Tennis Chatter

He never went so far away down but he certainly had his own plummet. He knows his valleys and maybe has reached his personal abyss in self-belief. But Andy Roddick knows now what it takes to regain that self-belief…and the bravado that once was evident with it.

I admit that his pronouncement about the narrowing gap between him and Federer sounds like a joke (The official head-to-head is 1-12. The exhibition win in Kooyong last week does not count but the inspiration could.) Human as I am, I have seen some jokes backfired so as a personal resolution for this year I prefer to take the side of the positive and the possible no matter how delusional it may sound.

It is obvious that Roddick’s newfound confidence has the Connors hue in it. If there is someone who knows how to use aggressiveness to one’s advantage in court and how to prove all people wrong, it is Jimmy Connors. So far, the Connors seed is slowly growing in Andy (did I just write that?).

Against world number 212 French wildcard Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Roddick lost the first set with a historic 38-point tiebreak and almost gifted the second set to his 21-year old opponent had not probably the memory of his first round U.S. Open exit in 2005 knocked him out of his senses to dig into his arsenal. He finally prevailed at 6-7(18), 7-6(2), 6-3, 6-3.

After spending time in Disappointment Village, Andy is starting not to fight his own shadow anymore. Instead, he rechannels his frustrations to better himself as a player.

If that is not inspiring to some, I do not know what is. This is the Australian Open and life displays in full living color, in action, through the stories that tennis will bring in the unfolding two weeks. Too early to say but Andy Roddick’s story might just be one of its highlights.