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Serbian-Croatian clash, tennis styleContinued
Three days ago in Kooyong, Roddick bested the nearly unbeatable Roger Federer in the final. He was 1-12 against Federer entering the contest, but the result is not counted in his ATP record against the Swiss. Still, heading into a Grand Slam where he could meet the nine-time Grand Slam champion in the semifinal, it was a big boost of confidence. His good friend Mardy Fish, who has played against and watched hundreds of hours of matches with Roddick, said that it would be silly to toss out the result. "You definitely take that," said Fish, who shocked Ivan Ljubicic in four sets. "Maybe if they play here, he gets up early, he can remember stuff that he did. They were both trying. Roger, he doesn't want too lose, even if it's an exhibition. He definitely doesn't want to lose. Maybe he wasn't taking it completely as this week. But he doesn't want to lose, for sure." Roddick didn't play nearly as well in the first round of the Australian Open as he did against Federer, but he did manage to right his ship when it counted and took down French wildcard Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-7(18), 7-6(2), 6-3, 6-3. Few observers believe that Roddick has a realistic chance of winning his first Australian Open – not because he hasn't been playing well since he hired his new coach, the legendary Jimmy Connors, back in July – but because Federer has lost only once since that time. Roddick nearly took out Federer back in Shanghai, but was unable to secure two match points in the contest and eventually left the facility a three-set loser, but not before busting a few rackets in the locker room before he headed toward transportation. A-ROD: A TOUGH, NEVER-SAY-DIE COMPETITIOR For a while, the Swiss was into his head and deeply into his backhand and his serve. But since Roddick pushed him for two sets in the '06 US Open final and showed off a much-improved net attack in Shanghai. He's done more than just hope. He's bringing improved weapons to the table and now can say that he has a legitimate shot to beat him. He's not the favorite by any means and will never play as pretty or move with same grace, but he can hurt him and Federer now seems to know it. In the third set of Kooyong, Roddick said they both laid it on the line. "I think we both kind of started playing a little bit in the third set," Roddick said. "I think we would have been feeling each other out in the first two. But I don't know. I don't know if it's the same as a Grand Slam final, and that's why I said you have to be a little bit guarded with the emphasis you put on that match." Connors' mother, Gloria, passed away at the beginning of the month and he's not here with Roddick. He may or may not come to Melbourne, but Roddick isn't even going to mention it. His brother, John, who also serves as his traveling coach, is here, and both of them have been in daily contact with Connors. "I've talked to him every day since I've been here," Roddick said. "John has been talking to him, as well. I don't know [if he'll come] at this point. When we talk, we talk tennis. And the last thing I'm going to kind of concern him with right now is putting pressure on him in any way, shape or form." Roddick might have used Connors in his corner against Tsonga, as he started very slow and was in a real hole being 2-5 in the second set. But eventually, he found his timing, serve and get more stick on his ground strokes. While he still may look a kid fresh out of the skateboard park, he's much more experienced now and trusts his instincts. Connors would have been proud how he stuck it out and reversed the pressure of the occasion to his opponent's shoulders. "It was a pretty ordinary performance but I got better as I went along," Roddick said. "We thought he might go for broke but we did not think he would keep it up. I was giving him opportunities more than I should have. I kept thinking that he was going to crack somewhere along the line." And Tsonga did. With Ivan Ljubicic out of his quarter courtesy of Fish, Roddick is looking like very solid pick to get to the semis. Then we'll see whether Kooyong was just a daydream. "You can't really ask for better preparation than playing with that field and knowing you're going to get three matches against those type of players, to get some wins," Roddick said. "If you have a chance to win or lose, you're normally going to choose to win. It's a good thing as well." © TennisReporters.net 2007
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