|
THE tennisreporters.net NEWSLETTER: TUESday, May
4, NO. 83
The smoke from the Rome fire
still lingers
Effect of Roddick heroics notable
after Cañas loss
By Eleanor Preston
Special to tennisreporters.net
Fred Mullane/Camerawork USA |
|
It's one and out for Andy Roddick after a hotel fire shook him up
last weekend.
|
FOR THE ITALIA TELECOM MASTERS IN ROME
– It's four days after the fire that swept through the players'
hotel at the Italia Telecom Masters in Rome, and the after effects
are still hanging in the air over the tournament.
It is nothing, of course, to the unspeakable tragedy of the three
people (including American tennis fans Paul and Bernice Busque
of New Hampshire) that died in Saturday morning's blaze at the
Grand Hotel Parco dei Principi, but it has certainly made its
mark on the frivolous world of forehands and backhands.
The players' new hotel, hastily arranged on Saturday morning,
is still near enough the site of the stricken five-star Parco
dei Principi that when they open their shutters each morning,
ready to inhale the usual Roman odors of car exhaust fumes and
fresh coffee, they are still being greeted by the lingering smell
of burning. It must be an unwelcome reminder of those few, harrowing,
hours.
Andy Roddick's heroics at 5 a.m. Saturday, when he helped seven
people to safety before being lifted down from his sixth floor
balcony by fireman's crane, have been well documented. But while,
according to his mother at least, he was calm enough when he rang
her while awaiting rescue, he is finding it hard to forget what
he and his fellow guests went through.
"It's not an easy thing to put out of your mind," said
Roddick, after a distracted and ultimately disastrous performance
to lose 7-6 6-1 to Guillermo Cañas in the first round.
Granted, Roddick's record at the Foro Italico isn't good enough
to rate the defeat as a total surprise, but his demeanor suggested
his mind was not on the court or Cañas.
"I wasn't concentrating for one reason
or another. I went out there; I was rushing things. I definitely
don't think I put my best effort in today, so it's disappointing,"
he explained.
Cañas, who has a limpet-like ability to stick in points
and matches, took advantage of every moment of indecision or distraction
from his opponent. The Argentine made no unforced errors at all
in the second set and precious few in the first. Roddick's body
language, a visual symphony of cap pulling, racket throwing and
head shaking must have buoyed Cañas. This was not a man
in match mode.
Effect of Roddick heroics notable
after Cañas loss
"Any player at a tournament like
this is going to make your life really difficult," said Roddick,
"especially one who likes clay and puts a lot of balls in.
Let's just say he's not the ideal opponent you'd want to play
if you're having an off-day."
Roddick's poor performance against Canas may be quite understandable
in the circumstances, but it did little to suggest he do much
either next week in Hamburg or two weeks' later at Roland Garros.
He made the final in his beloved Houston, where Tommy Haas beat
him, but he is currently very shy of wins on the European clay.
He reacted snappily at a suggestion (albeit a slightly unfair
one) from an Italian journalist that he is incapable of winning
big matches on clay, tersely asking: "Was that a question
or a statement?" before offering a rather testy reply.
"It's no secret that it's not my favorite surface but it's
definitely something that I'm trying to get better on," said
Roddick. "I think everybody has a weak surface: mine is clay.
When I have an off-day, I feel really bad."
Another worrying sign for Roddick was the presence of Per Bastholt,
who was called on court during the second set to rub Roddick's
knee.
The American played down the tweak afterwards, saying that it
was, "just something that comes from time to time. You know,
just playing week after week after week."
Susan Mullane/Camerawork USA |
| Cañas
moves on to the second round. |
The bad news for Roddick is that is
exactly what he is going to have to do from here on in. The tournaments
come thick and fast at this time of year, with the grass season
starting before they have finished sweeping Roland Garros' Court
Centrale after the men's final. From there the all-important US
hard court swing is just two months away, with the Olympics sandwiched
between Cincinnati and the US Open, plus a Davis Cup semi-final
coming straight after that.
SAFIN SUFFERS FROM THE GRIND
Marat Safin is one of the many
players who have complained about the unremitting schedule he
and his colleagues are asked to play. Like Roddick, the Russian
had more reason than most to feel tired. Against Stefano Pescolido
in his first-round victory, he had dark, baggy circles under his
eyes and looked as though he hadn't slept in days.
Perhaps Safin, who arrived at the Foro Italico on Saturday morning
wrapped in a blanket and in a state of shock having been trapped
in a corridor while trying to escape the hotel fire, is also finding
it hard to forget a traumatic weekend.
It didn't seem to have much ill-effect on Andreas Seppe, judging
by the fight he put up against Lleyton Hewitt in their rain-drenched
first-round match here. After the fire started in room 305, on
the third floor of the hotel, it spread to room 322, where Seppe
was sleeping. He escaped from his room into the smoke-filled corridor,
but only just. Had he chosen to go towards his balcony, as most
guests did, he would not have survived.
He counted himself amongst the lucky ones on Saturday, like many
others in tennis.
|
