On a day when both the ATP and WTA rankings contained no Americans in the top 10 for the first time in history, it was Andy Roddick’s lot Monday to go out on the Campo Centrale at the Italian Masters Series and get beaten, on his least favorite surface, 6-3, 6-3 by Gilles Simon of France.
At least Mardy Fish, at No. 11, is the top-ranked player from the US, kept the flag flying for the States as he recovered from a set down to come through impressively on Campo Pietrangeli — the old center court surrounded by giant marble statues — against Santiago Giraldo 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.
Fish had beaten Giraldo when the US won its Davis Cup tie in Colombia in February, and some excellent net play that earned Fish 15 points out of 18 on the volley, helped him to a repeat success.
Inevitably, Roddick has to answer questions about America’s tennis decline in press conferences. Having answered them time and time again all around the world, his answer Monday was justifiably testy.
“I think we are kind of victims of our success in these past years," said Roddick, now ranked No. 12. "If you stack us up against other countries, then we are still coming out ahead. The only part that confuses me is how I am answering questions as if this was my responsibility. I feel I have handled my part for more than a decade.
"I am sure I can give you names of people who have created American tennis players, and they might have better answers and numbers than I have. I have been doing my job a long time.”
Having been ranked, right up to this year, in the world’s top 10 for 10 straight years, Roddick is perfectly within his rights to point that out. His consistency at the top level gets far too little recognition.
He has been playing in an era that has coincided with the emergence of two of the greatest players who ever lived, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, and he came within a whisker of beating Federer in a Wimbledon final. Roddick has carried the weight of men’s American tennis on his shoulders with pride and commitment, particularly in Davis Cup, for a very long time, and critics should ease the weight on his back by getting off it.
The fact that he was no match for Simon on a sunny, gusty day in Rome came as no surprise.
Asked what makes the Frenchman so difficult on clay, Roddick replied: "Well, he moves really well, which you don’t want to see when you are short of matches like I was today. We soon got into rallies, and it was a battle — striking the ball on the move. I was coming second sometimes.”
In fact, Roddick did not appear to be hitting the ball that badly. He defended well on his sliced backhand, but Simon, whose spindly legs allow him to flit about the court with fluency and ease, was usually able to force the error or find the pass whenever Roddick came charging in.
Roddick, to his credit, never tries to skip this part of the season, which is historically difficult for those Americans who have trouble finding their feet on clay. He missed this event last year through illness but will now go on to the ATP event in Nice before the French Open.
“I feel like it’s good for me,” he replied to questions concerning his somewhat masochistic desire to return to Rome after reaching just two semifinals and one quarterfinal in eight appearances. “Even if I struggle out there, I feel that my footwork gets much better when I finally get to the grass.
"No one can just play the surfaces that they like. You just have to take your lumps even if you are not comfortable.”
Roddick was effusive about Novak Djokovic’s startlingly decisive straight-set victory over Nadal in Madrid on Sunday.
“You can use any superlative you like about Novak right now, and they would be true,” he said. “His head is in a perfect place, and, obviously, he has tremendous confidence.”
On Wednesday, Djokovic will play Lukasz Kubot of Poland who defeated Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas in three sets. Djokovic then should meet Robin Soderling in the quarterfinals.
In his first match in Rome, Nadal might find himself facing the surprise package of Madrid, Thomaz Bellucci, who led Djokovic by a set and break in the semifinal. Bellucci needs to get past Italy’s Paolo Lorenzi first, and that could be a struggle if the groin muscle he pulled against Djokovic is still troubling him. If there are no upsets, Nadal should play Federer in the semifinals for the second successive week.
