Re: The "Thanks for surprising us twice - in one week!!!!!" Spring HC Thread
Mandy
(damn it Andy, i was close
)
Andy Roddick returning to form
Larry Bohannan • The Desert Sun • March 14, 2009
INDIAN WELLS — As the top-ranked American in the ATP Tour's computer rankings, Andy Roddick is all but guaranteed to be one of the fan favorites in any American tournament.
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But in 2008, fans at Indian Wells didn't get much of a chance to cheer for Roddick as he lost his opening match of the event to Tommy Haas. Roddick is convinced a similar exit won't happen this year.
“It's been real good so far,” Roddick said of a 2009 season that has included a tournament title in Memphis and a run to the semifinals of the Australian Open. “Even in some of the matches I've lost, I feel like I've played pretty well.”
Roddick's run at his first Indian Wells singles title will begin with a second-round match Sunday against Daniel Koellerer.
That will be Roddick's first ATP singles match in a month, since he won the Memphis tournament over Radek Stefanek. But Roddick insists there will be no rust in his game, in part because of a pair of matches in the U.S. Davis Cup victory over Switzerland earlier this month.
“I've actually played more matches to start this year than I have for a while,” said Roddick, who is 19-3 on tour this year. “The schedule has actually played out nicely. Playing at Davis Cup time with that kind of atmosphere, you kind of are forced to get going pretty quick. So I definitely don't feel like I'm short on matches.”
In four starts, he's won the Memphis tournament, reached the final in Doha and reached the semifinals in Sydney and the Australian Open, where he lost to Roger Federer. He now has at least one title in nine consecutive seasons. But while the loss to Federer was another ending short of a Grand Slam title, Roddick said his game is strong.
“A lot of matches that have been on these kinds of stages (Indian Wells) I've played well. And I have toughed some matches out,” he said. “I'm winning like a quarter of my return games so far this year, which is good for me. You know, kind of winning points different ways. I'd like to just kind of continue on this path.”
Coming back to Indian Wells is more than a return to a tournament where Roddick has reached the semifinals in 2005 and 2007. It's also a chance for Roddick to bounce around the Coachella Valley with his coach and former desert resident Larry Stefanki. That makes for a relaxing week for Roddick because his coach is so relaxed, he said. Stefanki even won the ATP desert tournament well before it moved to the Tennis Garden.
“I don't know if it's so much that he won here (but) that he actually lived here for 18 years,” Roddick said of Stefanki. “So I think I hear a lot more stories about what his sons did here and at this place and that place when they were 4 and 5 years old than about his win.”
With the first round of the Davis Cup behind him, Roddick has more than just Indian Wells on his mind these days. He'll be getting married later this summer during the tour's clay court season.
“It's a little bit poetic,” Roddick said, taking a jab at his own less-than-stellar clay court record. “No, I'm joking. That's purely coincidental, I'm sure.”
http://www.mydesert.com/article/20090314/EVENTS10/903140325/-1/NEWSFRONT