Roddick's Path To An Historic Win

I'll admit this maybe a little wishful thinking but with the crowd behind him and playing like he did last night maybe Roddick has a chance to retire in a spectacular way with an historic win.

Roddicks route to the US Open crown.

Fognini. Easy Peasy

Del Potro. Roddick beat him the last time they played and Del Potro has a sore wrist.

Djokovic. Roddick has a winning H2H with him. Also Djokovic want's to be loved he would not enjoy being the bad guy.

Ferrer. Roddick beat him easily at last years US Open.

Federer. This might be a little tricky but the last time they played Roddick won.

Roddick does have a few things in his favour. He has won before and he will be a huge sentimental favorite with the crowd. For some players the emotion of playing a last tournament can be negative but judging by his play last night he has the perfect mentality to be able to use it in a positive way.

"This might be a little tricky"

Brilliant!

You must have got confused mate, today's SEPTEMBER the first, not April.

200-1 available on Betfair.

I am getting confused with Hawky here. I knew her as a big fan of the Fedal in nearly equal terms and now that Nadal is out, she suddenly moves on to become a keen Roddick hopeful

Jeremy_Kyle wrote:I am getting confused with Hawky here. I knew her as a big fan of the Fedal in nearly equal terms and now that Nadal is out, she suddenly moves on to become a keen Roddick hopeful

I am a HUGE fan of both Federer and Nadal. If they were both in the draw I would want to see them both in the final. But now with tennis going through a groundhog period I would like to see something exciting and also a great feelgood story. I was stuggling to think of any outcome that would provide this until Roddick announced his retirement. The 2009 Wimbledon final was one of the few occasions I found myself cheering against Federer. When Roddick lost he hadn't just lost one match he lost what was probably his last chance to get a second slam. It was his third final at Wimbledon and he was so close he was virtually touching that trophy. He was such an impressive loser too. I was lucky enough to be present at this final and I admit I found the whole final quite emotional.

I do understand that Roddick isn't exactly a favorite but looking at his draw its not outside the realms of possibility. Just imagine if Roddick won. It would be amazing!

I doubt Roddick will win the tournament. He won't get the amount of freebies he did against Tomic. Tomic couldn't even pass wind at the net let alone Roddick!

I am intrigued as to where you got lovesacks comment that was 'Djokovic wants to be loved'

Djokovic is not very good when the crowd is against him. He wants the crowd to love him. Roddick would have a huge advantage playing Djokovic at the US Open as Djokovic would be the bad guy. Did you see Djokovic v Hewitt at this years AO? If you did you would understand what I'm talking about. Unlike Federer or Nadal he does have problems playing the home favourite. I can understand the difficulty. In fact it's harder to understand how players don't find this difficult.

How does Djokovic have problems playing home favourites? He beat Hewitt at the AO, beat Tsonga at the FO. Kinda craps on your theory.

Has Nadal beaten Roddick at the US Open? He couldn't even beat Blake! I don't buy your theory at all. Federer has beaten Roddick in US Open Final. Beat Murray at Wimbledon in the final. Federer has duffed up Hewitt and Tomic at the Australian Open. Duffed up Monfils and Benneteau at the same French Open! Nadal has only beaten Murray at Wimbledon. So on that basis to put Nadal on par with Federer is a bit of a cheek to say the least.

Should beat Fognini I agree with, won't beat Delpo though. Needs a miracle upset from Leonardo..

legendkillarV

My theory is that Djokovic does not play well when the crowd is against him. Other players are not as unsettled. If you don't think this is the case we will just have to agree to disagree.

Roddick does have a few other players to worry about too.

This is a bit off topic but Nadal has beaten Federer a few times despite Federer being a big home favorite wherever he plays...

This is a bit off topic but Nadal has beaten Federer a few times despite Federer being a big home favorite wherever he plays...

I am afraid it doesn't work that way of course unless Roger claims dual nationality.

I don't think Djokovic struggles against home favourites at all. Have you not considered that home favourites summon that extra 10% and as a result actually play better. Jack Sock epitomises this.

legendkillarV2 wrote:How does Djokovic have problems playing home favourites? He beat Hewitt at the AO, beat Tsonga at the FO. Kinda craps on your theory.

Has Nadal beaten Roddick at the US Open? He couldn't even beat Blake! I don't buy your theory at all. Federer has beaten Roddick in US Open Final. Beat Murray at Wimbledon in the final. Federer has duffed up Hewitt and Tomic at the Australian Open. Duffed up Monfils and Benneteau at the same French Open! Nadal has only beaten Murray at Wimbledon. So on that basis to put Nadal on par with Federer is a bit of a cheek to say the least.

To be fair, Federer seems to get honarary home status wherever he plays; he was getting 40% of the crowd at Wimbledon gainst Murray, was cheered bigger than Don Young the other day, and generally never really faces a hostile crowd.

Regarding Rafa, we're talking about off-clay matches so you never know.

Roddick could lose to Fognini IMHO.

It Must Be Love wrote:Roddick could lose to Fognini IMHO.

but you wouldn't put money on it IMHO.

Roddick would need to make a super-human effort to do a Sampras a la 2002.

LK... Djokovic and Roddick have history at USO.

Well that was fun! One down four to go...

This is what Roddick said about his next opponent Del Potro

Q. Can you talk about your own personal matchup with Del Potro?

ANDY RODDICK: We've had really close matches. I was 0‑3 against him. I beat him the last time we played. I think of the 0‑3, two of them I had match points in. We played a bunch in 2009, in that summer. I think we played back‑to‑back weeks. You know, he's a tough matchup for anybody because he hits such a big ball. I'm going to have to serve well, kind of try to rush him a little bit. When he gets into a groove and has time, he'll put a hurt on the ball.

http://www.usopen.org/en_US/news/interviews/2012-09-02/201209021346625707972.html

So he won his last match (a few weeks ago) AND he had match points in another two matches. Just checked and both these matches took place in the summer leading up to Del Potro's 2009 win at the US Open when Del Potro was at his hottest!

Also Roddick has a crowd and is not afraid to use it

Q. Are you conscious of letting the crowd get in? Are you doing it more than you ever have before? Are you looser?

ANDY RODDICK: I feel fine, yeah. I mean, like I said the other day, I'm comfortable out there. I'd be an idiot not to use the crowd right now. It's a huge advantage. Each match is almost like it's another memory. I'm certainly going to use them.

I can't wait...

hawkeye is del Potro in on this match fixing idea?

If so maybe Andy has a chance.

On A-Rod's chances against del Po, what's JMDP's fitness like. Haven't seen any of the matches, but there has been talk of the Argentinian having a wrist problem. If he's not fully fit then I reckon Roddick has a chance.

DP sends the pusher into retirement. I'll celebrate the same way i'd celebrate when Ferrer is retiring.

Roddick can absolutely beat Del Potro. And Djokovic. And Ferrer. And Federer/Murray. But 3 or 4 of them? Not so likely.

He can beat them in bo3, not bo5. DP's losses usually come to Ferrer, Murray, Djokovic and Federer.

This is what Del Potro has to say about his wrist injury, his knee injury, how he doesn't think the whole crowd will be against him and how he likes to play matches with the whole crowd against him (cough...)

Q. Is it a factor in the match when Andy has the whole crowd on his side or do you tune it out?

JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO: No, no, because they have respect to me, and also Argentinian fans come to watch me. I don't know if all crowd will be with him. But, anyway, I like to play in these kind of matches. Is nice for me. But I will like to win and I will try to do my best tennis.



Q. I believe you were having trouble with your wrist in Cincinnati. Is everything okay?

JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO: Yeah, perfect.



Q. How about the knee today?

JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO: No, I did a bad movement, but nothing dangerous.

http://www.usopen.org/en_US/news/interviews/2012-09-02/201209021346621936503.html

Come on Andy!

Whilst I share in your 'sentimental' last run for glory with Roddick, I do feel Del Potro is a step too fair. He has been bludgeoning his opponents thus far and his hitting against Mayer in the first set was scary!

Think it would be relatively easy for JMDP normally but with the crowd behind A-Rod who knows what could happen. Still expect Delpo to come through though...his firepower is huge.

Watched what there was of the match.

Roddick was playing beautifully until he lead 5-2. Great serving and great vollying (where has he been hiding that?). More surprisingly he was giving Del Potro the run around off the ground. He was outlasting him in long rallies, varying the spin, hitting short sometimes to expose Del Potro's poor movement and hitting some great angled winners off both sides. In fact Del Potro's ugly awkward style was making Roddick look like Federer. (Ha ha!) Roddick had set points on Del Potro's serve but then just tightened up...

Yep I saw the first set...Roddick played like a man without the world of self-expectation on his shoulders. Played with variety, hustle and purpose. Cant remember the last time I said that about him. Even his BH didnt look like it had come out of Granoller's armoury for a change.
Delpo was his usual laconic self. When he came to serve for it at 5-3 he just tightened up as HE says. I still expect Delpo to win.