Lucky fourth Wimbledon for Roddick?
Andy Roddick has made it to the Wimbledon finals a total of three times, losing to Roger Federer each time in a breathless match. That's three more than most of the current top contenders with the exclusion of Rafael Nadal.
Last year’s heartbreaking match was a five set deal that went 16-14 in the fifth set. A backhand volley into the net on set point in the second set ended up costing Roddick the match.
This year, Roddick has another chance for a title bid. His game has shown tremendous improvent in the last few years. At the same time, his greatest rival Federer, seems to be in a bit of a hump.
Federer lost to Robin Soderling in the quarterfinals at the French Open, and continued his streak of losing to mid-level players after winning the Australian Open. Due to this lacklustre performance, Federer is going into Wimbledon amid speculations regarding his ability to claim his seventh Wimbledon tropy in his quest to tie Pete Sampras seven grass court titles.
As he is not the sure favourite contender that he’s been in the past, Federer opens doors for Andy Roddick to claim his first Wimbledon trophy.
In last year’s final match with Federer, Roddick had the support of the crowd for the entire match regardless of the fact that Federer was trying to break Pete Sampras' record of fourteen Grand Slam titles.
Roddick’s fitness is at his best
In late 2008, Andy Roddick began working with coach Larry Stefanki, who began by working with Roddick on an improved fitness regime. Roddick started losing some weight and his performance results showed improvement. Roddick is already known for his big serve and strong forehand, and his game gained a even more dimensions after he started working on his fitness.
He is now able to set up shots more intelligently, and fight out the long winded matches, like the one during last year’s Wimbledon final against Federer.
Roddick’s riding on a good streak
Roddick is considerably one of the strongest hard court players this year. Although he did lose in the early rounds at the French Open, clay is not Roddick's favourite surface, and he did go on to reach two finals, winning one of them.
Roddick beat Nadal in Miami, securing his reputation as a definite contender on fast court.
He beat Soderling, this year’s French Open finalist at the Indian Wells tournament, against whom he had a 0-2 losing record. Not a bad winning streak for Roddick, and a big morale booster coming into Wimbledon this year with the prospect of facing Federer once again in the final.
Although Roddick’s career has shown it’s share of low points, he has been fairly consistent and has compete against the top ten for over ten years at this point.
However, the fact that his second major title has eluded him for over five years now is doubtless a cause for frustration, but also ample fuel for his continuing effort into improving all aspects of his game.
Federer eases up on the competition
With speculations regarding Federer’s level of play, after his near shocking upset against Falla, Roddick prepares to face his archnemesis when the Swiss master is less than stellar, while Roddick’s fitness and all-around game is the best in quite some time. Federer has said that Falla was just playing exceptionally well, and that his two set drop at the beginning of the match was not a result of his own deficient performance. Yet his performance leading up to Wimbledon lacked brilliance, which will work in favour of Roddick.
Another final match at Wimbledon 2010 would create a blockbuster that would rewrite history regardless of the final results.
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