Thu 6 Sep 2007

Well, not really. Apparently, Andy Roddick has a little more game than WFAN’s Chris “Mad Dog” Russo would like to admit.
The fifth seeded American might’ve fallen tonight to top seeded Roger Federer in straight sets but if you watched the match, you know it was far from routine for the three-time defending U.S. Open champ in improving to a ridiculous 14-1 against Roddick.

With popular former two-time champion Andre Agassi watching on from the broadcast booth where he was a guest analyst along with the dynamic duo of John McEnroe and Ted Robinson, the 11-time slam winner had to be at his absolute very best to squeak out the first couple of sets against a razor sharp Roddick who looked determined to reverse his luck in front of a packed Ashe Stadium.

Hitting serves as big as 146 MPH, the 25 year-old from Omaha, Nebraska was pumped up against his machine-like opponent. Going shot for shot with Federer, Roddick had that same look you’ve seen on his coach Jimmy Connors who was dressed up nicely for the occasion.
How often do you get a quarterfinal of this magnitude? They were following a great women’s quarter between Venus Williams and Jelena Jankovic which the 27 year-old American pulled out in a third set tiebreak to advance to a semifinal showdown against Justine Henin.

Just how high quality was the opening set between Feds and the A-Rod of tennis? Roddick had two more winners than Federer (22-20) but still lost the first set breaker after neither player could get crack each other’s serve.
Roddick had eight errors to Federer’s four. Roger did just enough though to claim the set 7-6 (5) in 45 entertaining minutes. He finished it with what else but an ace down the tee as Roddick could only shake his head in disbelief.
Unfortunately for the emotional former 2003 Open winner, it was just getting started. He played even better in a similar second set which saw him ratchet up his serve even more making it impossible for the best player on the planet to get even a break chance.
Roddick started to get some looks at Federer with a couple of 15-30’s and even his only break point of the match which would’ve meant the set on his racket. But he misfired a return just long and Federer snuck out of it with some clutch shotmaking including one of his 48 winners on a backhand crosscourt to setup game point.
The set would also eventually wind up in a tiebreak and similar to the first one, Federer took control early with a minibreak. But Roddick dug deep to get it back even with a huge forehand which produced a short Federer reply into the net pumping him up along with the crowd.
Problem was Federer easily won a big point on his serve thanks to a ridiculous backhand return off a Roddick 140 MPH first serve which went smack on the baseline into the big server drawing an error for another minibreak advantage.

It was all Federer needed this time to close out the set as he held his serve twice more including a service winner after a big serve down the tee to claim a commanding two set edge with a pump of the fist and a “Yeah.”
For two sets, Roddick was as close as it got to the best player. The problem was Federer was just a little better on this big points in the breakers. When he needed to win a point most, even as he admitted afterwards to USA’s courtside reporter Michael Barkan that he was “just hanging in there” on some of those points during the first two sets.
Why? Because even though he had dominated the head-to-head against his opponent, Roddick can hit the ball as big as anyone and was playing as aggressively as he did a few years ago at Wimbledon and last year’s Open. He was winning some of those long baseline rallies. His backhand wasn’t falling apart as maybe a Russo might’ve expected. It held up quite well.
The problem for Roddick was that he just couldn’t find a way to get that second set. Had he done so, they’d probably still be on the court in a fourth or maybe even heading to a final set in a raucous atmosphere.
Truth be told, the first two sets were every bit as dynamic as that epic all-American quarter six years ago between Agassi and Pete Sampras which had no service breaks and four tiebreakers before Pistol Pete prevailed. Even Agassi admitted as such during the telecast.
But I also felt he made a great point. Roddick had played two brilliant sets and had nothing to show for it. And Agassi a few times remarked how, “[Federer] just squeezes you.”

That’s how specially gifted the 26 year-old from Switzerland is.
He broke down Roddick finally and was able to break him twice including in the eighth game of the third set to finally claim victory, winning a long point on a Roddick shot into the net.

Federer converted two of his four break chances all in the third set.
Roddick never gave up as evidenced by that final point. He just was in against the best. It’s unfortunate that he couldn’t hold steady and get at least to another tiebreak and see what happens.
But that’s how unreal Federer is. His court movement is what separates him from the pack. While Roddick was giving all out every swing grunting and chasing balls down, Federer was hardly breaking a sweat despite coming up with some awfully difficult shots to stay in rallies before pulling them out.

If you didn’t see the match and you’re down on Roddick, here are some final stats which suggest that you shouldn’t be:
Aces: Federer- 15
Roddick- 14
Winners: Federer- 48
Roddick- 42
Errors: Federer- 18
Roddick- 24
Those numbers are pretty close and tell you that the quality of the match was pretty good.
So what’s the difference? Federer is just better when he needs to be. He converted 64 percent at the net (14-for-22) while Roddick after some early success was 50 percent (18-for-36) for the match.
Each won a high percentage on their first serve with Federer coming in at 81 pct while Roddick countered with 77 pct. However, Roger still won 72 percent (28-of-39) on his second serve while Andy (15-of-30) dropped to 50 percent.
That’s despite the fact Andy was more aggressive in his return game looking to run around the backhand and rip forehands. One which had success with an Agassi-esque inside out crosscourt winner on a second serve to get to Deuce.
Roger is still the better returner. The fact Roddick had one less ace was progress because in other matches, he couldn’t even reach double digits despite possessing the biggest serve on the tour.
That it took Federer two sets to adjust and read his serve tells you how high a level Roddick was serving. He can take some positives out of this despite the end result.
Meanwhile, Roger marches on to another Super Saturday semifinal where he’ll next face fourth seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko, who disposed of German Tommy Haas in straight sets.
And somewhere, American James Blake saw that result and probably put down his head knowing he could’ve given Davydenko a better match. Especially considering he was a perfect 5-0 against him for his career and would’ve been aiming for his first slam semifinal which would’ve meant oh so much.
The Agassi-like Davydenko is a product of hard work and is extremely quick. Despite having never beaten Federer in nine tries, he has pushed him before due to his hustle and rock solid ground game. He at least should be rested having not dropped a set the entire tournament.
But like Roddick faced tonight, it will be a tall order Saturday. Best of luck to the Russian who never seems to get any respect.
The other semi will be known later today when Carlos Moya takes on Novak Djokovic in one quarter while David Ferrer battles Juan Ignacio Chela in the other.
Considering that our pick Rafael Nadal was ousted by Ferrer in an ultracompetitive four setter the other night, we’ll take the speedy Spaniard who is a better hard courter than clay court to take out Chela and meet up against the rising Serb Djokovic in the other semifinal.
See ya all later! ![]()






