Andy Roddick, all grown up
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MELBOURNE, Australia -- This Andy Roddick, 26, slimmed down, head down, is happy to be flying under the radar. The fact that he hadn’t played at Rod Laver Arena, the Australian Open’s biggest show court, until his Tuesday quarterfinal match against defending champion Novak Djokovic? Not a problem. The fact that he’s not, as someone asked him the other day, ‘a part of the conversation’ when Australian Open favorites were being picked -- mostly from a pool of Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Djokovic and Andy Murray -- that was fine.
Roddick has to be part of the conversation now. It was a commitment to off-season work, an effort that resulted in a slimmed-down body that was easier to haul around in 100-degree heat Tuesday. It was a psychic calmness that seemed to help Roddick not be bothered by Djokovic’s extended timeout to have heat-induced cramps massaged away that allowed the American to move into the semifinals after Djokovic succumbed to the steamy conditions, handing Roddick a 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 6-2, 2-1 (retired) victory.
Roddick gives some of the credit to his new coach, Larry Stefanki. ‘Getting in better shape was his impetus,’ Roddick said. ‘He kind of put me up to it. We have similar minds. We both like going to work and have a lot of the same interests. We don’t like sitting around being bored.’
And Roddick had a mature response to Djokovic’s ‘massage’ timeout that came just before Roddick was going to serve a game in the third set.
‘Let me preface this so no one twists it. Everything Novak did today was well within his rights and the rules. This is simply about my opinion of a rule. I don’t think you should be able to ... if you’re going to take that for cramping, an extended break, make it a rule that you have to do it before your own serve. I think the one thing that you should have to do is take it before your own serve, and if you don’t want to do that, then you concede the game until it is your serve. I think that’s a good idea.’
After Djokovic took his break, Roddick served three double faults in the next game. ‘It’s tough,’ he said. ‘Never mind the fact that your adrenaline is pumping. If you go for a 30-minute run and sit down on a couch for 12 minutes and you get up and try to run quick, you feel terrible. It’s no different than when you’re trying to get a rhythm on your serve and nerves are playing a part. It’s not easy to get up and play right after that.’
Spoken like the winner. And a guy who has gained perspective.
-- Diane Pucin