Contribute Your Insight and see full comments from others - All you need is to be Registered and Logged in - then simply click on the relevant match, player or tournament and start sharing Your Insight!
Roddick gets the second wildcard into Atlanta, big boost for the tourny and he'll also play dubs with his good pal Mardy Fish.
Tourny director Bill Oakes; "In speaking with Andy, he expressed how happy he is to return to the site of his first victory, a city that is truly devoted to playing and watching tennis."
"I'm not worried about not being able to know how to play on a grass court. I know how to do that. A match at Queen's isn't going to ruin what I've done on this surface for the last eight years and how I've started off this year."
"I'm not panicking. I'm not real worried about it. I wish I could play some more matches, but it will be fine."
He says the worst part is missing matches andd having to practise instead:
"That's probably the part about this that bothers me the most."
"I'm not super concerned about the way I'm hitting the ball and I'm not stressing out about any one part of my game. If I'm being frank, I had a lot of time practicing before the French Open, played some matches, had a lot of time practicing here. Now I have a lot of time practicing before Wimbledon."
"It's basically getting over my own impatience as opposed to worrying about anything about my game. If I would have gotten two more matches, I would have zero complaints."
"If this match would have happened in two days, and the guy would have played really, really well, and I felt like I would have played not badly, then there wouldn't be a whole lot of problems."
"I'd be lying if I said I'm looking forward to practicing the next two days as opposed to playing here. That part is gonna suck."
"I'm just gonna have to show off my awesome ability to be a patient person."
AAP
Roddick ahead of playing on grass again at the AEGON championship:
“There’s not as much thought that goes into my movement on grass,” said Roddick, who is looking to win the AEGON Championships for a record 5th time.
“I feel like my game automatically translates well to that surface. My chip stays down, my backhand goes through the court a little bit, obviously my serve gets a little bit better.
"My returns don't get any worse on grass, and some people's do. They take big swings and have to step back to hit it. That's a real problem. But I don't really do that too much, so, it's just maybe a more comfortable feeling. With that comes a sense of confidence.”
ROME (AP)—Seventh-ranked Andy Roddick has withdrawn from the Rome Masters citing personal reasons.
The American recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of his marriage to model Brooklyn Decker, who was on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue in February.
Roddick also skipped Rome last year when he took a break after the wedding, meaning he doesn’t have any ranking points to defend in the clay-court tournament, which begins Sunday.
While this tournament is mandatory for top-ranked players, Roddick will not be fined because he is allowed one free exemption per year as a veteran with over 600 matches played on tour.
The ATP said Roddick was expected to be back for the Madrid Masters on May 9.
Roddick commenting a bit on his superb play last month and his 2010 Wimbledon prospects
Courtesy AP
Updated Apr 7, 2010 10:39 PM ET
RODDICK A MAN ON A MISSION
It was impossible not to feel for Andy Roddick as he stood on Centre Court last July trying to come to terms with the most heartbreaking of his three Wimbledon final defeats.
Few gave the likeable American much chance as he lined up against Roger Federer, who was looking to win his sixth Wimbledon title and the one that would give him a record 15th grand slam crown.
The day eventually belonged to the Swiss maestro, as it had when they met on the final Sunday in 2004 and 2005, but not before he had battled for more than four hours to win 16-14 in the fifth set.
Now, after a superb start to 2010, what price a Roddick victory on July 4?
The big-serving Nebraskan looked set to be a multiple grand slam winner when he burst on to the scene at the start of the decade.
He took up the mantle from Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi as the next big thing in American tennis and duly won the US Open in 2003 at the age of 21.
But Roddick's reign at the top was to prove short-lived as first Federer then Rafael Nadal changed the tennis landscape.
A generation of all-court players emerged and Roddick, with his heavy reliance on serve and forehand, began to look like yesterday's man.
His ranking headed towards the lower end of the top 10, injuries took their toll and a two-year coaching relationship with Jimmy Connors came to an end.
Then at the end of 2008 Roddick began working with renowned coach Larry Stefanki and the results were immediate.
Looking fitter than he had in years, the American beat defending champion Novak Djokovic to reach the semi-finals of the Australian Open and continued his progress up to that memorable day in London.
His semi-final victory over Andy Murray was a watershed moment. Roddick had struggled to deal with the variety in the Scot's game in previous meetings but suddenly he was attacking off both wings and displaying a touch at the net hitherto unseen.
It was perhaps not surprising it took the 27-year-old a long time to get over his Wimbledon disappointment, while injury then curtailed his season.
But there was no doubt about his revival and his results so far in 2010 have provided plenty of encouragement that this could finally be the year when he adds another grand slam title.
Victorious in his opening event of the season in Brisbane, Roddick also reached the final in San Jose and at the Indian Wells Masters before winning his first Masters Series tournament for four years in Miami last weekend.
In the semi-finals he beat Nadal for the first time in four meetings before a straight-sets win over Tomas Berdych in the final, which took his record for the season to 26 victories and only four defeats - better than any of his rivals.
``Obviously it's a big title for me,'' he said. ``I felt a little bit of pressure to win this one because I had a pretty good opportunity in Indian Wells and didn't come through there.
``But the last month has been real good for me. I've played well on the big moments, haven't had an off day mentally. I've been able to execute. So it's all good. It's all encouraging.''
Roddick has made no secret of his desire to win Wimbledon, saying this month: ``I promise you, I wish more than anything that I would have won that tournament but I'm still going to move on and keep going with the plan that we've set in place, because I feel like it is working.
``I'll always want to win that tournament and I view last year as something to build on.''
With Federer and Murray looking out of sorts since the Australian Open final, Nadal searching for his first title in nearly a year, Djokovic struggling for form and Juan Martin Del Potro battling a wrist injury, the stage could well be set for Roddick.
Navigation: Use the tabs above to view activity, highlights and stats or use the Player Comparison tool to get a detailed head-to-head analysis.
If you are looking for the latest ATP Tennis news on a player simply click on the news link as displayed above.
