Tennis: US Open 2012

And now we get twice the sappy retrospective coverage with Roddick taking some of that spotlight from Kim Clijsters.

 

So Andy Roddick just announced he will retire after the U.S. Open.

I have just one question: Why not 5 years ago?

 

I dislike it a great deal when people shit on Andy Roddick. Dude took a pretty limited game, and got pretty much everything he could out of it. He left nothing on the court. He wasn't a transcendent talent like Federer or Rafa or Djoker, but that didn't stop him from grinding and grinding and trying everything he could try to compete. I'll miss the fight. His epic fifth set against Federer in the 2009 Wimbledon made me so proud of him. He didn't have enough to win, but he pushed the greatest player of this generation -- maybe the greatest of all time -- to the absolute limit. I'm going to miss him. I really admire the nobility of the struggle to be great, even if you come up short.

 

You ever see the disdain Roddick displays simply asking for a towel from a 14 yr old? I cannot root for anyone like that.

 

I felt he never had the mental game to compete with those guys, but had all the shots one would need to beat them. His attitude rubbed me the wrong way and is probably why he couldn't come within reach of Roger, Rafa and Djoker. Yeah, 2009 was great, his one major was nice, but his career was disappointing.
I'm sure he'll have fun with his super-hot wife in retirement.

 

Watch Roddick in 2003, huge serve, big forehand. Look at him now, better fitness, yes. Big serve? Still kinda there. Forehand? Not so scary any longer. The backhand? Better chip, but the least penetrating backhand of any major winner since ......? That backhand scared no one. Still doesn't. I know its not easy to be a top 5 player and I give him credit for that. But that bad attitude just colors everything. If only he'd started coming in behind his serve say 2001-2002, he could have been so much better.

 

Yeah, I think Roddick put so much into his serve that he didn't develop other parts of his game. If a point lasted more than 4-5 shots, he was so often on the defensive.

He also came along at the worst possible time. Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi were fading and people expected there would always be an American there to fill the void and be among the elite. He won the 2003 US Open and was briefly No. 1 before Roger Federer really kicked it into high gear. Roddick lost four Grand Slam finals to Federer. If he wins a couple of those, he's probably regarded in a different light.

 

For sure. When your serve is your best weapon, you need to be a great volley player. Hope John Isner will learn that.

 

What's even worse is when I watch him, he's basically playing defensive tennis after the serve. At least in 2003, he'd whale away on his FH and do all that running around to hit a FH. Now, its like he's content to just chip that BH and stay in the point, even after the guy was stabbing at the return and happy to get the serve back. Damn shame.

 

Speaking of guys who stayed too long, I noticed Lleyton Hewitt is still playing.

For those a bit younger, Hewitt won Wimbledon and the US Open in 2001-02, but hasn't been a contender for anything in at least five years as Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and others passed him by. Never had a huge weapon to begin with, but was always a tough fighter.

I would love to write a story on him and ask simply "What keeps you going out there?" He knows he's never going to fight his way back to the even the top 20, has more money than he could spend in several lifetimes and is still something of a celebrity --- love him or hate him --- in Australia. So why keep grinding away against players 10 years younger week after week in such a physically demanding sport? (I mean, this ain't golf.) I admire him a ton for it; I don't think I'd have the heart to keep going like he does.

 

He wanted to show he'd last longer than Clijsters