FLUSHING MEADOWS – Andy Roddick knows he has nothing to lose now and his press conferences reflect it.
He was never kind to the press in the past, but now, well…he’s brutal.
“I don’t really rate press conferences,” he said. “It’s not like I leave the room and start fist pumping down the hallway if I had a good one. It’s not something I really think about really.
“But make up whatever and I’m good with whatever. No problem. I have no consequences now.”
And today Aussie Bernard Tomic learned that the hard way, with Roddick coming through with a 6-3 6-4 6-0 win in the second round.
“I had no idea what was going to happen out there honestly, even before the match,” he said. “You know, I’ve played a lot of matches. That was a different kind of nerves than I’ve had before.
“That was surprising for me.”
If these nerves continue, well then Roddick will go pretty far. E is enjoying himself out there, as well as the Arthur Ashe crowd, who were 100% in his corner.
It made for some nice Tennis.
But if Roddick does pull this through, he will have to face Roger Federer some time. And there may be a battle of power vs. artistry in that match.
“I think as an athlete, for me, you know, a lot of times it was as clear to me as it is to you guys when you watch sometimes,” he said. “You know, I knew staying back and playing cute shots and stuff against Roger probably wasn’t going to work.
“You try different things knowing that you have to execute perfectly, so sometimes you look stupid if you miss a couple. We can all see it, but the hard part is executing, otherwise everyone would do it.
“You know, obviously my record against Roger’s not good, but I did take a certain amount of pride in hearing about how good this guy is and how good that guy is, this guy looks so nice and he’s got the sweetest one‑handed shot or two‑handed shot, and I would look and I pretty much sucked at everything.”
But not tonight and it will be one hell of a ride over the next week as Roddick takes his farewell tour at Arthur Ashe.
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