US Open Betting: The ressurgence of Roddick

Players Under the Microscope / Simon Mundie / 18 July 2009 / Leave a comment

Federer was the man to walk away with the 2009 Wimbledon title but Simon Mundie believes Andy Roddick was the real star of the tournament. Here's the lowdown on the big-serving, swimsuit model marrying, all-round good guy who looks like he's back to his best.

While it was Roger Federer who stood victorious after a sun blessed two weeks at Wimbledon, thus confirming himself as the most successful Grand Slam Champion of all time, the real star of the fortnight was Andy Roddick.

The popular Nebraskan was involved in three consecutive titanic tussles from the quarter finals onwards, and was but a whisker away from adding the men's singles crown to his lone Major trophy success to date, with one missed backhand volley in the second set tiebreak of the final (to take the second set) likely to haunt him for a long time yet. Had he converted that volley, it would have been a long way back for Federer, but it was not to be.

Roddick's sole major win at the US Open in 2003 was widely expected to be the first of many, but the American has failed to capitalise on that success, with any further Grand Slam successes looking less and less likely as the years have gone by. He's been criticised for appearing one-dimensional, with poor volleys, sluggish movement and a toothless baseline game; but over the course of two weeks he reignited the belief that he may not end his career as a 'One-Slam wonder'.

The clues that Roddick could have a good Wimbledon campaign were there as far back as the end of 2008, when he hired Larry Stefanki as his new coach. Stefanki had proven pedigree, taking Marcelo Rios and Yevgeny Kafelnikov to the number one ranking under his tutelage, as well as having a positive impact on the games of players like Fernando Gonzalez and Tim Henman, amongst others. To Roddick's credit, he said he was willing to do whatever Stefanki suggested to get him back competing with the best in the game, and he quickly realised that his and Stefanki's vision were not immediately one and the same.

One of the first conversations between the pair started with Stefanki asking what Roddick weighed, as he was sure his protégé needed to shed some weight to improve his mobility round the court. Roddick had beefed up since being world number one in 2003, partly because he believed the game was first and foremost about power.

Stefanki did not share that view, saying it was more about transitioning from defence to offence, and looking to finish the points in the forecourt. To be successful at that, Roddick had to slim down and come off what Stefanki referred to as the "Boris Becker diet", which was the reason behind the German's lack of mobility towards the end of his career.

True to his word, Roddick adopted Stefanki's way of thinking and got his weight down, and was repaid when the results quickly followed. At the start of 2009 Roddick reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open, taking out defending champion Novak Djokovic en route. He was solid throughout the American hardcourt season, and posted a career-best result at The French Open in reaching the fourth round. Just prior to Wimbledon, he had to pull out of his semi-final match at Queen's club with James Blake after twisting his ankle, which could have been a blessing in disguise in hindsight as it kept the magnifying glass of expectation off him.

Roddick's resurgence is certainly great for the game. He is one of the most popular players on tour, and is probably the world's best when it comes to providing journalists with amusing and insightful quotes in post match press conferences.

In America, he is one of their most celebrated athletes, being featured in publications such as Rolling Stone and Vogue, as well as being voted 'sexiest athlete' in People Magazine in 2003. His relationship history has kept him firmly in the gossip pages too, starting when he dated the actress and singer Mandy Moore and continuing to the present day with his recent marriage to Brooklyn Decker. Incidentally, he met his future wife after spotting her in the Sports Illustrated swimwear issue and asked his agent to arrange a date. The rest, as they say, is history!

The question now is how will Roddick recover from such a heartbreaking loss in the Wimbledon final? He realises that may well be the best opportunity he will ever have to be crowned men's singles champion at SW19, and that is a bitter pill to swallow. History suggests Roddick will bounce back; he prides himself on his ability to pick himself up after setbacks, and he has a chance to re-establish himself with the very best on tour. Ahead of him lies the American summer hardcourt season that leads up to the US Open, where Roddick can currently be backed at [17.0] to win a second title. It won't be easy, but he is definitely a contender once more, and there wouldn't be a more popular Champion than the nearly man of SW19.