LONDON — After his first-round win at Wimbledon, American Andy Roddick said he knew and understood many of the nuances of grass-court tennis.
He said he has made serious runs at majors in his career (and even won one). He said he was healthy for the first time in awhile.
“I know what it takes to go deep at this tennis tournament,” he said.
But the American was outplayed by Spanish lefty Feliciano Lopez on Centre Court at Wimbledon on Friday, losing 7-6, 7-6, 6-4 in a third-round match against a player he hadn’t lost to in seven encounters.
It was a shock, and yet it wasn’t. Roddick’s grass-court history and his head-to-head with Lopez told you he would probably prevail, even though he barely squeaked through a meeting between the two only two weeks ago at a warm-up grass-court event.
Lopez’s history against top-10 players, and his tendency to battle right to the end of these types of matches only to lose in some heartbreaking fashion, told you he would probably fold.
He didn’t.
“I got beat. He served about as well as someone has,” Roddick said. “You know, the stuff that’s enabled me to beat him seven times, making passing shots under duress, making him play defence on his forehand, he did well today. Mixed up his serve. There weren’t a whole lot of patterns. So he played an outstanding match.”
Despite Roddick’s confident claims, he’s a mere shadow of the player who battled all the way to 16-14 in the fifth set in against Roger Federer in 2009, in his third career Wimbledon final. In the last year or two, he has retreated further and further behind the baseline, the defensive territory he once patrolled as an undersized junior who hadn’t yet grown into his monster serve.
A graphic on the BBC’s television broadcast showed a comparison between the match against Lopez and one against Rafael Nadal in 2004, in terms of Roddick’s court position. Back in 2004, he was inside the baseline 68 per cent of the time; against Lopez, it was less than 30 per cent.
It’s not that he isn’t trying. The will is there — it is always there — but something is missing.
Roddick even retooled his serve, his bread and butter, after realizing that his grip had shifted slowly and subtly. The giveaway was the shoulder problems many had predicted for him early in his career because of his unusual motion, but had never materialized until now.
The change seemed to work. Roddick faced only two break points in his first two matches, with 45 aces, one double fault, and a first-serve percentage near 70 per cent. Even against Lopez, his numbers were good. He hit 23 aces and hit 143 miles per hour with one delivery.
But Lopez was better.
“It’s easier for me to walk out of here with that and move forward with that than, let’s say, 2008 where I lost to (Janko) Tipsarevic and I felt like I completely choked, or last year where I just kind of had a million opportunities and kind of gave it away,” said Roddick.
Roddick continues to be the American flag-bearer even though at the moment, lifelong friend Mardy Fish is actually ranked one spot higher at No. 9.
Fellow American John Isner lost in the second round. Sam Querrey never made it; he had surgery to remove bone chips in his elbow after the French Open. Alex Bogomolov, Jr., the sixth-ranked American, is still alive — but only because his third-round match against Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic was called by the rain Friday, with Berdych leading two sets to none.
At least in this event, the U.S. has the Williams sisters back. Otherwise, they’d seriously be up against it.
Montreal Gazette
smyles@montrealgazette.com
He said he has made serious runs at majors in his career (and even won one). He said he was healthy for the first time in awhile.
“I know what it takes to go deep at this tennis tournament,” he said.
But the American was outplayed by Spanish lefty Feliciano Lopez on Centre Court at Wimbledon on Friday, losing 7-6, 7-6, 6-4 in a third-round match against a player he hadn’t lost to in seven encounters.
It was a shock, and yet it wasn’t. Roddick’s grass-court history and his head-to-head with Lopez told you he would probably prevail, even though he barely squeaked through a meeting between the two only two weeks ago at a warm-up grass-court event.
Lopez’s history against top-10 players, and his tendency to battle right to the end of these types of matches only to lose in some heartbreaking fashion, told you he would probably fold.
He didn’t.
“I got beat. He served about as well as someone has,” Roddick said. “You know, the stuff that’s enabled me to beat him seven times, making passing shots under duress, making him play defence on his forehand, he did well today. Mixed up his serve. There weren’t a whole lot of patterns. So he played an outstanding match.”
Despite Roddick’s confident claims, he’s a mere shadow of the player who battled all the way to 16-14 in the fifth set in against Roger Federer in 2009, in his third career Wimbledon final. In the last year or two, he has retreated further and further behind the baseline, the defensive territory he once patrolled as an undersized junior who hadn’t yet grown into his monster serve.
A graphic on the BBC’s television broadcast showed a comparison between the match against Lopez and one against Rafael Nadal in 2004, in terms of Roddick’s court position. Back in 2004, he was inside the baseline 68 per cent of the time; against Lopez, it was less than 30 per cent.
It’s not that he isn’t trying. The will is there — it is always there — but something is missing.
Roddick even retooled his serve, his bread and butter, after realizing that his grip had shifted slowly and subtly. The giveaway was the shoulder problems many had predicted for him early in his career because of his unusual motion, but had never materialized until now.
The change seemed to work. Roddick faced only two break points in his first two matches, with 45 aces, one double fault, and a first-serve percentage near 70 per cent. Even against Lopez, his numbers were good. He hit 23 aces and hit 143 miles per hour with one delivery.
But Lopez was better.
“It’s easier for me to walk out of here with that and move forward with that than, let’s say, 2008 where I lost to (Janko) Tipsarevic and I felt like I completely choked, or last year where I just kind of had a million opportunities and kind of gave it away,” said Roddick.
Roddick continues to be the American flag-bearer even though at the moment, lifelong friend Mardy Fish is actually ranked one spot higher at No. 9.
Fellow American John Isner lost in the second round. Sam Querrey never made it; he had surgery to remove bone chips in his elbow after the French Open. Alex Bogomolov, Jr., the sixth-ranked American, is still alive — but only because his third-round match against Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic was called by the rain Friday, with Berdych leading two sets to none.
At least in this event, the U.S. has the Williams sisters back. Otherwise, they’d seriously be up against it.
Montreal Gazette
smyles@montrealgazette.com
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