddick

We are the champions! Is anyone else feeling hungover (besides Andy, who was trying very hard to look and act normal and keep a straight face throughout today's dead rubber matches, hence the spaced out look on his face. Mardy Fish was also feeling the effects of a long night, once falling asleep on John Roddick's shoulder and then at another point he stole Andy's watch to play with.)

Video of championship point, with team celebration, and on court interviews:

It was mentioned to me that SkySports did not broadcast the part where Andy and James were hugging their moms in the stands, so I made a .mov file of it which you can download here.

DOWNLOAD highlights from Day 2 doubles here (video courtesy of claire. Thanks, claire!).

Here's a YouTube video of the beginning of the player's press conference yesterday after the Bryans won. Laughing and soaking wet with beer and champagne, you can hear Andy yelling at the press "Don't ask me any questions!"

The video came from a cool blog hosted by Willamette Week about one person's experience at Davis Cup. Lots of videos and original photos were posted. It's a funny read, so check it out.

Speaking of blogs, fellow tennishead and Roddick fan Craig Hickman attended the Davis Cup final in Portland and was fortunate enough to have tracked down the DC team at McFadden's where he met the friendly, happy players and got several photos of them. Click here.

Here are some more animated .gifs that I made to celebrate the USA win.

Mardy hugs Andy	Andy hugging Bob Bryan

Click on the links to view the other gifs:

Bryan brothers celebration
Andy and James hug their moms
USA team with flag
Group celebration

More updates later. We can make this DC win a week-long celebration!

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1st Singles: Roddick def Tursunov 6-4 6-4 6-2
2nd Singles: Blake def Youzhny 6-3 7-6(4) 6-7(3) 7-6(3)

DOWNLOAD highlights from the matches here (video courtesy of claire).

Here are two more videos from the first singles match. The first video is the last point of Andy's match with Tursunov. Andy later said that it was one of the coolest moments in his life when the crowd gave him a standing ovation. The second video is part of Andy's on-court interview afterwards.

Somebody at Versus/Tennis Channel has a sense of humor: they used Andy's photoshopped photo from Men's Fitness magazine as his profile picture.

Animated .gif I made. I love how Andy was so pumped up after James' win.

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Stuck at work/school/got no Tennis Channel? You can read all the blow-by-blow action live here at Gamewatch.

You can listen to blow-by-blow action live on the radio here at the Davis Cup website.

You can also e-mail your questions to the Davis Cup radio hosts Eli Weinstein and Chris Bowers at live@daviscup.com.

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"In terms of similarities, I think off the court we're actually pretty similar. He probably wouldn't want me to admit it, but he reads a lot. He's actually a lot smarter than he pretends to be. I'm actually a lot dumber than I pretend to be, so we're pretty close in that regard." — James Blake, on the similarities between him and Andy Roddick.

I don't know about you all but I'm so excited about this final I can barely stand it. There's so much going on in terms of news and videos that I will be updating this website in pieces throughout the day, so check back for updates.

2007 Davis Cup Final: USA vs Russia
The draw:

Friday, November 30, 2007
Singles
Andy Roddick (USA) vs Dmitry Tursunov (RUS)
James Blake (USA) vs Mikhail Youzhny (RUS)

Saturday, December 1, 2007
Doubles
Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan (USA) vs Igor Andreev/Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)

Sunday, December 2, 2007
Reverse singles
Andy Roddick (USA) vs Mikhail Youzhny (RUS)
James Blake (USA) vs Dmitry Tursunov (RUS)

Click here for US and International TV schedule of the Davis Cup.

In the U.S. on the Versus channel:
Friday, Nov. 30, 2007, 4:00pm EST to 10:00pm
Saturday, Dec. 1, 2007, 3:30pm EST to 6:30pm
Sunday, Dec. 2, 2007, 4:00pm EST to 9:00pm

Back in Action in Shanghai

2007-11-05T17:09:00.004-05:00

Updated November 14, 2007

RR: Ferrer def Roddick 6-1 6-3
RR: Federer def Roddick 6-4 6-2 
RR: Roddick def Gonzalez 6-1 6-4
RR: Roddick def Davydenko 6-3 4-6 6-2

Expected loss to a white-hot Ferrer. Too bad Andy had to end Shanghai on two bad notes but the good news is that he got at least two good matches under his belt and some good match play practice all around. Other than tweaking his back in the semifinal, he should be good to go come Davis Cup time in about a week's time. So Andy, rest up, relax with your friends and family, and eat lots of healthy turkey on Thanksgiving Day and we'll see you on Nov. 30.

Another day, another loss to Federer. Roger was playing very well (as he always does against Roddick. Something about Andy brings out the best in Roger) and the player formerly known as Andy Roddick barely showed up. Gone were the penetrating forehands, backhands, and everything in between. Roddick claiming earlier that he would be able to "swing freely" during this match never materialized. This song and dance is getting old and boring.

The best part about last night's match was Andy annihilating his racket in frustration. I hope that's not the injured heel he busted it on. RIP, busted Babolat No. 3,876. Download the video here (thanks again to claire)

Andy plays David Ferrer next in the semifinals. David Ferrer beat Andy in their last meeting in Cincinnati. David Ferrer is high on confidence and is playing out of his skin this fall season. David Ferrer returns well against big servers and can run down any ball. David Ferrer will be Andy's next nightmare match. Good luck to Andy. I hope he can find a way to win.

"Some days you have good days where everything feels pretty clean, and this was one of those. I wanted to take his time away. I didn't want to let him set up and try to hit those big shots. I thought I did that pretty well." — Andy Roddick, on his strategy for Fernando Gonzalez.

Download highlights of the Roddick-Gonzalez match here (video courtesy of claire. Thanks, claire!) and also here.

You can watch Andy's full post-match interview here. The official ATP interview with Andy after he defeated Gonzalez can be viewed here. More match highlights from sina.com here.

You can view other match highlights and player interviews over at tennis.com here. If you can't view the videos on their website here's Andy's interview after defeating Davydenko and Roddick-Davydenko highlights on YouTube.

Glory hallelujah, the ATP finally figured out that many fans such as myself were unable to view their "free" videos on their Masters Series TV website because they did not support Mac platform. They have recently started uploading their free content onto YouTube. Thank you, thank you, ATP, you finally did something right. I would apologize for all of the profane hate mail I sent due to their shortsightedness but I guess it all worked out in the end.

Now I'd like to see the ATP take the next step and start uploading complete match highlights from every tournament, not just the Masters Cup. YouTube can provide excellent, global exposure for a sport that desperately needs as much exposure as it can get, especially in the United States. Honestly, does it really help grow the sport at all if the Copyright Police are wasting their time going after the fans who are only trying to share the excitement of this great sport by uploading great shots, plays, and moments in tennis history? Where is the logic in that? The ATP should embrace this new media instead of trying to fight it. It can only help the sport.

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Posted November 12, 2007

RR: Roddick def Davydenko 6-3 4-6 6-2

"As [for] smashing racquets, for as many times as it's helped me, it's hurt me that many times also. It's just part of my personality. I've always been pretty expressive and emotional on the court. Sometimes it helps, sometimes not so much." — Andy Roddick

Here's a video of Andy's entire post-match interview. Thanks to claire for the find. Download the Roddick-Davydenko highlights here.

The two winners of the Red Group meet Wednesday night: Roddick vs Gonzalez. Federer will play Davydenko in the loser's RR. Let me repeat that: Federer in the loser's round robin. Can you believe that?

Speaking of Fernando' Gonzalez's shock win over Federer today, I feel that this hurts Andy's chances of beating Federer more than it helps him. For one thing, Roger was very angry about his loss today (his first RR loss at TMC ever) and all I can say is, Thank goodness he's meeting Davydenko next and not Andy. I don't want Andy to be on the receiving end of Roger's wrath. I'm not particularly anxious to see a repeat of their Australian Open semifinal match. With Federer being backed into a corner he now has to beat either Davydenko or Roddick to make the semifinals. Andy looked good in his match with Davydenko yesterday but obviously, after so many weeks off, he's still got the rust to dust off.

You can download highlights of the Federer-Gonzalez match here. There is also a short post-match video interview with Andy here.

Yes, He's Alive and He's in Shanghai

Tennis.com reports that Andy Roddick never thought for one second that he would not attend Shanghai. That's great Andy, but when people were e-mailing you asking why you weren't going then why didn't you release a short statement saying so? It would have spared your fans some unnecessary anxiety (speaking for myself, of course).

American Andy Roddick, trapped in a high mandarin collared shirt and looking uncomfortably like a turtle, said it’s "unfortunate" that tennis has been receiving so many unfavorable headlines. Roddick, who said he’s never been approached by anyone to fix a match, also scoffed at the notion of a player being poisoned: "I'm not scared to eat. All it takes is one person saying one thing to make a story."

Roddick himself has had a persistent rumor swirling around him in recent weeks, regarding whether he would turn up to play in Shanghai. Following the U.S. victory over Sweden in the Davis Cup semifinal in September, Roddick has spent much of his time rehabbing from heel bursitis and it was whispered that he would skip the trip to China to save his energy for the Nov. 30-Dec. 2 Davis Cup final against Russia in Portland, Ore.

Not so, according to Roddick. The top dog of American tennis said he never gave thought to not making the journey to Shanghai.

"I got a couple of emails about it, but it was always my intention to play here," Roddick said. “Playing here was probably one of the reasons along with Davis Cup why I wasn’t able to go to Paris [for the Masters event there earlier this month). Davis Cup is probably my top priority this year, but you’re not going to get in any better workout for Davis Cup than playing against this field.

"And, you know, it's such an honor, it’s an event unto itself here, so I was always coming."

There are videos available from the Masters Cup ceremony here (Andy appears 7:40) and here (Andy appears at 4:00).

Roddick Demands Hat on His Warrior

From People's Daily Online:

Capturing the confidence in Roger Federer's smile required some reflection, while Novak Djokovic's short hair demanded finesse. But Andy Roddick was the only one who requested a do-over — at least when it came to his trademark baseball cap.

All the players were given pictures of their statues before the tournament and were asked to offer suggestions. Roddick was the only one with a quibble. He apparently felt his baseball cap was a part of his public image and that it belonged on his terracotta. Sculptor Shen Xiaonan said the cap was not initially sculpted on his head because they thought it would obscure the statue's face.

"Roddick made the change. Originally it was without a baseball cap because it cast a shadow on the face," Shen said of Roddick's statue.

Here's another video about Novak Djokovic. Towards the end they show him joking with Andy about his habit of bouncing the ball dozens of times. Funny guys.

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Posted November 5, 2007

Missing in Action

Have You Seen This Man?

Matthew Cronin of Fox Sports recently spoke with Mike Bryan and Mike let it slip that Andy may or may not be going to Shanghai. Fans revolt in the streets. Roddick better hire a bodyguard if he's serious about not going. Sometimes I can't tell whether he's teasing, joking, or just being a blockhead.

Like close friends Andy Roddick and James Blake, it's the Davis Cup that's on the Bryans' minds. The U.S. hasn't won a title since 1995, and when the squad faces Russia in Portland, it will be the first time the Americans have played a home final since 1992. Roddick is so focused on the tie that he skipped Paris this week and may not show up in Shanghai, which he has already qualified for (he'll incur a huge fine if he doesn't appear). Roddick isn't injured, but is at home training in Austin, Texas.

Mike Bryan says that Roddick is "50-50" to make the trip to China.

"I know that a lot of people want him to play — his sponsors do and so does the tour and fans, but he's not sure yet," said Mike, who spoke to Roddick a few days ago. "He doesn't care if he finishes the year ranked No. 2 or No. 6. It's been his dream to win Davis Cup, and that's what he's thinking about and working toward. Maybe it would be good for him to go to Shanghai and gets some matches in and maybe get a win over Federer. The top guys — Federer, Nadal and Djokovic — have kind of distanced themselves from him this year and Andy doesn't want them to pull away any further, but Davis Cup is what's getting him going right now."

I have to wonder what Andy's thought process is if he really thinks that not playing any competitive matches before Davis Cup would help when he faces a strong Russian team full of good players who have been playing matches all season long. The Pros of playing Shanghai far outweigh any Cons. It's admirable that Andy is determined to win Davis Cup but his tunnel vision could also backfire on him. If he's skipping all of these tournaments in order to avoid injury then, ironically enough, he risks injuring himself even more after such a long layoff from competitive playing. Fabrice Santoro gave Andy a good workout in Lyon two weeks ago when Andy got bounced from the first round, but one good match isn't going to cut it.

Davis Cup: The Fab Four vs Sweden

2007-09-18T23:01:00.008-04:00

Updated September 25, 2007

"I'm so proud to be part of this team, I'm so proud of my teammates, I wouldn't trade this team for any in the world. I love these guys." — Andy Roddick

1st Singles: Roddick def J. Johansson 7-6(4) 7-6(3) 6-3
2nd Singles: T. Johansson def Blake 6-4 6-2 3-6, 6-3
Doubles: Bryan/Bryan def Aspelin/Bjorkman 7-6(11) 6-2 6-3
1st Reverse Singles: Roddick def Bjorkman 6-2 7-6(3) 6-4
2nd Reverse Singles: Blake def Aspelin 6-1 6-3

USA 4 - Sweden 1

Last dance: USA to meet defending Davis Cup champions Russia in the final (U.S. venue to be announced soon, rumored to be Portland, Oregon). Read: Sneak preview of USA/Russia final.

The Closer

"Davis Cup Andy" has become my favorite version of Andy Roddick. It's like he's reborn during these short weekends. Gone is the slouching, the question mark stamped on his forehead, the wimpy forehand, the clumsy footwork, and the ever-present raincloud of self-doubt hanging over his head. Come Davis Cup time it's magic time – abracadabra! – the new and improved Andy Roddick that we've been hearing about finally shows up. The back is straighter, the head is held higher, and his play is more cohesive and finely tuned. His backhand, the Jimmy Connors backhand that his coaches have been tweaking and working on forever, looked stronger than ever and is looking less like a liability. His serve was ripping. His return game was actually impressive(!). A new quirk has emerged: the Roddick grunt. This version of Andy struts around in peacock mode, his feather plummage looking bright and shiny and happy. I find that I rarely worry about Davis Cup Andy because you know that the good Andy will show up here. There is also no Darth Federer lurking anywhere around these corners. In Davis Cup, the old Andy Roddick is the new Andy Roddick. Love it.

"What can we say? Death, taxes, and Andy Roddick in Davis Cup." — Tennis Channel commentator, Leif Shiras, to Davis Cup captain, Patrick McEnroe, on the three sure things in life.

DOWNLOAD Davis Cup match highlights here (video courtesy of claire. Thanks, claire!)

Here are some animated .gifs I made to celebrate Andy clinching the tie. Feel free to use.

"We played the world's best national team, and they proved that." — Sweden Davis Cup captain Mats Wilander.

Andy's reverse singles opponent Jonas Bjorkman had some interesting things to say about Andy's evolving game:

Q. It wasn't your return that failed today; it was very good.

JONAS BJORKMAN: Yeah, I think everyone speaks about Andy's serve, and obviously it is really, really good, but I think sometimes they don't give him enough credit on making a lot of returns himself. He definitely put the ball in play a lot. I can say, if I can find the right way, sometimes it doesn't look that he moves well, but he does. Sort of the way he moves, long steps, it looks maybe sometimes not so smooth, but he's always there.

Like I said, everyone speaks about his serve, but I think sometimes they forget about the variety of his game. He actually has good movement back from the baseline and also he makes a lot of returns.

Q. You hadn't played him in three years. Would you say that variety is much greater now than the last time you played?

JONAS BJORKMAN: I think he always has been a great mover because, you know, with his game, he's always been a great fighter. I think that's probably been the same. I think his backhand is much better now. I would say when I played him three years ago, you felt that if you came in on a good approach, it was really tough for him to make a pass. I think now he's much more confident to hit it.

I think what might be the difference is that he returns better. He definitely puts a lot of balls back. Maybe he don't get enough credit because purely everyone looks at his serve.

Q. I don't know if you're aware of this, but he's now 9-0 in Davis Cup matches where he had a chance to clinch the tie.

JONAS BJORKMAN: Good for him.

"This is my number one priority for the rest of the year, and I'll be discussing my tournament schedule with Jimmy (Connors, his coach) and Patrick (McEnroe, the USA captain) to make sure I look after my body and it's right where it needs to be for the final." — Andy Roddick, getting his priorities straight.

James Blake, the King of Dead Rubbers.

There was a news headline I read a while back on James Blake that perfectly encapsulated his career: "The only thing consistent about James Blake is his inconsistency." In Davis Cup away ties, that could also read as, "The only thing reliable about James Blake is his unreliability." He is a top ten player, our No. 2 player behind Roddick, but his dismal record doesn't reflect it.

We all know Mr. Flake has issues about dealing with pressure and whatnot but I'm not going to go off on him like I usually do. For one thing, many of the players, including Blake, were suffering from flu-like symptoms just days/hours before the matches were to begin. As for Patrick McEnroe saying with a straight face during an interview that James "keeps improving" I wouldn't expect anything less from him. We all know that James is the team's weakest link. We know that he blew it (again). We know it, James knows it, and the team knows it. But as DC captain McEnroe has to lift his players when they're down and try to build confidence in them by showing his own confidence in them. Perhaps James will redeem himself in November. The home crowd should help him and he should also invite the J-Block along too, just for good measure.

Other Random News Stuff:

Andy takes a dive
• Andy's dive on the hardcourt vs Marcos Baghdatis at Montreal won the ATP's Mercedes-Benz Play of the Month for August. Click here to view the video of it.

SWF looking for Roddick-type dork to date
• Andy was included in a poll conducted by Yahoo! Personals where singles were asked which celebrity they would most like to date. People magazine's 2006 “Sexiest Man Alive,” George Clooney, received 20 percent of the single female vote. People’s 2005 “Sexiest Man Alive” Matthew McConaughey was not far behind on the list with 13 percent of the vote. Also included on the list: Andy Roddick (5 percent), Derek Jeter (4 percent), and Ricky Martin (3 percent).

Who wrote the music for the Roddick-Lexus commercial?
• I received an e-mail from one Jason Johnson claiming that it was he who wrote the jingle music for Roddick's Lexus commercial "The Big Backup." The .mp3 of that tune can be downloaded for free from his website www.jasonjohnson.com.

The physics of Roddick's serve
• Another e-mail came to me from the online editor of Popular Mechanics who wanted to let me know about an article that has just gone live on their website entitled, "Tennis Physics: Anatomy of a Serve". They break down Andy's serve step by step. Fascinating stuff.

Jimmy Connors in Men's Vogue
• Roger Federer is not the only tennis god in vogue. An e-mail from another editor has alerted me to an interview with Jimmy Connors in the September issue of Men's Vogue where naturally they discuss Andy. Says Connors, “He’s a tremendous learner. He’s willing to try things, he’s willing to take things right away and put them in a match situation and do it when it counts. That’s what it always took for me to be the best...It comes down to him and his desire and what it takes to go out there and actually win it. And he’s got it-he’s proven that. He’s got to believe in it and just that little bit more to go out and say ‘Look, I’ve done all the work, I’ve done the preparation.’ He has the talent and the ability to be the best.”

Connors on Roddick's treatment in the press:
"He lost a few matches and the press got down on him, and that kind of crept into his head a little bit, and that was one of the things that led me to be a part of what he's got going, to try to clear that up. Because I've taken a little bit of a hammering myself on about six or seven occasions. And I don't think he deserved it."

Related Davis Cup articles:

• "Don't underestimate Roddick in Davis Cup" [TR.net]

It's easy to see Andy Roddick as someone who was lucky to hit his peak just after the Sampras era and just before the Federer era, a sort of fortuitous interregnum. But when the history of his career comes to be written, his outstanding Davis Cup record ought to merit a shower of praise, and he added to his impressive record in the team variant with a superb win over Sweden's Joachim Johansson in Gothenburg. Firing 30 aces – seven more than PimPim – testified to the serving display. Yet it was Roddick's return game that won him the match.

• "The Russians are coming...to the USA" [DavisCup.org]

Russia’s tennis players will be travelling to the United States in late November in an effort to defend its Davis Cup crown and the Americans will be looking to avenge the heartbreaking defeat they suffered in the semifinals to Russia last year in Moscow

• "US finds itself as favorite in Davis Cup final" [FoxSports.com]

ANDY RODDICK: "It's something we as a team have been dreaming of for a while, having a home final. I think we're all just really excited about the opportunity. I always said, as a kid, I had four dreams that I thought were just completely out of reach that would never be attainable. One was to win the U.S. Open, one was to be No. 1, one was to win Wimbledon, and one was to win the Davis Cup. It's big dreams for a kid, and I don't think I ever thought I'd ever be in the vicinity of that. Now, selfishly, we're here. Chance to get three out of four, it's exciting. It's definitely right up there with anything that I've been able to do."

• "Two down, two to go for Andy Roddick" [411mania.com]

Being the only true U.S. threat for a Grand Slam title is lonely enough, but pursuing these titles in the era of Roger Federer is likely maddening for Andy Roddick.

• "Roddick closes in on Davis Cup dream" [New York Times]

Fifteen years later, Andy Roddick will be expected to do much more than sound a horn at a Davis Cup finals in the United States.

Roddick was 9 years old when the Americans last played host to the finals, in 1992 in Fort Worth. The opponent was Switzerland and the United States assembled one of the finest lineups in history — Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, Pete Sampras and John McEnroe.

After suffering through the clang of the Swiss cow bells in the stands on the first day, Roddick and his oldest brother, Lawrence, returned on the second day with air horns and put them to liberal use. The Americans wound up winning, 3-1, unwittingly laying the foundation for future teams.

“That final pretty much changed my life in terms of tennis and wanting to play Davis Cup,” Roddick said later in a television interview.

• "Roddick's revelation; sends US to Davis Cup final" [ESPN]

Roddick on the 1992 US Davis Cup final vs Switzerland: "I wasn't one of these kids raised to be a tennis player at all. But just seeing something like that is pretty powerful. You know, being with the other fans in an arena like that, seeing your heroes play, hearing the anthem for the first time, it really was the first time I'd been at a sporting event which was just, you know, completely about patriotism and that whole thing. I think I fell in love with it then."

• "Roddick leads US into Cup finals" [SI.com]

Roddick is now a perfect 9-0 in clinching Davis Cup series. "I get very nervous," Roddick said. "It's tough in the morning or the night before. But it's a really good feeling when you are able to clinch."

• "Future is now for US in Davis Cup" [International Herald Tribune]

Roddick has never played the will-he-or-won't-he game. Since he joined the team in 2001, he has missed only one match for the United States, which may have affected some of his tournament results but does make him the most committed top American player since John McEnroe.

"I know we talk about it ad nauseam, but I really do love the guys that I play with," Roddick said. "They're like brothers."

• "Roddick worthy of plaudits for Davis Cup prowess" [Sportsticker]

Having watched him closely the past few days in Gothenburg, Sweden, you could see how much the Davis Cup means to Roddick - from his preparation right through his performances to the moment of celebration when he dropped to his knees having put USA into the final.

COMMENT ON THIS POST

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Updated September 21, 2007

1st Singles:
Roddick def J. Johansson
7-6(4) 7-6(3) 6-3
2nd Singles:
T. Johansson def Blake
6-4 6-2 3-6, 6-3
Doubles: 
Bryan/Bryan def Aspelin/Bjorkman
7-6(11) 6-2 6-3

Is anyone else not enjoying watching these matches? Not that the quality has been bad but I find it difficult to just sit back and enjoy the spectacle when there's so much riding on the outcome. I'm breathing a little easier now that the Wonder Twins pulled through for us again today. I'm not going to enjoy watching Andy's reverse singles with ToJo at all tomorrow. I don't care that Andy destroyed him at the USO; if ToJo comes out firing the way he did vs Blake then we've got ourselves a bloody dogfight on our hands. I really don't want an exciting, classic five setter, I just want a nice, stress-free, easy win for Andy.

And it's imperative that Russia stop futzing around and win both of their reverse singles tomorrow. We want Russia to win because that means USA will host Russia on home soil (yay!). If Germany wins then they would host USA, most likely on the dreaded clay (boo!).

ESPN reports on today's doubles match and also posted an interesting stat chart about Andy's ability to clinch ties:

A starkly serious Andy Roddick followed every shot intently from the bench. During a couple of breaks in the action, he stood up and leaned over the sideline boards as if he were a hockey player about to hop over for a line switch -- an apt image in the somewhat dimly lit Scandinavium arena, where home ice for the local Frolunda Indians club lies underneath the temporary court.

"Andy said it was the most nervous he's ever been at a Davis Cup tie," Bob Bryan said. "Every time I looked over there, I could see him kind of shaking. He's a pretty high-strung guy. He probably would like to be out there serving it out himself."

Hearing this makes me nervous. I don't want Andy to get himself so riled up that he makes himself sick to his stomach, as happened last year during his DC match with Andrei Pavel of Romania.

With regards to Andy's first match with Pim-Pim and James' match with ToJo, I will let a fellow tennishead, tinamarie, who saw the match live do the talking:

1:1 is not at all what I expected. The biggest surprises for me was PimPim's level of play after such a long break (however, the match didn't really feel close) and James Blake's attitude on court...I haven't seen many of his matches, so maybe that's normal for him, but he was just so negative. He seemed extremly annoyed with anything: ballboys, fans, umpires... I guess playing a Davis Cup match abroad isn't easy and maybe he was even right about some calls from the umpires, but I would still think a top ten player can handle such a difficult situation. Cursing, even hitting a ball towards some loud Swedish fans and -more generally- a completly negative body language wasnt at all what I expected from him. For me, it was amazing to see how much body langaue can tell you about the course of the match. Right before JB broke TJ in the third set, he was bouncing a little, running from his chair to the baseline, just showing some energy. and it was somehow clear to us he would take the next games. Afterall, he is a better player than TJ. But some errors in the beginning of the 4th set and his negative attitude was back. You could literally see that he wasn't going to win this match. And I am sorry to say this - but he really wouldn't have deserved it, either. [. . .]

To complete my report though, I really have to give a lot of credit to Andy. His level of intensity and focus was amazing. Great body language, too. The crowd never really got into the match. One reason was that there hardly were any rallies; the points were unsually decided by serve. The other reason was that the match didn't seem as close as the scores might suggests. Not to take anything away from PimPim (Joachim Johansson), but I never had the feeling he could actually win. He made some great shots, but never really threatened Andy on his serve and made a lot of errors on big points. A couple of times, he had beautifully prepared a winner and then netted. Andy, on the other hand, never choked on big points and kept his great level of serve from the first to the last point of the match. Very impressive.

Great write-up, thanks tinamarie!

Related Davis Cup articles:
• "US men get the team concept" [SI.com]
• "Don't underestimate Roddick in Davis Cup" [TR.net]
• "Steve Tignor's Davis Cup preview" [Tennis.com]
• "USA's colorful history against Sweden" [Peter Bodo, ESPN]

Random Acts of Roddickness

"Andy Roddick Beat Me With A Frying Pan"

(Click image for book order info)

Woohoo, new bathroom reading. This is one of those crazy finds I came across when I wasn't even doing a search for Roddick anywhere on the web but I found it through a link of a link of a link.

Here's hoping this weekend's Davis Cup news headlines read something similarly, "USA beats Sweden with a Frying Pan."

More Randomness

• Andy's dive on the hardcourt vs Marcos Baghdatis at Montreal won the ATP's Mercedes-Benz Play of the Month for August. Click here to view the video of it.

• Andy was included in a poll conducted by Yahoo! Personals where singles were asked which male and female celebrity they would most like to date. People magazine's 2006 “Sexiest Man Alive,” George Clooney, received 20 percent of the single female vote. People’s 2005 “Sexiest Man Alive” Matthew McConaughey was not far behind on the list with 13 percent of the vote. Also included on the list: Andy Roddick (5 percent), Derek Jeter (4 percent), and Ricky Martin (3 percent).

• I received an e-mail from one Jason Johnson claiming that it was he who wrote the jingle music for Roddick's Lexus commercial "The Big Backup." The .mp3 of that tune can be downloaded for free from his website www.jasonjohnson.com.

• Another e-mail came to me from the editor of Popular Mechanics who wanted to let me know about an article that has just gone live on their website entitled, "Tennis Physics: Anatomy of a Serve". They break down Andy's serve from the ball toss to the follow through, step by step. Fasinating stuff.

• Roger Federer is not the only tennis god in Vogue. An e-mail from another editor has alerted me to an interview with Jimmy Connors in the September issue of Men's Vogue where the discussion turns toward Jimmy's protege, Andy: “He’s a tremendous learner. He’s willing to try things, he’s willing to take things right away and put them in a match situation and do it when it counts. That’s what it always took for me to be the best...It comes down to him and his desire and what it takes to go out there and actually win it. And he’s got it-he’s proven that. He’s got to believe in it and just that little bit more to go out and say ‘Look, I’ve done all the work, I’ve done the preparation.’ He has the talent and the ability to be the best.”

US Open: The Party Slam

2007-09-04T20:16:00.003-04:00

QF: Federer def Roddick
7-6(5) 7-6(4) 6-2
R16: Roddick def Berdych
7-6 (8-6) 2-0 ret
R32: Roddick def Johansson
6-3 6-2 6-0
R64: Roddick def Acasuso
4-6 6-1 6-2 ret
R128: Roddick def Gimelstob
7-6(6) 6-3 6-3

Roger Federer once called the Australian Open "the happy slam." So I am christening the US Open "the party slam." With all those electrifying night matches and enthusiastic, raucous New York crowds (every session has been sold out), how can it not be? How can anyone not be enjoying the spectacle?

Here We Go Again. It's Roddick vs Federer.

The silence is deafening. For the first time time since the start of this non-rivalry I'm not reading or hearing any buzz about this quarterfinal match at all. Ennui seems to have finally settled in. I have no feelings about this match whatsoever, said one bored fan. Is this what rock bottom feels like? Myself, I am comfortably numb about tonight's match.

I guess I should be happy that for once Roddick didn't lose to anybody that he shouldn't have lost to before getting to Federer. On the other hand, Andy had such little match play (two players retired on him) that it may have done him more harm than good.

Not that it matters. Expectations are about as low as they can get for this match. "Nobody expects much from me," Andy has said. "I expect more from myself." On his end, Roger has said, "I know the danger of playing Andy." Which is bad news for Roddick. Federer has never taken Andy for granted, even though their head to head is lopsided in Roger's favor. Something about Andy brings out the best in Roger whereas Roger often brings out the worst in Andy. Their matchup couldn't be worse; while Federer is spreading his wings and flying higher than anybody imagined Roddick would take a step forward and then five steps back and then run in place back to square one.

To add another problem: Roddick has already peaked during his third round match with Thomas Johansson, playing some of his best tennis I've seen from him since the Australian Open (Craig Hickman has a nice write-up of that match and the Berdych match here). Unfortunately Andy has not been consistent with those kinds of results. On the Roddick rollercoaster it usually goes: play great one day, play like crap the next.

As one who has been observing Roddick for years, here is my own unhelpful advice for Team Roddick:

• Do not go out into the match feeling relaxed. You did that at the Australian Open semis and look what happened. You are at your best when playing angry. Get angry at Roger. Be very angry with him. Be an asshole. Use the crowd. No apologies.

• You're not allowed to hit more than three backhand slices in a row.

• Do not bum rush the net, especially when you are panicking. The whole point of approaching the net is the element of surprise and your opponent is never taken off guard because you keep approaching the net like an elephant.

• Play against your instinct. Federer knows your game well and he knows what you tend to do when you're feeling confident and when you're in trouble. Be prescient and mindful. You tend to rush the net when you're in panic mode. Roger knows this. Avoid it.

• Play the point, not the score.

• Instead of hitting Federer with 140mph bombs all the time (which he can read just fine), try throwing in some 105mph loopers. I noticed Djokovic did this to Federer in Montreal and Roger couldn't read the slower serves nearly as well as the fast ones. He also can't return down the middle serves as well from the Ad court.

• Do not put pressure on yourself to either win or lose. I know how competitive you are and I know that in the back of your mind you are thinking, "Oh shit, I have to win this. I can't let Roger beat me again!" You are only setting yourself up for failure by thinking this way. Learn to quiet the voice of self-doubt. Let go all of pressure to win or lose and just enjoy the process of playing tennis. This is exactly why Roger wins so much. He has thrown all pressure off of his shoulders. He can swing freely because winning or losing is not on his agenda. You can learn to do the same.

• Good luck and have fun! You are the star. And remember: Jimmy Connors doesn't want any more broken pieces of Andy to pick up and put back together. He is running out of glue.

Related articles:
• What Roddick needs to do to finally overcome Federer [SI.com]
• To Test Federer, Roddick Must Go for Broke [NY Sun]
• Connors gives Roddick some simple advice [New York Times]
• Federer brings out the worst in Roddick [Washington Post]
• Five ways to beat Roger Federer [Time]
• Ousting Federer a long shot for Roddick [Cronin, Fox Sports]

Roddick's New Lexus Commercial

Fan review has been mixed for "The Big Backup". We don't get it, but we like it anyway because it stars Andy and it doesn't have anything to do with mojo.

The Roddick/Lexus imprinting seems to have worked, too. Said one fan, posting on MTF: "We may be watching too much US Open coverage. When Mary Jo was interviewing Andy after the match, my four year-old daughter informed me that he was the guy who drives his car backwards after the tennis ball."

On the flip side, the Lexus ad could also be interpreted as a metaphor for Roddick's career going backwards, chasing after something he can't catch.

The one thing most people want to know is: who did the music? I don't know, but I'll post the info when I find out. (edit: music was composed by Jason Johnson).

Roddick vs Gimelstob Match

Not a classic but I enjoyed this match for what it was, just two friends enjoying their last professional match together on court (plus the fact that Roddick was rockin' in all black. Very New York City chic). The tennis was high quality and the friendship between the two was obvious, with several funny moments occuring throughout (see video below of the military academy tennis team incident). Roddick wasn't feeling it and came out flat in the first set but Gimelstob was a revelation. That was the best I'd ever seen him play and I was genuinely concerned that Andy was in danger of losing the first set. Andy said he knew Justin would go "kamikaze" and he did that. Justin also had seven shirt changes, giving Sharapova and the Williams sisters a run for their fashion money.

The highlight of the match didn't even occur during the match but afterwards in their oncourt interviews:

Here is Justin's write up on his last match at the USO. I'm sure we haven't heard the last of him. A TV career for tennis' Mr. Funnyman is in the works.

Related article from The New York Times blog: "Tennis Funnyman Leaves the Open and Its Fans in Stitches."

Related article from Newsday that says very well what I thought of Andy's first round performance: "Roddick wins but shows weaknesses at US Open."

Drama may have a long shelf life, but Andy Roddick is starting to get the idea that almost can become an old story. Again last night, his still-young tennis career of spellbinding power, narrow escapes and occasionally spectacular crashes was on full display in a first-round U.S. Open victory over Justin Gimelstob that was equal parts adrenaline rush and odd passivity. . . . Roddick demonstrated his hesitance for the obvious, allowing Gimelstob to control the net and push him farther and farther to the court's edges, so that Roddick needed his bazooka serve - hitting 145 miles per hour - to pull his chestnuts out of the fire in the early going.

On the Road to the US Open

2007-08-19T19:40:00.004-04:00

Updated August 28, 2007

Andy Roddick is Looking for Love

Andy talks about what he looks for in a woman. Download the HQ .mp4 file here.

Andy's first round match with Justin Gimelstob is the last match of the evening, after Sharapova's. Andy and Justin played in the first round at Wimbledon this year, too (you might remember how Justin was diving all over the place!). I don't know if Justin will try diving on the hardcourts but the 2007 US Open will also mark Gimelstob's last slam appearance and I guess if he's going to go out with a bang, doing so versus a good friend like Roddick would be an appropriate send off for him. Thanks for the good times, Justin!

Tuesday's evening schedule:

ARTHUR ASHE STADIUM
7:00 PM

1. Women's Singles - 1st Rnd.
Roberta Vinci (ITA) v. Maria Sharapova (RUS)[2]

followed by

2. Men's Singles - 1st Rnd.
Justin Gimelstob (USA) v. Andy Roddick (USA)[5]

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Updated August 26, 2007

Go to Yahoo! Sports and click on the video "What's Up With Andy Roddick?" Jim Courier gives a great breakdown of Roddick's game and his current predicament.

If you missed them, you can watch Andy on Good Morning America here and his interview on ESPN's First Take here.

Andy is on the cover of Hamptons magazine this month. If you think the cover shot is hot you're going to love the photos on the inside.

USO Begins Tomorrow

The US Open begins tomorrow, Yay! I will be attending the day session so I'll get to watch Federer make mincemeat out of one of the many qualifiers he was drawn against. The New York media is in full hype mode so I'll be posting articles as I come across them. This one from USA Today is particularly good. Click on the link to read the entire article.

"Roddick hopes to reclaim Grand Slam magic in New York" [USA Today]:

There's more than a smidgeon of defiance in Andy Roddick when asked about his record on the sport's most important stages since snagging his one and only major at the U.S. Open four years ago.

"The question is asked like I don't do well in big events," Roddick says. "I still feel like I have another Slam in me, at least, and that's what I'm shooting for."

Some might call Roddick's posture denial more than defiance. No. 1 Roger Federer and No. 2 Rafael Nadal have won the last 10 Grand Slams and 13 of 15 since 2004, and Roddick and the rest of the field have had to settle for crumbs left by the ATP Tour's top two players.

But that same quality — a fierce fighting spirit — has made Roddick the most successful American male in the post-Sampras/Agassi era. And it's a characteristic that could land the 24-year-old Texan a second major in New York, if things break his way.

"I expect to play well," the fifth-ranked Roddick says. "I expect to be one of the best players in the world. I definitely didn't feel like I expected to be outside the top 20. That didn't feel right to me. It feels a lot better in this position."

"30 Seconds With Andy Roddick" [NY Times]:

Andy Roddick, who says his kitchen skills are lackluster, cooked with celebrity chefs as the guests at the Dacor Taste of Tennis charity event Thursday in Manhattan.

Roddick, the 2003 United States Open champion, is seeded fifth this year and will face a fellow American, Justin Gimelstob, in the first round.

FAVORITE TV SHOW “The Office.”

FAVORITE CHARACTER ON THE SHOW Steve Carell is amazing. It is the only show you can watch by yourself in some random city in Europe and cringe — but in a good way.

FAVORITE MOVIE “The Shawshank Redemption.”

FAVORITE FOOD A good steak.

THREE DINNER GUESTS Muhammad Ali, my mom, and I don’t know.

ONE PERSON YOU TALK TO EVERY DAY Probably not every day, but I travel with my brother and my trainer year-round. I see them every day.

IF YOU COULD HAVE A SUPERPOWER Probably flying.

BEST PART OF THE OPEN The crowd. It is the biggest show in tennis. The lights, the people, everything. It is nice to see tennis affect New York — it is a tough thing to do. We get here a week before and just get ready for it to start.

FAVORITE SPORT TO WATCH BESIDES TENNIS It changes, but Nebraska Cornhuskers football rules my life. I have gotten into the N.F.L., too, because of fantasy football. I won last year. Our draft is tomorrow, so I am a little nervous.

DO YOU READ A LOT? I am reading the last Harry Potter book. I like James Patterson and, along with everyone else, I really like Dan Brown’s books. And I like biographies.

IF YOU WEREN’T PLAYING I’d probably be in my eighth year of college, trying to qualify for my third Beer Olympiad.

Here's Peter Bodo's opinion as to how the Roddick-Connors relationship is going, from his ESPN chat last Wednesday:

Trudy, New York: Not that it's been a full year, how would you rate the Roddick/Conners association so far? Do you think it's been successful?

PETER BODO: Trudy, that's a complicated question, and in a way I wish it weren't. To me, Roddick and Conners have been together long enough for whatever magic Conners brought to the table to have worked, yet it seems all Conners has been able to do is to get Andy back to where he was before the slump that led him to hire Conners. However, I wouldn't underestimate the valuable role Jimmy played in bringing Andy back from the brink of potentially falling way off the pace, to make him a force on the tour again. In a way, it's just a glass half-empty/glass half-full scenario.

Gossip Roundup

From PageSix: Andy Roddick doesn't have a lot to say. . . . . . . . . .from A Socialite's Life: Andy Roddick might have a slight sunscreen addiction . . . . . . . . . . from Kenneth in the (212): Andy Roddick can't fake it . . . . . . . . . . here's a story about new American hope (and Washington finalist) John Isner and how Roddick and James Blake hazed him . . . . . . . . . . from the New York Daily News' gossip duo of Rush & Molloy: Andy Roddick refuses to go cycling with Lance Armstrong because he's afraid of him. Who isn't?? . . . . . . . . . . Ever wonder whatever happened to that guy who played Andy's mojo in those American Express commercials a while back? Click here to find out . . . . . . . . . . someone made a list of the Top 50 Sporting Couples. Jimmy Connors and his old flame Chris Evert made it. Andy Roddick and Mardy Fish did not . . . . . . . . . . here's a Cincinnati gay tennis blind item that was found on Craigslist . . . . . . . . . . speaking of gay, Andy Roddick has his fair share of gay fans and here's another one of them admitting to his crush on Andy: an interview with lead singer Yannis of the British band The Foals. Quote: "Andy Roddick, he breaks my heart, I can't believe what happened this year in Wimbledon! My crush on Andy is fading quickly because he's never winning anything." . . . . . . . . . . and finally, not only is the US Open draw rigged but so is AOL's Hottest Men in Sports poll. Only a day after Roddick was shown leading Tom Brady by a healthy 57% did the votes suddenly change overnight and now Roddick is way behind in the poll with 29% of the vote. The fix is in!

FLAKE: 2007 Pilot Pen Champions!

Here's my little write up about attending the men's Pilot Pen final in New Haven that I posted on MTF:

Just got back from attending the Pilot Pen final. When I saw that it was going to be a James-Mardy final I said "Book them tickets!" and we drove the two hours up to New Haven. Easy ride to the stadium. Not surprisingly, the place was jam packed. I'm glad we went. It's not everyday we see Mardy and James play together (this was only their third meeting and their first in a final). I simply had to witness that in person.

One thing I learned is that Pilot Pen/New Haven is James Blake's town in the truest sense. The crowd was heavily pro-James. A few smattering of Fish fans would try to cheer Mardy on. The best part was when a small group of Fish fans sitting way up in the upper tier of the stadium would start their own "Fish! Fish! Fish!" chants as soon as the J-Block's "James! James! James!" chants ended. It was pretty funny. Glad to see Mardy had his own impromptu F-Block.

Seriously, James owns this tournament the way Andy owns the Houston clay tournament. Anne Worcester's comments after the match (she's the tournament director) let us know just how much Pilot Pen depends on James Blake: ka-CHING! It was New Haven's first all-American final too, and it was obvious Ms. Worcester was happy about that as well. She couldn't stop thanking Mardy enough for accepting her wild card offer at the last minute.

Also, people can complain about the J-Block all they want, I didn't see or hear anything inappropriate from them all match long. If anything, they added some fun atmosphere to that place. And Nike was smart to jump on the J-Block bandwagon and to market them as a commodity. I'm not kidding when I tell you that every single piece of J-Block hat and clothing in the Pro Shop was sold out, and every kid under the age of 15 was wearing a blue J-Block t-shirt. Lots of adults were wearing them too. New Haven is definitely J-Block town. ka-CHING!

Anyway, seeing James and Mardy play in person is a treat except they they both seemed so casual about this match. I didn't feel any sense of urgency from either one of them. It was like we had stumbled across a friendly practice match or something. I was disappointed that the final wasn't quite the classic I was hoping for.

I don't know if ESPN showed the trophy ceremony but it was very cute. Both Mardy and James would tease each other during their speeches and it was obvious how strong their friendly competitiveness is. During his speech Mardy said, "I know Anne [Worcester] was asking "Is there anything James Blake can't do?" and the answer to that is: yes, he's terrible at golf." That got a good laugh. When James did his speech he said to Mardy, "You may be better than me at golf but I got two holes-in-one and you didn't." More laughter.

Afterwards, both James and Mardy signed autographs. Mardy left after a bit but James continued to sign many, many more. He was literally pulled off the court so that the women's doubles teams could begin their match.

So I'm very proud of Team Flake today and I'm glad we took that spontaneous trip to New Haven which was a lot of fun.

COMMENT ON THIS POST
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Updated August 22, 2007

Hamptons Magazine Celebrates
Cover Star Andy Roddick

Photos of Andy Roddick at "Hamptons Magazine Celebrates Cover Star Andy Roddick" on August 21, 2007 at Tenjune in New York City.

The Last Men Standing: Andy Roddick vs Tom Brady - AOL's Hottest Men in Sports

This is it. This poll is down to the last two men standing. Andy takes on NFL star Tom Brady in the final of AOL's Hottest Men in Sports poll. This will be a battle royale because Brady is a huge football star here in the states and he just beat out world soccer star David Beckham to get to the final. Right now, they are neck and neck, with Andy barely ahead. Keep voting for Andy!

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Originally posted August 19, 2007

USA FANS, VCR/TIVO/DVR ALERT!

Andy will be on several shows next week beginning with his annual visit to:

Good Morning America on Tuesday, Aug 21, 7:00am EST on ABC
VIDEO! Click here to view Andy's appearance on GMA from this morning!

ESPN First Take, Tuesday Aug 21, 10:00am EST on ESPN2
I don't know what this show is but Andy's name came up so I'll be taping it.
VIDEO! Click here.

Arthur Ashe Kids' Day, Sunday, Aug 26, 12:00pm EST on CBS
Will Andre Agassi make a surprise appearance?

Punkd, re-run, MTV2, Monday Aug 20, 12:30pm EST
If you missed it the first half dozen times now's your chance to see it.

For everybody else, don't fret! Videos of Andy's appearances will be uploaded afterwards, of course. If not here, then likely by one of his many generous fans on his website.

Roddick vs Leinart - AOL's Hottest Men in Sports

This poll is still going on and Andy is in a close battle with his friend Matt Leinart. Keep voting!

Andy Roddick: Giant Killer

2007-07-14T18:31:00.004-04:00

Updated August 8, 2007

Final: Roddick def Isner 6-4 7-6(4)
SF: Roddick def Karlovic 7-6(7) 7-6(5)
QF: Roddick def Lee 7-6(6) 6-2
R16: Roddick def Stepanek 6-3 1-6 7-5
R32: Roddick def Zib 6-4 6-2

Andy Roddick: 2007 Legg Mason Tennis Champion!

I had been angry with Roddick for that Taco Bell stunt he pulled at Indianapolis last week but his performance at Legg Mason makes up for all that. For once, Andy Roddick did not allow some young upstart to use him as a career springboard. For once, Andy Roddick went into the match with a game plan and executed it. His returns were terrific against the big-serving giants, Isner and Karlovic. He moved Isner around as much as he could and dictated play. Instead of waiting for his opponents errors, he was aggressive and took it to them; best of all, Roddick finally got rid of that annoyingly useless loopy forehand and flattened it out, hitting numerous penetrating forehand winners on the lines that were reminiscient of 2004 Andy. Even Darren Cahill was impressed with Andy's forehand. What's old is new again.

It's matches like these that make me proud of Roddick the most. Even though he didn't face any top 20 players, he certainly didn't have an easy road to the final (he was thisclose to losing to recent Countrywide Classic champion Radek Stepanek in the fourth round), and taking down two seven foot tall serve machines is no easy task, especially for a player who's return of serve is not that great (both Karlovic and Isner served more aces than Roddick did during the week; Isner served up a record of 144 aces in a non-slam tournament). But with each match Andy got stronger and he played smarter. It's so wonderful to see. It's also so rare that we see it. If only we could get him play like this day-in and day-out.

Watch Andy's amazing backhand pass from the semifinal match:

DOWNLOAD Roddick-Isner final highlights here (commentary in English; video courtesy of claire. Thanks claire!).

DOWNLOAD Roddick-Karlovic semifinal highlights, also courtesy of claire, here.

DOWNLOAD Roddick-Clement Rogers Cup match highlights here (commentary in French; video courtesy of Danielafrenchfan. Thank you, Daniela.)

Two videos of Andy's post-match press conferences were found on DailyMotion. Watch them here and here.

What John Isner said about Andy:

"I had so many memories here. Each match I played I thought was amazing but I kept on topping it. That match against Monfils last night, playing under the lights and that atmosphere, and the fans going crazy, it was amazing. But I'll always remember competing against Andy Roddick in an ATP final. You can never take that away from me. This whole week has been amazing, a dream come true. Playing Andy, the biggest draw in American tennis, was just an unbelievable honor."

With his Washington win, Andy moves back up to No. 3 in the world rankings. Federer and Nadal are still light years ahead of everybody else. With only a few points separating Nos. 3 through 5, this is where the real battle is.

Tonight at Montreal's Rogers Cup, Andy takes on Marcos Baghdatis. It is their third meeting within a year. Should Andy beat Baghdatis tonight it will mark his 400th career win. Good luck to Andy!

Maria Sharapova weighed in on Andy's Taco Bell fiasco. From TennisReporters.net:

Maria Sharapova beat Patty Schnyder today in the Acura Classic final and afterwards she celebrated by going to In-N-Out-Burger.

After being told of her friend Andy Roddick's disaster at Indianapolis, where he went to Taco Bell the night before his semifinal and ended up throwing up during his loss, Sharapova paused, but decided that that she would still go and chow down some ground beef.

"He's 24 and sooooo immature," she said. "I'm being smart and doing it after a tournament, so if something does happen, at least I'll have a day to recover."

A few of you have asked me if it was ever confirmed that it was indeed food poisoning from Taco Bell that Andy suffered from. I can say yes, it was, from three sources: Roddick himself (see the quote in blue a few posts down); Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe confirmed it during tonight's broadcast from the Roger's Cup; and this, from SI.com:

From a reader who requested his name be withheld: "I volunteered as a player escort at the Indy tournament again this year (ohh, stories to tell), and when Roddick got off the court hungry at midnight on Friday, he weighed his options out loud. Unfortunately I believe he decided on the Taco Hell location still open downtown, no matter how we vols tried to dissuade him, knowing ourselves the sorry fare trotted out there."

But Taco Bell Lives on in Tennis Infamy

Did you know that Andy's hero Andre Agassi once famously said that there should be a Taco Bell on every street corner? Andre was a bad role model for Andy. Bad, Andre! Bad!

Boppers Unite! Roddick into the Last 8 of AOL's Hottest Men in Sports

Both Andy Roddick and James Blake have made it into the last eight in AOL's Hottest men in Sports poll. Go vote for them again this week!

COMMENT ON THIS POST
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Updated August 2, 2007

All Aboard The Roddick Roller-Coaster

Do you love to vote in web polls? Do you especially love to vote for Andy, for anything? Then hop on over to AOL's Fan House where you can vote for Andy in their Hottest Athletes poll. He beat out American swimming superstar Michael Phelps in the first round but he is losing to American NFL star Jason Taylor right now. So go vote!

right-click for larger images

Other tennis stars in the poll: James Blake and Rafael Nadal. Vote for tennis!

And good luck to Andy tonight in his quarterfinal match at Legg Mason. He plays (yet again) Korean Hyung-Taik Lee. Andy leads in their head-to-head 9-1. Lee can be a difficult player and after last night's Stepanek nightmare I am a bit nervous about this match. For the Americans, ESPN2 will broadcast the match live tonight at 7:00 PM EST. Good luck to Andy!

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Updated July 30, 2007

"Unfortunately when you finish a match at Indy at one in the morning, your dinner options are Steak and Shake, Taco Bell - and those are the leading candidates. Needless to say they were barking at me." — Andy "no quiero Taco Bell" Roddick.

"Roddick feeling better as he arrives in Washington" [Yahoo Sports]:

Andy Roddick will probably be avoiding the drive thru this week.

Roddick admitted Monday that a late-night fast food meal after a match last week in Indianapolis was what slowed him down in a semifinal loss on Saturday to Frank Dancevic. At the time Roddick complained of "a stomach bug or something."

But Roddick says he started feeling better several hours after that loss, and proclaimed himself ready to play Tomas Zib on Tuesday in the second round at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic, a tournament Roddick has won twice.

"I'm getting better, should be all right by tomorrow," said Roddick, who added he never seriously considered not playing this week.

Roddick's brother and traveling coach, John, agreed.

"He's going to be fine. I'm not worried about him physically right now, he said. "Yesterday he felt better, today he feels close to good, so tomorrow he should be fine."

Roddick said there are other things to worry about, and he insists the surprising loss to Dancevic isn't one of them because the two didn't play when Roddick was at full strength.

Heading into that match, Roddick only lost one set in his first three matches in Indianapolis.

"I don't put a whole lot of stock into my last loss," Roddick said. "The first few matches I felt like I was hitting the ball pretty well from the baseline. I feel like I could have served a little bit better throughout the week, and that's something I'll be looking to improve upon here."

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Updated July 15, 2007

Blake Watch

James Blake was on the Jay Leno show Friday night, click here to watch the video on DailyMotion.

Andy met up with James while James was doing his book promotion in LA. James' webmaster friend Chris took some photos of Andy doing sprints up and down the street! Check them out here. (scroll down the page a bit to view.)

Backstage at the ESPYs. Here's a short clip of Roddick, James Blake, and Matt Leinart checking out one another's chest hair. About Roddick's chest hair Blake cracked, "That just came in last week." Watch it here. (click on ESPYs on the left-hand side, then click Backstage at the ESPYs.)

From USAToday.com: "Roddick plans to turn up heat in US Open Series." Oh boy, do I hope so.

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Andy attended the ESPY Awards and "The Insider" reported that he presented an award. The ESPY's will air on ESPN Sunday, July 15th, at 9 p.m. EST.

Andy also attended Matt Leinart's "First Annual Celebrity Bowling Night to Benefit the Matt Leinart Foundation" and shocked us all when he showed up wearing a salmon pink shirt. I was begining to wonder if he had forgotten that the color wheel is made up of more than just black, white, and green. Here, he poses with "Sex and the City" actress Kristin Davis who also attended.

From AZCentral.com:

Tennis standout Andy Roddick met Leinart at the ESPY Awards several years ago, and the pair have stayed friends.

"It's been easy," Roddick said. "He's an easy guy to like. And I like that he's using his influence to make a positive difference. You see so much negativity among sports stars."

Roddick came even though he knew it would become clear his athletic gifts don't extend to all sports.

"My bowling is horrible," he said. "Horrendous. I'll be lucky if I bowl my waist size."

He wasn't kidding.

POWER THREESOME. Roddick, Serena Williams, and James Blake backstage at the 2007 ESPY Awards. (right-click for larger image)

James Blake has been busy promoting his new book, "Breaking Back". Here's some quotes from him about Andy from an interview he did with ESPN's Page 2:

SAM ALIPOUR: Talk to me about your rivalry with Andy Roddick. I don't know if I can call it a rivalry. Can you get this thing going?

JAMES BLAKE: (Laughs) Sorry to say, we're never going to have a heated rivalry. Sure, there are times when we're at each other's throats on the court, but at night, we're having dinner. I won't speak for him, but I'm so proud of him and I think it's great to see the top two Americans so committed to the team thing, the Davis Cup thing. And I'm pretty happy I got the best of him the past two times, but he's got the No. 1 American player spot back from me. He's playing well. We spend so much time together on the court and off; I know I have a friend for life in him.

SAM ALIPOUR: That's great, James, but the American sports fan wants blood. Tell me at least one thing you don't like about Andy. He seems like a frat boy to me.

JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, but I like frat boys. (Laughs) I was in a frat at Harvard. But here's one: He doesn't answer his phone, and he's pretty bad about calling back sometimes. Oh, and he's also a bit of a slob. I'm pretty bad, but he's worse than me.

Here's a treat for you all: somebody was kind enough to upload an old Tennis Channel documentary about Andy on DailyMotion. Unfortunately, some countries do not have access to DailyMotion. I don't know what can be done about that but for those who do have access, you get to see what our baby Duck (Andy) looked like at the age of 17: a skinny, dark-haired, squeaky-voiced lovable dork. Happy viewing!

WATCH Part One. WATCH Part Two.

Wimbleduck

2007-07-02T13:29:00.006-04:00

Updated July 14, 2007

Last Thoughts on Wimbledon 2007

SI.com's Jon Wertheim's 50 thoughts on Wimbledon. Here are his thoughts on Roddick's loss:

Get blown off the court by Roger Federer and it's demoralizing but not altogether crushing. Too good, mate, you say. Brandish a two-set lead and a third-set service break and fail to come through, as Andy Roddick did against Richard Gasquet, and you're talking about a loss than can stick in your craw for a long time.

Michelle Kaufman's Top 10 Wimbledon stories:

No. 4. Andy Roddick, one of the most passionate and articulate players on tour, is more frustrated about his Wimbledon performance than anyone can imagine. He was determined to not only make the semifinals against Federer, but perhaps topple him. Instead, he was headed home after the quarterfinals, and as down as he has been in a long time.

Tough-love words from Bud Collins, an American tennis aficionado legend who recently got fired from NBC (a few weeks after Roger Federer refused to do an on-court interview with him after he lost in the French Open final). But Collins is better on paper than in person. This is the first time I've heard anybody say that Roddick lacks a "killer instinct." Food for thought:

"As Ugly as it gets for Roddick" [MSNBC.com]:

If any player leaves this Wimbledon the victim of a most bitter and disappointing defeat, it's Roddick. [. . .] This loss was a real blot for Roddick because of his inability to close out a match from such a winning position. [. . .] There was the potential for disaster and Roddick could do nothing to avoid it. That's not what's expected from a top-10 player. A big spot calls for a big-time response. Big shotmaking, big fight, that gets it done. Roddick didn't have any of that, and that's got to be alarming to the player and his camp. [. . .]

A Ruthless Roddick is required. I can tell you one thing without reservation -- this was the kind of match that Jimmy Connors wouldn’t have let get away. Connors now lives and dies with every point Roddick plays. To see his pupil fail to slam the door on Gasquet had to be most upsetting and troubling to him. Roddick needs to learn how to be ruthless right to the end in matches. Unless he starts to become that he is going to leave himself open to disillusioning losses like the one to Gasquet. [. . .] Roddick must now again put his game in the hands of Connors. He also may need his confidence rebuilt after the collapse against Gasquet. [. . .] Roddick doesn’t have the best record in five-setters as he’s now 9-10 when going the distance and that’s not all that impressive for such a highly ranked player. Competition on the tour is getting tougher and more intense. [. . .]

Federer could be out of reach. It was Roddick’s job to make it to the Wimbledon semifinals to play top-seeded Roger Federer. Federer expected to see Roddick in the semifinals. Roddick expected to be there, but in the end he didn't live up to his part of the deal. [. . .] It's not time to write Roddick off as a big-time player, but he's certainly got his work cut out for him. If the loss to Gasquet showed anything, it showed Roddick needs more from Connors, but he also in turn has to take what his coach is giving him and execute it on the court, most notably in big matches.

And finally, this find comes courtesy of claire over at AR.com:

Eric Butorac of the doubles team Booty and Stretch has written a blog over on his site and he mentions Andy which I thought was quite sweet:

I flew out Saturday to head to Newport for the Hall of Fame Championsh ips. Actually ran into Roddick in the airport and chatted to him for a while. I've never been a huge fan of his, but have gotten to know him a bit better lately. One thing I do really like about him is that he leaves it all on the court. He was up two sets to love on Gasquet yesterday before going down 7-6, 7-6, 8-6. I could tell today that it absolutely killed him. I like that. When I lose a match, it hurts, and I love seeing the top guys in world that aren't afraid to show that it means something to them.

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Updated July 8, 2007

QF: Gasquet def Roddick
4-6 4-6 7-6(2) 7-6(3) 8-6
R16: Roddick def Mathieu
6-2 7-5 7-6(8-6)

Very bad loss for Andy to squander that two-set lead, and he was up 4-2 in the third. He took his foot off of the gas pedal again and made some boneheaded plays. He goes from winning 18 tiebreaks in a row to losing two tiebreaks in a row to one of the more notorious chokers on tour. This was also the second time in his career that he's squandered a two set lead (the first was at Roland Garros 2005 vs Jose Acasuso). In many ways, this match with Gasquet was very similar to that one: Andy got too complacent with his lead and then let his opponent back into the match. Feeling more confident, his opponent would then started hitting winners all over the place, including the numerous breath-taking backhand down the line winners. Ironically, this was also the first time in Gasquet's career that he has come back from a two set deficit. Once again, Andy provides the breakthrough win and stepping stone for a young, upcoming player. It would figure, wouldn't it?

The match stats says it all: 93 winners from Gasquet.

Perez Hilton has a different take on the match.

From Tennis.com:

Alex: Silver Spring, Maryland: What do you think is wrong with Andy Roddick and James Blake? Are they underprepared, unmotivated or are they just being beat by better tennis players? Do you see either of them ever winning a major?

PETER BODO: Well, Alex, I think option C is the one you're looking for. Blake has been having a terrible year and his chances of salvaging it are growing dimmer by the day. Roddick showed up to play at Wimbledon, for sure, but he ran into a guy that many people have touted as the next Federer in Gasquet. I don't share that opinion of Gasquet, but he's a very talented, flashy player, who happened to play his best against Andy, much to Andy's bad luck.

I fear that the window of opportunity is closing fast on Andy to win some big titles; the new generation, lead by Rafael Nadal, which includes Gasquet, Djokovic, Berdych, Baghdatis, and Monfils, among others, are finally coming into their own and these guys are good. Worst of all, I fear that one day Andy may lose all heart and become a broken man, as has happened to Guillermo Coria when he lost a heart-breaker at the 2004 French Open final. But I think am just being fatalistic that way. Andy's heart is too strong. He has suffered numerous bad losses in his career, but he has always managed to recover, brush himself off, and jump back on the horse. I don't know if I could ever be as strong as Andy has been. Bless him!

You can watch his post-match interview here.

Why I Jumped on the Novak Djokovic Bandwagon

Watch this:

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Updated July 3, 2007

R16: Roddick leads Mathieu 6-2 6-5

match suspended again due to rain. To be resumed tomorrow, Wednesday. First up at 12 noon local time.

FYI, the "Andy's Love Life" page has been updated.

News Update

Andy is on another flight magazine, this time for the July/August 2007 issue of Washington Flyer. Click on the cover below to read the story.

Just in case the link expires, here are screenshots of it:

Page 1	Page 2	Page 3

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Originally posted July 2, 2007

"Man, here's the deal with golf. Every time I play golf, I got to buy a new set of clubs. It's not relaxing for me. I go mental...I haven't reached the point in my life where I have the patience level it takes to play golf. And I don't have the pants" — Andy Roddick, on trying another sport.

Photo courtesy of The Sun

R16: Roddick vs Mathieu - called off for tonight due to rain delay. 
To be rescheduled for tomorrow, Tuesday.
R32: Roddick def Verdasco 6-3 6-4 7-6(2)
R64: Roddick def Udomchoke 6-3 6-4 7-6(3)
R128: Roddick def Gimelstob 6-1 7-5 7-6(3)

Who Farted?

Watch below to see.

DOWNLOAD HQ .avi file of Roddick's fart joke from the second round here. (thanks to Neely for the video)

Wimbledon News Items

From the BBC:

Congratulations to Andy Roddick, who can enjoy the unfamiliar feeling of a Wimbledon victory. A-Rod wins the tennis lookey-likey website vote for his uncanny resemblance to American Pie character Stifler with 46% of the vote, followed by Tsonga-Ali on 24%, and Federer-Tarantino and Andy Murray-Napoleon Dynamite sharing 15% each. So it's not been a totally wasted day, eh?

"Is Roddick again Roger's fall guy?" [The Age]:

Andy Roddick was asked how many times he thought he would have won Wimbledon if Roger Federer was working in a Basle cuckoo clock factory. As cruel lines of questioning go, it was like asking Peter Costello how many terms he would have served as PM if John Howard didn't have the keys to Kirribilli. Asking Daryll Cullinan how many runs he would have scored against Australia if Shane Warne had chosen to bowl ten pin instead of spin. To his credit, however, the American did not flinch. "I don't know," Roddick mused. "You figure I was in the last weekend three times. At least one, possibly two."

"Roddick makes violent progress" [The Telegraph (UK)]:

But Connors was the ultimate alley cat, clawing, scratching and snarling his way to five US Open titles, two Wimbledon and one Australian Open. He [. . .] stubbornly refused to reassemble, and a flawed personality which led to all manner of anti-social behaviour - filthy language, obscene gestures, temper tantrums, sexual innuendo, cruel mockery and blatant gamesmanship. [. . .] As he now says: "I was branded a brat, a punk. I don't think people really understood what I was about. Fortunately for me, I quite enjoyed the reputation I had. I wanted to be No 1 and I'd do anything to get there."

"Roddick and Connors forge a Hollywood tale" [The Telegraph (UK)]:

Connors has kept his plans private at Wimbledon, but in one off-duty moment he described his pride in Roddick's progress. "I came back into tennis for one reason, to help Andy to be the best he can be," he said. "His willingness to accept change, and to incorporate ideas, is incredible."

"Roddick watches one historic exit and races towards destiny" [The Guardian (UK)]:

Sometimes important moments in British history are best viewed through the eyes of a foreigner - especially when it is as entertaining a cultural commentator as Andy Roddick.

"Stakes so high but Roddick is poised to cash in" [The Evening Times (UK]:

Roddick's ferocious competitive spirit is such that he will not tolerate so much as a single bad hand when playing poker with Connors, never mind defeat in a more competitive athletic environment. His losing streak against Connors has begun to gnaw at the world No.3. "It seems like most things we do turn into a competition," said Roddick. "I don't want to talk about us playing cards because it hasn't been good for me this week."

"Roddick must learn new tricks" [The Herald (UK)]:

Roddick has been cursed by arriving on the planet as the same time as Mr Federer and the American insisted this week that he would have won more grand slams if the Swiss had quietly taken up interior designing rather than tennis. This is undoubtedly true but Roddick has contributed to his own woes. His examination paper yesterday was passed with ease but it showed the flaws in Roddick's education. [. . .] Roddick seems to have merely one tactic: when in trouble, hit the ball harder. This crude policy can have its moments of success.

"Favorite or not, Roddick charges ahead" [FoxSports]:

The Swiss has had a good year, but not quite up to his standards, losing in four out of his last five tournaments. He may be a tiny bit vulnerabe. "Any time he takes more losses than he normally does, I think collectively everyone's pretty fired up about it," Roddick said. "I don't think we're sitting here feeling sorry for him. I don't think we're upset to see him lose. No way."

"Roddick over Federer in Wimbledon upset" [MSNBC.com]:

Roddick is highly respected -- even feared -- by Federer.

"Once proud champions and bitter rivals, now Mac and my Dad are best mates"
(nice article written by Jimmy Connor's 22-year old daughter, Aubree. She is the red-headed girl often seen sitting next to her Dad during Andy's matches). [This is London]:

Probably like a lot of girls of my age, I thought for a long time that Andy was cute. He's tall, he's good looking and those are cool attributes for any guy. He also happens to be funny and he works hard as well. Andy and Dad both took a lot of confidence from his win at the Artois Championships, the warm-up grass-court tournament for Wimbledon.

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**And You Thought You Were Obsessed**

Hamptons Magazine Celebrates
Cover Star Andy Roddick