a-rod: slam win need for great year

Roddick tries to make Ashe Stadium his house once again
Federer looms but Andy can't beat him lately

By Matthew Cronin,tennisreporters.net

Fred Mullane/Camerawork USA

"I can't imagine my name and US champion together," Andy Roddick said after taking his first Slam title at the '03 US Open.

FROM THE US OPEN – The US Open is really all that's left for defending champion Andy Roddick this year. He's coming in ranked No. 2 without a big title run since he won Miami in March and although he's been in the mix at nearly every tournament he's played, he's frequently come up short.

Ask the 21-year-old whether á la Sampras he needs to win a Slam to have a good year and he says no, it's a great year when he wins a Slam. So now he says he's having a good year. But when you're America's top player coming into your home country Grand Slam, multiple winners like Sampras (five titles) Jimmy Connors (five) and John McEnroe (four) are the bar.

"If I don't win here, all isn't lost," Roddick said. "I still have played pretty well this year. But it would be a little disappointing."

How disappointing is hard to say because Roddick's feelings can't be determined until and if he loses, and who he loses to. But unless it's against Agassi in the final, you would have to think he'd be devastated. Losing to Agassi in what will likely be the Las Vegan's last appearance at the Open would hurt, but Roddick admires him so much that it would probably take the sting off. But another loss to rivals Lleyton Hewitt in the semifinals or top-ranked Roger Federer in the final would really sting. Given his tremendous weapons, he should be able too push past Hewitt at this point. And if he can't beat Federer in New York, he may never be able to beat the cool-handed Swiss anywhere.

Yet Roddick said he's feeling more comfortable with his game now than he was last year coming in, when he went undefeated during the US hardcourt season. It's obvious he's a better all around player than he was back then, but he's certainly not closing matches like he did last summer. In his past three tournaments on hard courts, he has fallen to Federer, Agassi and Fernando Gonzalez at the Olympics. His confidence is always there at closing time.

Roddick wasn't pleased when that was pointed out on Sunday, accusing a reporter of "nitpicking."

"I thought I played really well against Roger and Andre hit the ball as clean as he ever has against me," he said. "I'm not too worried. I've won my fair share of tournaments. I proven myself in the past at big tournaments."

THE PRESSURE IS OFF
In a way, Roddick is in better mental shape this year when he was last year because the world isn't pointing to him as the obvious choice to win the Open. He's already done so and his mental game isn't a completely open question, but it is one that is an evolving query. While he has shown himself capable of winning more than one Slam, with Federer around and playing well, he could be stuck as an obvious No. 2 player for a long time to come.

He and the Swiss' rivalry does not reach Bjorn Borg-McEnroe, Connors-McEnroe, Ivan Lendl against those two brash Americans or Sampras-Agassi. It will only be true rivalry when Roddick can vastly improve his 1-7 record against Federer and beat him at a Grand Slam.

"With the 7-1 record against him, the rivalry has not quite started yet," Federer said. "The one time he beat was like 7-6 in the third. But I still feel like we've had great matches. Time will tell if it's really going to start."

Siggi Bucher

Roger Federer has two of three '04 Slam trophies.

For Roddick to get the party started, he'll have to win six matches to even get to Federer at the Open. Federer, by the way, is no sure bet to reach the final given his poor record in New York. Roddick is sure to have some rough matches en route to the final, possibly against Spanish phenom Rafael Nadal in the second round, maybe against rough Argentine Guillermo Cañas in the third round, raging Russian Marat Safin in the fourth round and possibly against the hobbled man he crunched in the final last year, Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero, in the quarters. Then it should be scrappy Hewitt in the semis and possibly Federer or Agassi in the final.

That will take a very high level of tennis from the now level-headed young American.

"I have it in the back of my head that I've done it before," Roddick said. "Last year was set up for catastrophe with me playing so well coming in. The if something would have happened, it would have been chaos. But I'm more relaxed his year and a little more confident."

If Roddick wins the title and grabs his second Slam, he immediately jump up until another class of players. Most players who have won at least two Slams in singles are considered Hall of Famers. The three other favorites in this tournament have: Federer, Hewitt and Agassi. Now it's time for Roddick to rock Ashe Stadium once again and declare it a place all his own.

"It's a place I'm comfortable," Roddick said. "I don't know if it's 'my house,' but it's maybe a hotel room I've stayed in before."