Tag Archives: Andy Roddick

June 20, 2011

WIMBLEDON WEEK: Quick Last-Second Hits. Can Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams Both Repeat?

By gregcouch

Serena Williams in last year's Wimbledon final

A bunch of quick-hit thoughts on certain players going into Wimbledon:

Serena Williams: This might not even be that hard. Better beat her early, before she gets momentum. Only concern: When she has trouble catching her breath, will she be able to keep her mind off the blood clots? Prediction: Winner.

Rafael Nadal: This “clay court specialist’’ hasn’t lost a match at Wimbledon since 2007. Won’t this year, either.

Andy Roddick: Conflicting thoughts. Done winning majors; that’s an awfully nice draw. Last chance? (I’ve probably said that about him before).

Venus Williams: Didn’t look that great at Eastbourne. Kind of off-balance. Still good enough to make a deep run, though.

Roger Federer: The big-bashers who were pushing him backward aren’t doing well. He might have figured out Novak Djokovic. If Nadal loses before the final, this tournament could be his. If not, it’s not.

Caroline Wozniacki: Prove it already. Quarterfinals against Sharapova, good place to start. Prediction: Sharapova.

John Isner-Nicolas Mahut: Straight sets for Isner. But stop picking him as a darkhorse. If you can’t return serve, you can’t win Wimbledon.

Andy Murray: Tabloid fodder. Continue reading

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March 31, 2011

Andy Roddick Drops from Top 10. Will He Get Back In?

By gregcouch

I’m not even sure what it means, exactly, to write off Andy Roddick. But I just have a sense that that’s what I’m doing. It’s what I’m feeling.

Andy Roddick, so long ago

After his early loss in Miami to some guy named Pablo Cuevas, Roddick, now No. 8, will drop down to, roughly, No. 15 when new rankings come out Monday. He will definitely be out of the top 10.

And I’m not sure he’ll ever get back in.

This whole project with coach Larry Stefanki, one-last run for a second major title, is not going to come through for Roddick. It has peaked. It was thrilling to see the immediate results, a near-Wimbledon title in 2009, when Roddick lost a classic five-set final to Roger Federer. He beat Rafael Nadal on the way to winning in Miami last year, too.

For nearly a decade, Roddick has been the face of American men’s tennis, and a regular in the top 10. But he has driven us crazy, stuck at one major and one moment at No. 1.

The argument for him has been this: He would have won way more if not for the colossal bad luck of two of the greatest players of all time – Federer and Nadal – coming along during his prime.

The truth is, Roddick let the top of the game pass him by. If the Federer-Nadal argument were real, then Roddick would have been ranked No. 3 all these years. He hasn’t been No. 3 since 2007. Continue reading

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January 24, 2011

Andy Roddick has been Coached to Death

By gregcouch

From my column on AOL Fanhouse

MELBOURNE, Australia — Andy Roddick has been coached to death. He is a wild animal who, trying to get a little control of himself, has allowed himself to be trained into a house pet. Sit Andy, sit.
Roddick’s career doesn’t have to be over. All of his skills are still there, and he has even added some. But he doesn’t contend in the majors anymore, and doesn’t even reach the quarterfinals.

“Conditions were colder, so slice wasn’t really working,” he said Sunday after losing to Stanislas Wawrinka 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in the fourth round of the Australian Open. “I wasn’t able to get the ball to jump much, so a lot of the shots he hit were in his pocket and…”

Oh my God. If this is the new and improved Andy Roddick, then I liked him better the old way, when he was the dumbest tennis player on earth. The guy has a 140 mph serve and he’s talking about cold weather and slice?

Well, Roddick is out, as is every American player, man or woman. Or in Roddick’s case, puppy.

This is all wrong. Roddick isn’t just losing every important match. Roddick has lost Roddick. Continue reading

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