Andy Seethes
Tough loss for Roddick in the Open final. He was thoroughly in it in the second set and well into the second, after he brought the crowd into play, but Federer knew that if he could keep the third set from going to a coin-flip tiebreaker, he could probably pull it out, and pull it out easily. As he did. Federer with a two-set lead is basically unbeatable, everyone knows that. So, 2006 US Open, Fed the champ, QED.
Of course, I was pulling for Roddick. I like his new Connors-inspired 'tude. I also like that, in defeat, he was extremely grudgingly gracious. This is what separates him from Blake: Blake has too much respect for a guy like Agassi, who obviously had no qualms about beating him last year, and he has too much respect for Fed, who likewise took him out of his home tournament. Roddick, by contrast, was seething as he watched the Open trophy handed to Fed, and I for one was thrilled. I'm sick of all this locker-room camraderie carrying over to the court. I want to see some scraps. Roddick has to believe that on hard courts and at Wimbledon, he's the chief opposition to reign of Fed. Give Nadal the French. My feeling is that Roddick at 24 has around half a dozen good Open runs left in him, and probably a few more at Wimbledon. Federer will be the likely opponent in each case. He showed that Fed is vulnerable to attack, so if he can just eliminate some errors, serve a bit bigger, and up the winner count (the slow Open courts didn't help him this time), he could take one or two off Fed, in Slam finals. Crucially, however, he needs to cultivate this disgust with losing to the guy. I hate to say it, but he needs to learn to hate Federer. It has to be sickening to dominate the hard-court season and then have Mr. Perfect swoop in and steal the big prize at the end.
On another topic, Federer is just the death of the five-set thriller these days. I was seeing a tiebreak in the third tonight, won by Roddick, followed by possibly another, won by Fed, then a raucous fifth. No dice. Fed knew when to out the hammer down, and right now, he has the tools to do it.
But if somebody made him hit pass after pass after pass...
We'll see if Roddick can become that player.
Of course, I was pulling for Roddick. I like his new Connors-inspired 'tude. I also like that, in defeat, he was extremely grudgingly gracious. This is what separates him from Blake: Blake has too much respect for a guy like Agassi, who obviously had no qualms about beating him last year, and he has too much respect for Fed, who likewise took him out of his home tournament. Roddick, by contrast, was seething as he watched the Open trophy handed to Fed, and I for one was thrilled. I'm sick of all this locker-room camraderie carrying over to the court. I want to see some scraps. Roddick has to believe that on hard courts and at Wimbledon, he's the chief opposition to reign of Fed. Give Nadal the French. My feeling is that Roddick at 24 has around half a dozen good Open runs left in him, and probably a few more at Wimbledon. Federer will be the likely opponent in each case. He showed that Fed is vulnerable to attack, so if he can just eliminate some errors, serve a bit bigger, and up the winner count (the slow Open courts didn't help him this time), he could take one or two off Fed, in Slam finals. Crucially, however, he needs to cultivate this disgust with losing to the guy. I hate to say it, but he needs to learn to hate Federer. It has to be sickening to dominate the hard-court season and then have Mr. Perfect swoop in and steal the big prize at the end.
On another topic, Federer is just the death of the five-set thriller these days. I was seeing a tiebreak in the third tonight, won by Roddick, followed by possibly another, won by Fed, then a raucous fifth. No dice. Fed knew when to out the hammer down, and right now, he has the tools to do it.
But if somebody made him hit pass after pass after pass...
We'll see if Roddick can become that player.
posted by Matthew DeBord at 4:36 PM
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