It can't be said that Andy Roddick is flying under the radar at the Australian Open anymore, not with his late-match explosion at the umpire during the final stages of his 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Brazil's Thomaz Bellucci.
But he's few analysts' pick to go all the way here, even though most of the guys in the locker room, including Novak Djokovic, who said as much yesterday, would put him as one of the top seven contenders.
That's because he essentially is at a prove-it stage in his career, where at the age of 27 he has to show that he can do more than produce four-plus hours of wondrous tennis and then go down to No. 1 Roger Federer 16-14 in the fifth set of the Wimbledon final.
He has to show, once again, that he's capable of stringing together seven excellent matches to win his second Grand Slam, his first coming a long time ago now at the 2003 US Open. But while he's become somewhat unpredictable at the majors over the past few years, two things are clear: He has improved a great deal and he always competes like hell.
Fortunately, he's not in Federer's side of the draw, the same Swiss whom he is 2-19 against, has never beaten at a major and who routed him twice in Melbourne, in the 2007 and 2009 semifinals.
Roddick might have to face 2007 finalist Fernando Gonzalez in the fourth round, whom he has had success against, and maybe U.S. Open champion Juan Del Potro, who scored a spectacular 6-4, 6-7, 5-7, 6-3 10-8 marathon victory over Roddick's buddy, James Blake, in the quarters
Del Potro banged past Roddick a couple of times last summer, but his right wrist is troubling him and he may be further beat up by next week. Should Roddick get to the final four for the fifth time in Australia, he could meet either defending champion Rafael Nadal or Britain's Andy Murray, who is overdue to win his first major.
Troublesome foes indeed, but Roddick owns wins over both of them and cannot be counted out.
The question is, now that's he's 27 and happily married to model Brooklyn Decker, does he feel a sense of immediacy? Sort of, but not really.
"I've always felt a sense of immediacy," Roddick told FOXSports.com. “I never been one to say 'maybe a few years from now. I've always been pretty accountable for each tournament. I'm certainly aware that instead of looking at years and years I'm probably looking at a three- to four-year window, at least that's what I have in my head now. But that won't bother me. I've never been one not to do everything I can to prepare.”
After a mediocre 2009 that saw him fall to No. 42 in the rankings, the 30-year-old Blake did everything he could to prepare for the new season, hiring a new coach, Kelly Jones, and trying to smooth out the many rough edges of his game.
The guy has never been a five-set wonder, entering his match with Del Potro with a 4-12 record, but he fought as hard as he ever has and pushed back the giant kid time and time again. He fought off multiple break points late with heroic shots, breaking Del Potro back when the Argentine served for the match, going toe-to-toe with game's most powerful young player in searing rallies. But in the end, he couldn't pull off the victory, as Del Potro had a little too much for him from inside the baseline and just a bit more self-belief.
Just like against Andre Agassi in the 2005 U.S. Open quarterfinals, Blake was at the losing end of another classic and it's conceivable that he'll never reach a Grand Slam semifinal.
“It's tough to rank the (five-set losses) but right now it hurts pretty bad,” Blake said. “I had plenty of messages from people back home who were up until 5 a.m. watching me and I don't even want to respond to many. I just feel bad that they were up watching and are probably going to sleep a little disappointed. Luckily for me they will all be my friends tomorrow, which will help me get through after I stop beating myself up for a few hours or few days.”
The spunky Roddick will more than likely be admonished in the Australian press due to his behavior in the Bellucci match, when he held a match point, lost a Hawk-Eye challenge and was told he couldn't replay the point because the ball in question was out of his reach. Roddick disagreed and after he won he dropped a few F-bombs at chair umpire Fergus Murphy for all the world to hear. Roddick later conceded the umpire may have been correct, but said he was just standing his ground in challenging a ruling and not simply being petulant.
“I don't do it for entertainment,” he said . “I do it because I strongly believe what I feel. That's not just on the court. I think if I believe in something strongly enough, I'm pretty outspoken about it. I don't think that has to do with me enjoying it. That probably goes back to, childhood issues, which would be a longer conversation.”
Speaking of athletes with opinions, Roddick has been accompanied at this Aussie Open by the high profile Buffalo Bills wide receiver Terrell Owens, whom he met at some sports awards shows. “T.O.” has been all over the Melbourne grounds, watching every match in site and enthusiastically tweeting fuzzy pictures of obscure players he's gazed at.
“He gets a bit of bad rap,” Roddick said. “I like to judge people on what they do for you and he's super nice. He didn't have a planned trip and then he was watching (me) in the final of Brisbane and couldn't sleep and had never been to Australia and he decided to come. He went on a solo vacation, went to Sydney for few days, to the zoo and he called and asked if he came to Melbourne if I could hook him up. And he's been an animal. He texting me yesterday saying he's watching guys like Lukas Lacko against Leonardo Mayer and then David Guez against Julien Benneteau and he's loving it. He's the uber tennis fan.”
Owens would love to see Roddick go all the way at Australia's tennis Super Bowl, but Roddick is going to have to play spectacular tennis to do so. Fellow pro Vince Spadea likes how Roddick is playing, but isn't convinced he can get past Nadal or Murray.
“He's fit, relaxed and confident, but he's not going to get as many free points on cheap volleys like he does on grass, because the surface is playing slow,” Spadea said. “He's going to have to beat guys like Nadal and Murray fair and square from the backcourt.”
You can say all the positives you want about Roddick and all would be true: he's a never say-die competitor, he owns one of the biggest serves in the game, he has a heavy forehand, and has really improved his court sense, backhand and volleys. But even he knows that he has to put it all together before he can be called a truly elite player again.
“Being a serious contender and getting to the quarters, I feel like I should be that most of the time,” he said. “But getting there is a little but more of process than it looks on paper.”
