Roddick looking to finally get first Wimbledon title
"Roddick! Roddick! Roddick!" Surprising as it may have been to hear full-throated chants echo through the often-staid Centre Court stands - 15,000 or so voices rising as one in the moments after last year's Wimbledon final concluded with a 16-14 fifth set - what was most remarkable was the name the spectators chose to yell.
They did not salute the champion, Roger Federer, who claimed his sixth title at Wimbledon and record-breaking 15th major singles title overall. Instead, they hailed the runner-up, Andy Roddick, who dropped to 1-4 in major finals, including 0-3 at the All England Club - each loss against Federer.
"Roddick! Roddick! Roddick!" When Wimbledon begins Monday, Roddick will resume his quest for a championship that would mean quite a lot to him, one that barely eluded him in 2009.
Roddick served almost impeccably and was broken only once, in the 77th and last game of Federer's 5-7, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5), 3-6, 16-14 victory - the longest match and longest fifth set, in terms of games, in Grand Slam final history. And don't forget this: Roddick injured his hip when he tumbled to the court in the fourth set.
"I'm always anxious going into Wimbledon. I don't think that's going to change," the 27-year-old Roddick said. "I don't go in with any sense of entitlement or any sense of anything like that. I'm excited to get onto a surface that I actually feel that I can impose my game on a little bit more."
Or as Roddick's coach, Larry Stefanki, put it: "Grass is what you'd call his bread and butter."
Roddick's fastest-on-tour serve only gets speedier and tougher for opponents to handle on the slick surface at Wimbledon. It's a formula similar to one Venus and Serena Williams employ to dominate opponents at this tournament, divvying up eight of the past 10 Wimbledon championships.
Roddick did win the 2003 U.S. Open, but he still is waiting for No. 1 at Wimbledon, and his oh-so-close calls only have increased his intention to do well at the All England Club.
There are plenty of players who could block the No. 5-seeded Roddick's path, including the top-seeded Federer, who has reached a record seven consecutive Wimbledon finals.
Other men to watch include No. 2 Rafael Nadal; No. 4 Andy Murray, Britain's best hope to end a major title drought that extends to the 1930s; and No. 6 Robin Soderling, who ended Nadal's record 31-match French Open winning streak last year and ended Federer's record streak of 23 consecutive major singles semifinals at the French Open this month.
Nadal did not defend his Wimbledon championship last year, withdrawing a few days before the tournament began because of painful tendinitis in both knees.
Nadal's is but one of several significant returns anticipated at the All England Club in 2010: Justine Henin, who has seven major singles titles but none from Wimbledon, will be back for the first time since 2007. Kim Clijsters, a two-time U.S. Open champion and twice a semifinalist at Wimbledon, hasn't played at the grass-court major tournament since 2006.
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