Re: Taking Back New York (Andy's US Open Thread!!!!!!!!)
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Rejuvenated Roddick, Connors by His Side, Says Confidence is Back
By Richard Vach, Tennis-X.com Senior Writer
Coming off a win at the Masters Series-Cincinnati, his first tournament title in 12 months, and in the midst of a career resurgence with the help of part-time coach Jimmy Connors, Andy Roddick says his confidence is back -- even if you can't necessarily call it a good year.
"It's been seven months of not playing my best stuff," said Roddick Saturday of his slide out of the Top 10 that actually started 12 months ago with his shock opening-round loss at the 2005 US Open. "I said last week in Cincy, I'm not really looking at it as a full year right now. It's like, okay, after Wimbledon I'm kind of looking at it as post-Wimbledon, you know. That part of the year is gone. I can't really do much about it at this point."
Under his older brother John, Roddick had been mired in a malaise of unaggressive play and uncertain court strategy. That all changed with the addition of Connors to Team Roddick, a move that not only has the former No. 1 playing big-bang forehand tennis again, but with more "fire" and energy throughout his matches
"I feel like I'm doing the right thing," says Roddick of his current approach. "I'm playing well. I'm hitting the ball well. I'm excited to get up and play every day, and that's a feeling that's been missing a little bit. I'm ready to go here."
Roddick's frustration showed in 2006 with an increased tendency toward giving chair umpires a tongue-lashing and losing his cool in big-match situations rather than bearing down and getting back into matches. He wasn't hitting out on groundstrokes or serves, and opponents were zeroing in on his tentative backhand.
"I was frustrated with the way I was playing," Roddick said. "There's a big difference between going to the courts hoping you're going to hit the ball well, and knowing you're going to hit the ball well. In the last month or so I've gone to the courts knowing that I'm going to play well, it's just a matter of if my opponent's going to be playing better. That's a lot better feeling, a lot easier feeling to wake up with than kind of uncertainty."
From a mental and even physical standpoint, Roddick's resurgence has a lot to do with the guidance, or perhaps the mere presence, of the no-nonsense Connors.
"Obviously, I don't think Jimmy's role plays a small part in it," Roddick said. "That's kind of been reinvigorating. His passion for the game is contagious. You know, that's exciting. Just kind of like a fresh start, you know? I'm definitely hungry to turn it around."
Not unlike Brad Gilbert's new partnership with Andy Murray, Roddick has had to conform to Connors' rules and work mentality, with obvious results.
"I know what I'm not allowed to get away with it," Roddick said of working with Connors. "I have to go out there and I have to bust it every day. That's not (just) good -- that's expected in his eyes. Just his knowledge for the game. You know, it's just clicked. I'm excited about it."
Also not lost on Roddick is the "legend factor" of working with Connors.
"He'll hit for 20 minutes after each practice, and every day after I find myself just sitting there and watching," Roddick said. "I'm a huge fan. I try not to be too much of a dork around him."
Currently hanging on in the Top 10 at No. 10, Roddick says he has no qualms about being surpassed in the rankings by good friend James Blake. The only surprise has been his slide.
"If you would have told me James (would be) five in the world at the beginning of the year, it wouldn't have surprised me," Roddick said. "But if you would have told me I was, you know, whatever I am now, I don't even know, then I would have been a little disappointed in that."
Rebounding from a first-round loss last year at the US Open, Roddick has nowhere to go but up in terms of ranking points, and with Connors at his side, looks to avoid the brain cramp that began his gradual falling down the ranks.
"I just laid an egg, to be honest," said Roddick on being bounced by Luxembourg's Gilles Muller last year at Flushing Meadows. "I played a bad match. I'd been playing well. I won the US Open Series coming in, so preparation I don't think was an issue. It was a bad match. I actually played well afterwards again in Davis Cup and won a tournament, you know, so it was just a bad time for a really bad match."
On Tuesday or Wednesday Roddick will open his campaign against unheralded Frenchman Florent Serra. One year wiser, Roddick will attempt to prove his MS-Cincy title this summer was no fluke, and erase the memory of 2005, Gilles Muller, and too much time on his hands after an early exit.
"I think you do draw from that experience," said Roddick of last year's defeat. "I definitely want to do everything in my power to avoid that again."