Topic: Andy Roddick

[OSU Buckeye]

My comments on all of this:    BGT, knowing how big of a fan you are of Roddick, I am impressed at your ability to discuss the points without getting defensive or being biased.......even while others rip Roddick.  And, thanks for those Youtube clips!   

I continue to be let down by Hercules' negative comments on the worlds best tennis players!   

BTW, Dmast and anyone else who thinks Roddick can't volley at all, watch those Youtube clips and then try to talk that crap!      And, that is against Fed! 

Its as simple as this.................Roddick has done and is doing amazingly well for what skillz he has.  He has been great for the game, done lots with his charity, and loves Davis Cup which is admirable.  Anyone that can't see that is hopeless.   

We've gone through this type of thing before. A few great volleys don't really make a great volleyer. Does your impression of my volleying skill revolve around the deft little angle volley I hit while we were playing doubles, or the volleys I dumped into the net, or pushed long?
Of course your last paragraph is 100% true. 

I have never claimed that A-rod is a great volleyer.  I have only defended against the exaggerated claims by you and others that Roddick can't volley at all!   

[BGT]

My comments on all of this:    BGT, knowing how big of a fan you are of Roddick, I am impressed at your ability to discuss the points without getting defensive or being biased.......even while others rip Roddick.  And, thanks for those Youtube clips!   

I continue to be let down by Hercules' negative comments on the worlds best tennis players!   

BTW, Dmast and anyone else who thinks Roddick can't volley at all, watch those Youtube clips and then try to talk that crap!      And, that is against Fed! 

Its as simple as this.................Roddick has done and is doing amazingly well for what skillz he has.  He has been great for the game, done lots with his charity, and loves Davis Cup which is admirable.  Anyone that can't see that is hopeless.   

I just try to be honest. I know that I can be honest about my favorites without getting too upset reading others talk badly about them. Andy can also be honest while still keeping that sense of humor we all love.   If you watch that press conference you will see. I love this question:

Q: What was it like for you, just being there at the end of that?
Andy: It was frustrating, it was miserable, it sucked, it was terrible. Besides that, it was fine.

Q: What did Jimmy say to you straight after the game?
Andy: He gave me a beer.

Q: Takes us to 4-all because from 4-4 you were in the match and then you got broken...
Andy: Then I got broken, then I got broken 3 more times and two more times in the 3rd set and then it was over about 26 minutes later.

Q: You said you felt the gap is closing between you two. The next time you feel that, will you keep it to yourself.
Andy: Slim

Q: Your performance in here is better than on court.
Andy: My performance in here is better than on court? No sh!t.

[JadeFox21]

Well, that is an interesting article.  I had heard that Andy went on a tirade after losing the US Open QF.  No doubt it was disappointing to lose a match where he played so well, but he had nothing to feel bad about.  That QF said more about Fed than it did about Roddick.  Roddick just needs to tip his hat to Fed over that one.  I mean, Fed faced Roddick at his best and a NY crowd that was definitely behind Andy.  I thought that QF was one of Roger's finest moments in proving why he wins alot of Grand Slams.

Anyway, I would think the Wimbledon QF loss to Gasquet would be way more hurtful.  That is a match that Andy had in hand and lost.  That's the one I can understand would 'haunt' Andy.

It's interesting to note that Roddick's career trajectory really changed after the Wimbledon 2004 loss to Fed.  That is when we all know that Roddick made the fateful decision to change everything and focus on Fed.  When he hooked up with Connors, we did see some improvement - making the US Open finals last year.  And he obviously had a great chance against Fed at Shanghai last year.  But it isn't like Roddick choked on his 3 matchpoints - although he did miss his first serve on the first one.  Of course, he did have that bonehead overhead miss on Roger's set point.

And as the article said, Roger was just at his sublime best in Australia.  Not much Andy could do there.

Andy is at sort-of a crossroad, I guess.  He doesn't have the same natural talent as Fed, Nadal, nor Djokovic.  But that doesn't mean he can't beat them on any given day.  But I don't think he can beat them when they are playing at or near their best, and probably not on a consistent basis.

Andy is focused on the Davis Cup.  I think if the US can win that, it will give him alot of good-feeling going into 2008 even though it isn't an individual win.  I don't even want to contemplate what it would do to him mentally if the US lost the DC...

[Clay Death]

My comments on all of this:    BGT, knowing how big of a fan you are of Roddick, I am impressed at your ability to discuss the points without getting defensive or being biased.......even while others rip Roddick.  And, thanks for those Youtube clips!   

I continue to be let down by Hercules' negative comments on the worlds best tennis players!   

BTW, Dmast and anyone else who thinks Roddick can't volley at all, watch those Youtube clips and then try to talk that crap!      And, that is against Fed! 

Its as simple as this.................Roddick has done and is doing amazingly well for what skillz he has.  He has been great for the game, done lots with his charity, and loves Davis Cup which is admirable.  Anyone that can't see that is hopeless.   

what does all that have to do with him dropping in rankings while some of the others are moving up. he is #5 now and was complaining heavily about having to meet fed in the quarters. fed is not his problem. fed is not stopping him from getting his rankings up. he had his chances this year as fed lost in most of the masters series events--like indian wells, montreal, monte carlo, rome, madrid, and paris. that is 7 out of 9 that he lost in. plenty of points to be had in these masters series events. why didnt roddick capitalize in some of them?

in any case i dont see anybody ripping roddick. what i see is a good discussion about roddick.

you are just taking it the wrong way osu. its a discussion. nothing more and nothing less. we are doing exactly what we are here to do. exchange info, ideas, and discussion. dont run out your way to try to stop people from discussing. that hurts the forum and your own credibility.

just offer a counter point. i assure you nobody is ripping roddick. you might as well go after johhny mac. he is announcing to millions that roddick is one dimensional.

finally, we are all fans but we are also critics. there would be no forum here at all if we just sat around and started agreeing with everybody about how great everybody is. it is our right to be critical at times and subjectivity is the name of the game as long as it is not too far out of touch with reality or people wont be taken seriously.

[OSU Buckeye]

My comments on all of this:    BGT, knowing how big of a fan you are of Roddick, I am impressed at your ability to discuss the points without getting defensive or being biased.......even while others rip Roddick.  And, thanks for those Youtube clips!   

I continue to be let down by Hercules' negative comments on the worlds best tennis players!   

BTW, Dmast and anyone else who thinks Roddick can't volley at all, watch those Youtube clips and then try to talk that crap!      And, that is against Fed! 

Its as simple as this.................Roddick has done and is doing amazingly well for what skillz he has.  He has been great for the game, done lots with his charity, and loves Davis Cup which is admirable.  Anyone that can't see that is hopeless.   

what does all that have to do with him dropping in rankings while some of the others are moving up. he is #5 now and was complaining heavily about having to meet fed in the quarters. fed is not his problem. fed is not stopping him from getting his rankings up. he had his chances this year as fed lost in most of the masters series events--like indian wells, montreal, monte carlo, rome, madrid, and paris. that is 7 out of 9 that he lost in. plenty of points to be had in these masters series events. why didnt roddick capitalize in some of them?

in any case i dont see anybody ripping roddick. what i see is a good discussion about roddick.

you are just taking it the wrong way osu. its a discussion. nothing more and nothing less. we are doing exactly what we are here to do. exchange info, ideas, and discussion. dont run out your way to try to stop people from discussing. that hurts the forum and your own credibility.

just offer a counter point. i assure you nobody is ripping roddick. you might as well go after johhny mac. he is announcing to millions that roddick is one dimensional.

finally, we are all fans but we are also critics. there would be no forum here at all if we just sat around and started agreeing with everybody about how great everybody is. it is our right to be critical at times and subjectivity is the name of the game as long as it is not too far out of touch with reality or people wont be taken seriously.

Whatever!?  You say Roddick is making excuses and running scared from tournies when you don't really know what is going on with him at all.  I see silly exaggerations like yours and similar others saying things like "Roddick can't volley at all".   Sue me, I don't like exaggeration!     

[swish]

Roddick is doing all he can to get better IMO, I agree with Kittens on this one. He wants to improve but has the skills he has and there's not much he can do about it. I wouldn't say he's running but maybe just down because of his situation which there is no apparent solution. Now he tried his best and realises it's not good enough, it has got to be depressing.

[BGT]

it wasnt fed who ran him off the court at indian wells. fed was no where near when dancevic beat him in a final of hard court tournament. ferru took him out in cincy and not federer. aging 35 year old shrimp by the name of santoro took him out in lyons, france not fed. he was not in the tournament.

who is he kidding anyway? secondly, he has been running. he ran from madrid, basel, and paris. 2 of these events are supposed to be required.

federer is just an excuse. he has failed to improve his game and while some of the others are catching up. now he has not just fed but a numbers of other players to worry about.

i hate to say it but roddick is making excuses. mahut had a match point against him in queens and should have won. he had no business losing to gasquet at wimby aftr being up by 2 sets to love.

if he cant win small tournaments with no fed around, how does he ever hope to win a slam. the short answer is that he does not expect to ever win another slam. i think he will drop out of top 10 in a few months.

If this isn't bashing, then show me when you criticize players.  

BTW, Dancevic beat Andy in the semis and then went on to his first ever ATP final. A fluke win. Ferrer simply broke Rafa down a few weeks later at the USO. Not a fluke as Ferru as you call him (we call him Pics on MTF   ) has qualified for the TMC. He won't be back next year. And that 35 year old shrimp destroyed Djokovic in Paris and has given Fed lots of trouble. Andy has beaten him twice before, and it was Andy's first event in months so that was a fluke. It probably won't happen again. Anything else?  

[OSU Buckeye]

it wasnt fed who ran him off the court at indian wells. fed was no where near when dancevic beat him in a final of hard court tournament. ferru took him out in cincy and not federer. aging 35 year old shrimp by the name of santoro took him out in lyons, france not fed. he was not in the tournament.

who is he kidding anyway? secondly, he has been running. he ran from madrid, basel, and paris. 2 of these events are supposed to be required.

federer is just an excuse. he has failed to improve his game and while some of the others are catching up. now he has not just fed but a numbers of other players to worry about.

i hate to say it but roddick is making excuses. mahut had a match point against him in queens and should have won. he had no business losing to gasquet at wimby aftr being up by 2 sets to love.

if he cant win small tournaments with no fed around, how does he ever hope to win a slam. the short answer is that he does not expect to ever win another slam. i think he will drop out of top 10 in a few months.

If this isn't bashing, then show me when you criticize players.  

BTW, Dancevic beat Andy in the semis and then went on to his first ever ATP final. A fluke win. Ferrer simply broke Rafa down a few weeks later at the USO. Not a fluke as Ferru as you call him (we call him Pics on MTF   ) has qualified for the TMC. He won't be back next year. And that 35 year old shrimp destroyed Djokovic in Paris and has given Fed lots of trouble. Andy has beaten him twice before, and it was Andy's first event in months so that was a fluke. It probably won't happen again. Anything else?  

Well said BGT!   But come on, Hercules has never ripped Roddick or never said any ridiculous things like "Nadals serve and return of serve are atrocious"!?   

[kittens25]

Roddick is doing all he can to get better IMO, I agree with Kittens on this one. He wants to improve but has the skills he has and there's not much he can do about it. I wouldn't say he's running but maybe just down because of his situation which there is no apparent solution. Now he tried his best and realises it's not good enough, it has got to be depressing.

Exactly, he has hit a dead end, a hard wall, and mentally that is hard to realize and keep forcing yourself to keep fighting against.

[BGT]

it wasnt fed who ran him off the court at indian wells. fed was no where near when dancevic beat him in a final of hard court tournament. ferru took him out in cincy and not federer. aging 35 year old shrimp by the name of santoro took him out in lyons, france not fed. he was not in the tournament.

who is he kidding anyway? secondly, he has been running. he ran from madrid, basel, and paris. 2 of these events are supposed to be required.

federer is just an excuse. he has failed to improve his game and while some of the others are catching up. now he has not just fed but a numbers of other players to worry about.

i hate to say it but roddick is making excuses. mahut had a match point against him in queens and should have won. he had no business losing to gasquet at wimby aftr being up by 2 sets to love.

if he cant win small tournaments with no fed around, how does he ever hope to win a slam. the short answer is that he does not expect to ever win another slam. i think he will drop out of top 10 in a few months.

If this isn't bashing, then show me when you criticize players.  

BTW, Dancevic beat Andy in the semis and then went on to his first ever ATP final. A fluke win. Ferrer simply broke Rafa down a few weeks later at the USO. Not a fluke as Ferru as you call him (we call him Pics on MTF   ) has qualified for the TMC. He won't be back next year. And that 35 year old shrimp destroyed Djokovic in Paris and has given Fed lots of trouble. Andy has beaten him twice before, and it was Andy's first event in months so that was a fluke. It probably won't happen again. Anything else?  

Well said BGT!   But come on, Hercules has never ripped Roddick or never said any ridiculous things like "Nadals serve and return of serve are atrocious"!?   

Didn't he create an entire thread on Rafa's flaws??

[OSU Buckeye]

it wasnt fed who ran him off the court at indian wells. fed was no where near when dancevic beat him in a final of hard court tournament. ferru took him out in cincy and not federer. aging 35 year old shrimp by the name of santoro took him out in lyons, france not fed. he was not in the tournament.

who is he kidding anyway? secondly, he has been running. he ran from madrid, basel, and paris. 2 of these events are supposed to be required.

federer is just an excuse. he has failed to improve his game and while some of the others are catching up. now he has not just fed but a numbers of other players to worry about.

i hate to say it but roddick is making excuses. mahut had a match point against him in queens and should have won. he had no business losing to gasquet at wimby aftr being up by 2 sets to love.

if he cant win small tournaments with no fed around, how does he ever hope to win a slam. the short answer is that he does not expect to ever win another slam. i think he will drop out of top 10 in a few months.

If this isn't bashing, then show me when you criticize players.  

BTW, Dancevic beat Andy in the semis and then went on to his first ever ATP final. A fluke win. Ferrer simply broke Rafa down a few weeks later at the USO. Not a fluke as Ferru as you call him (we call him Pics on MTF   ) has qualified for the TMC. He won't be back next year. And that 35 year old shrimp destroyed Djokovic in Paris and has given Fed lots of trouble. Andy has beaten him twice before, and it was Andy's first event in months so that was a fluke. It probably won't happen again. Anything else?  

Well said BGT!   But come on, Hercules has never ripped Roddick or never said any ridiculous things like "Nadals serve and return of serve are atrocious"!?   

Didn't he create an entire thread on Rafa's flaws??

Don't get me started!       There are like 70-some pages in that thread..................much of which is Hercules saying the exact same thing over and over and over and over...........................................and over.        "Nadals serve, return of serve, and fitness need help"!      Maybe if that thread can reach 100 pages then Rafa will get the message!?   

[thalivest]

Roddick is doing all he can to get better IMO, I agree with Kittens on this one. He wants to improve but has the skills he has and there's not much he can do about it. I wouldn't say he's running but maybe just down because of his situation which there is no apparent solution. Now he tried his best and realises it's not good enough, it has got to be depressing.

Exactly, he has hit a dead end, a hard wall, and mentally that is hard to realize and keep forcing yourself to keep fighting against.

I tend to agree except for one thing.
I have recently seen som clips from 2003(Toronto, Cincinnati, US Open), even '04 Wimbledon final, where his forehand looks far more lethal, more effective than it is today. The only time he seemd to hit it anything like that was in Shanghai vs Fed last yr. Even in 2006 US Open it wasn't as good.

Compared to 2003, is forehand looks soft. Just calling it how I see it. Yeah he may be working and his game has flaws, but his forehand has gone backwards, certainly didn't progress.

[BGT]

In that USO match this year, Andy was hitting forehands harder than I'd seen him hit before.

[Dallas]

This has really been an interesting thread.  I can't add anything else - you guys have said it all.

I have all of the matches Andy and Roger has played together (except the 2003 Canada match) - but I did watch it and like someone said earlier, Andy won it in a 3rd set tiebreak, but it was a pretty entertaining match.

On Andy... I do think in 2003 he was sort of like Nalbandian in the last 2 months.  Andy got extremely hot during the summer of that year - winning all the hard-court events leading up to the US Open and he took that mo into the US Open.  I don't think I've seen Andy on that sort of run since.  But people expected him to keep up that type of playing as "the norm" instead of "the exception".  Now listening to Andy, he said he thinks he's actually playing better now than he did back in 2003.  Uhm... I don't know if I would agree, but I guess he knows better.  But Andy did say that the other players (or more so Federer) also got better.

Andy has the unfortunate instance of being the #1 American tennis player and that's a lot to live up to - especially since Americans were spoiled with Pete, Andre, Jimbo, Mac, etc. in the past.  I can see Andy trying to do all he can to improve and keep up - but sometimes the fact remains that the other players are just better than you are.  That is where Andy is right now.  Sure, he can win against anyone on any given day, but the fact remains that I think Roger, Nadal, Djokovic, and others are 'just a little better' than Andy.  Andy has his serve - but if you read it well and get it back - Andy doesn't really have another 'big' weapon.  His forehand - which use to be right up there - is just a 'middle-of-the-pack' forehand to me now.  There are so many who have bigger and better forehands than Roddick.  Andy doesn't move that well, he plays in "Melbourne" (you know when Serena's mom told her to get out of the sign 'Melbourne' that was painted on the court).  That's how far back Andy plays sometimes.  And frankly, I question Andy's "brain" on the court a lot of times.  I mean, sometimes Andy just plays "dumb" (sorry Blackgirltennis)...but that's just how I see it. 

I don't know how long the Conner's team will last, but at least Andy is trying to do something to get better.  The problem is that the other players are just simply 'better' than Andy.

[kittens25]

Roddick is doing all he can to get better IMO, I agree with Kittens on this one. He wants to improve but has the skills he has and there's not much he can do about it. I wouldn't say he's running but maybe just down because of his situation which there is no apparent solution. Now he tried his best and realises it's not good enough, it has got to be depressing.

Exactly, he has hit a dead end, a hard wall, and mentally that is hard to realize and keep forcing yourself to keep fighting against.

I tend to agree except for one thing.
I have recently seen som clips from 2003(Toronto, Cincinnati, US Open), even '04 Wimbledon final, where his forehand looks far more lethal, more effective than it is today. The only time he seemd to hit it anything like that was in Shanghai vs Fed last yr. Even in 2006 US Open it wasn't as good.

Compared to 2003, is forehand looks soft. Just calling it how I see it. Yeah he may be working and his game has flaws, but his forehand has gone backwards, certainly didn't progress.

Point taken.   That is definitely one of the few things he could focus on hardest.   Trying to revive his forehand to the level it was when he was playing his best.  It still might not be enough vs Federer, Nadal, or Djokovic today but it is a better chance for him to go that route then trying to become this expert all court player or perfect a slice backhand.

[kittens25]

This has really been an interesting thread.  I can't add anything else - you guys have said it all.

I have all of the matches Andy and Roger has played together (except the 2003 Canada match) - but I did watch it and like someone said earlier, Andy won it in a 3rd set tiebreak, but it was a pretty entertaining match.

On Andy... I do think in 2003 he was sort of like Nalbandian in the last 2 months.  Andy got extremely hot during the summer of that year - winning all the hard-court events leading up to the US Open and he took that mo into the US Open.  I don't think I've seen Andy on that sort of run since.  But people expected him to keep up that type of playing as "the norm" instead of "the exception".  Now listening to Andy, he said he thinks he's actually playing better now than he did back in 2003.  Uhm... I don't know if I would agree, but I guess he knows better.  But Andy did say that the other players (or more so Federer) also got better.

Andy has the unfortunate instance of being the #1 American tennis player and that's a lot to live up to - especially since Americans were spoiled with Pete, Andre, Jimbo, Mac, etc. in the past.  I can see Andy trying to do all he can to improve and keep up - but sometimes the fact remains that the other players are just better than you are.  That is where Andy is right now.  Sure, he can win against anyone on any given day, but the fact remains that I think Roger, Nadal, Djokovic, and others are 'just a little better' than Andy.  Andy has his serve - but if you read it well and get it back - Andy doesn't really have another 'big' weapon.  His forehand - which use to be right up there - is just a 'middle-of-the-pack' forehand to me now.  There are so many who have bigger and better forehands than Roddick.  Andy doesn't move that well, he plays in "Melbourne" (you know when Serena's mom told her to get out of the sign 'Melbourne' that was painted on the court).  That's how far back Andy plays sometimes.  And frankly, I question Andy's "brain" on the court a lot of times.  I mean, sometimes Andy just plays "dumb" (sorry Blackgirltennis)...but that's just how I see it. 

I don't know how long the Conner's team will last, but at least Andy is trying to do something to get better.  The problem is that the other players are just simply 'better' than Andy.

Very well said.  I pretty much agree with all of that.  Andy struggles vs top players in general, you probably noticed my breakdown of how he does vs Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Davydenko, Ferrer, Gonzalez, Gasquet, Murray, Nalbandian combined compared to how Federer, Nadal, Djokovic do vs all of that group and each other (and Roddick) combined.   So maybe when he plays guys of that level his overall game just isnt good enough most times.

[JadeFox21]

In that USO match this year, Andy was hitting forehands harder than I'd seen him hit before.

That was easily the best Andy has played in a long time.  And I agree with Mary Carillo that Andy probably would have beaten any other player than night but Roger. 

[BGT]

This has really been an interesting thread.  I can't add anything else - you guys have said it all.

I have all of the matches Andy and Roger has played together (except the 2003 Canada match) - but I did watch it and like someone said earlier, Andy won it in a 3rd set tiebreak, but it was a pretty entertaining match.

On Andy... I do think in 2003 he was sort of like Nalbandian in the last 2 months.  Andy got extremely hot during the summer of that year - winning all the hard-court events leading up to the US Open and he took that mo into the US Open.  I don't think I've seen Andy on that sort of run since.  But people expected him to keep up that type of playing as "the norm" instead of "the exception".  Now listening to Andy, he said he thinks he's actually playing better now than he did back in 2003.  Uhm... I don't know if I would agree, but I guess he knows better.  But Andy did say that the other players (or more so Federer) also got better.

Andy has the unfortunate instance of being the #1 American tennis player and that's a lot to live up to - especially since Americans were spoiled with Pete, Andre, Jimbo, Mac, etc. in the past.  I can see Andy trying to do all he can to improve and keep up - but sometimes the fact remains that the other players are just better than you are.  That is where Andy is right now.  Sure, he can win against anyone on any given day, but the fact remains that I think Roger, Nadal, Djokovic, and others are 'just a little better' than Andy.  Andy has his serve - but if you read it well and get it back - Andy doesn't really have another 'big' weapon.  His forehand - which use to be right up there - is just a 'middle-of-the-pack' forehand to me now.  There are so many who have bigger and better forehands than Roddick.  Andy doesn't move that well, he plays in "Melbourne" (you know when Serena's mom told her to get out of the sign 'Melbourne' that was painted on the court).  That's how far back Andy plays sometimes.  And frankly, I question Andy's "brain" on the court a lot of times.  I mean, sometimes Andy just plays "dumb" (sorry Blackgirltennis)...but that's just how I see it. 

I don't know how long the Conner's team will last, but at least Andy is trying to do something to get better.  The problem is that the other players are just simply 'better' than Andy.

I just watched an interview with andy and his brother last year when they first got together. He said 2003 was just a 3 month stretch where he played lights out. BTW, Little Boy Andy at 0:40, 1:00  

http://youtube.com/watch?v=d_UDa5ZBNj8

[JadeFox21]

Dallas, I agree with your post as well.  Andy as the #1 American tennis player is by default being compared to Sampras, Agassi, Connors, J-Mac, etc.  Unfortunately he is never going to have their numbers and the media expected him to - especially after his Golden Summer of 2003.

This is a tough time for Andy.  He knows in his heart that he just is not as good as Federer.  And probably not as good as Nadal and Djokovic.  That realization has to be tough but God-love-him...Andy keeps trying.  You have to love his attitude.

It must be tough for any athlete to realize where they land in their sport's echelon.  I mean, when you play in the era of Tiger Woods...what does your mindset have to be to come out and keep trying when you know you are nowhere near his level?  Of course, I don't think Tiger's position is a piece-of-cake either.

[euroka1]

Well, I for one will not be sorry when he eventually goes away, as he must. I don't like his tennis game, I don't like his on-court manners and find his off-court interviews disingenuous. I will concede that he has done very well with a limited talent and currently deserves his place in the top ten but it is still not the sort of tennis I want to watch.