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Young gun Big-serving Roddick leads next wave of Americans
Updated: Wednesday May 02, 2001 8:15 PM
By Marc Lancaster, CNNSI.com Midway through a match at last week's ATP event in Atlanta, a ball boy draped a towel over the large computer display on the court that shows how fast the previous serve was traveling. At the end of the next point, a man in the crowd at the other end of the court bellowed "Move the towel!" and the young man, quickly realizing his error, sheepishly did so. When Andy Roddick is playing, people want to see those numbers. The monster serve is the first thing people notice about the 18-year-old from Boca Raton, Fla., and for good reason. Roddick is one of only five players ever clocked at 140 mph or higher in an ATP match, and he routinely blasts serves down the middle at 130 mph-plus. But if raw power was Roddick's only weapon, he wouldn't have advanced as far as he has at such a young age -- and his future wouldn't be so promising. Roddick took the latest major step in a pro career that is quickly gaining momentum last week, breezing through the draw in Atlanta to win his first career ATP singles title in only his 10th event on the Tour. The victory boosted Roddick from 89th to 69th in the ATP rankings, bringing him closer to the sport's elite -- several of whom he has already beaten this year. Since his international coming-out party at the Ericsson Open in Miami, considered by many the unofficial fifth Grand Slam, Roddick has been rising faster than ever. Of course, back-to-back straight-set wins over former world No. 1s Marcelo Rios and Pete Sampras, which Roddick accomplished at the Ericsson, will do that for you. Roddick is quickly becoming a marquee draw for star-starved American tennis fans at domestic tournaments, where he has been introduced by a public address announcer as "the reaaaaaaal A-Rod." His face adorns the cover of the latest Tennis Week magazine, above the headline "Finally more hope than hype." America, meet your legend in the making. Just don't call him that. "I'm not dwelling on it," Roddick said last week. "[The Ericsson] was a great tournament for me, but I'm focused on who I play next, I'm not worried about living up to this, that and the other. I just want to go out and play well in my next match." It was a ritual repeated after all of Roddick's matches in Atlanta. Every time he won, his statements were the same. He wasn't excited that a first-round loss by Andre Agassi could help his chances to win his first ATP singles title. He was concerned only about his next opponent. He sounded more like a player grinding out one tough three-setter after another than the guy who was smoking the rest of the field.
Perhaps that's because Roddick still sees himself as a young guy with plenty of work to do. The one person who knows him best, older brother John, cites Andy's drive as an indicator of how good he can become in time. "I think it's like anything else -- when you have some success, you really start focusing in on it," said John, a three-time All-American at the University of Georgia who is now an assistant coach there. "I've seen it develop a lot over the last year myself; when he comes to visit me, he's a completely different guy. He'll say, 'We can't go do dinner yet, I've got to go run and do my sit-ups.' I almost fell over. So he's come full-circle with that, he's very disciplined -- self-disciplined -- and that could have been the one thing to hold him back, but now I think it's the one thing that's going to really help him out." In the long run, that uncanny ability to focus on the task at hand may prove to be more important to Roddick's success than his serve or any other shot in his repertoire. The kid everyone is calling the future of American tennis simply refuses to worry about anything but his own game. "Andy's been peppered with that question more than anybody else, and he handles it incredibly well," said American pro Paul Goldstein, five years Roddick's senior. "I've had a chance to play doubles with him, and the guy just has supreme confidence in himself. It's not arrogance, just confidence in himself, he believes in himself, and has the mentality that he's going to do well. The questions that he's gotten about the next generation and being the next Agassi don't seem to faze him. I have a lot of respect for that, and I have a lot of respect for the way he's going out and competing." Not to mention winning, which Roddick did in frighteningly efficient fashion last week in Atlanta. After going to three sets in his opening match against Raemon Sluiter, Roddick embarked on a tear most players can only dream about. Beginning with his second round match against one of his heroes, Todd Martin, Roddick was nearly untouchable. At one point in the first set of his 7-5, 6-2 victory over Martin, Roddick won 16 consecutive points -- four complete games -- on his serve. Roddick closed out the tournament by winning an astonishing 42 service games in a row, leaving his opponents, including some veteran clay-court specialists, shaking their heads. "He served the ball like I've never seen on a clay court," said Fernando Meligeni after a 6-4, 6-4 quarterfinal defeat. "His first serve is just a bomb, and he hit aces on his second serve that I've never seen, aces with so much spin that it just keeps wide," said Xavier Malisse, who fell 6-2, 6-4 to Roddick in the final. Those wicked second serves are a key part of Roddick's arsenal. As if it isn't tough enough for his opponents that he consistently keeps his 135-mph lasers on the court, Roddick can dial it down to a second serve that kicks high and wide at around 100 mph, making it just as difficult to return as many players' first serves. Add in a rapidly improving return, which Roddick has honed while playing doubles regularly this year, a fluid touch around the net and a world-class forehand, and there aren't many weaknesses in his game. "His forehand is huge," said John Roddick. "That's one thing that baffles me, that nobody talks about his forehand. If he was out there winning matches with no serve and just that forehand, everyone would be talking about his forehand, because he can just freeze guys, they don't even move. That's why I think he can be one of the better players in the game, because he doesn't have just one, he has two really big weapons." He also has a bit of flair. During his match against Meligeni, a handful of soccer jersey-clad Brazilian fans in the crowd chanted after nearly every point, so Roddick finally decided to take matters into his own hands. After winning a long, classic clay-court rally, Roddick turned to the crowd and pumped both fists, urging them to make more noise. From then on, they were in his corner -- not quite as raucous as a U.S. Open crowd, but not bad for a midweek evening at an Atlanta country club. Following the match, Roddick stayed on court to take part in a promotion. Three lucky fans had three attempts to return one of his serves to win prizes. After mischievously bombing one down the middle on the first contestant, Roddick eased off and all three -- including a pair of women who removed their heels and played barefoot on the clay -- managed to hit a ball back over the net. As one of the balls bounced leisurely toward him, Roddick doffed his ever-present backward baseball cap and caught the ball in it. Stoic Pete Sampras he is not, but that mental toughness remains. Less than an hour after winning his first career title, with his parents and brother in attendance, Roddick was sedate as he answered questions about his remarkable week. Would the excitement of winning in Atlanta affect him as he headed to Houston for the U.S Men's Clay Court Championships? "No, my job is still the same," he said evenly. "I'll enjoy it tonight, but I still have a job to do next week." And many more ahead.
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