Under the tutelage of respected coach and former professional Larry Stefanki, Andy Roddick is a meticulous student. But as an on-court bodyguard, he fails dismally.
After dismantling dangerous Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis to reach the Brisbane International semifinals, Roddick shed some light on a recurring pattern when practicing with his fellow Americans.
From the safety of the players’ box Stefanki is a picture of composure, his calm poker face behind the sunglasses a reassuring figure for his charge on centre stage.
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Stand him on the sidelines at a practice session with an American across the net though and he becomes a marked man.
“Yeah, basically anybody on the court when taking practice overheads or hitting any balls is in play to get hit,” Roddick said.
“It’s rare that someone does get hit because, you know, they’re alert but it’s always funny when they do.”
Last year at Pat Rafter Arena, Roddick lost a practice set to countryman Sam Querrey.
Harking back to a humorous on-court punishment usually played out between teenagers, Roddick and Stefanki were forced to crouch facing away, allowing Querrey to launch a serve at them.
Both emerged unscathed.
This year, it was Mardy Fish’s turn.
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He wasn’t about to wait for the chance to beat A-Rod in a practice set, instead sending stray smashes in Stefanki’s direction – one of which he managed to block down low with his racket.
A relaxed Roddick is back in Brisbane to defend the title he won 12 months ago and admits it is the best he has felt in almost eight months.
After defeating Tomas Berdych to claim the Miami 1000 Masters crown in April, A-Rod’s season hit a snag.
A lethargic mid-year form slump – later attributed to a mild case of mononucleosis – saw him bundled out in the fourth round at Wimbledon to 82nd-ranked Taiwanese player Yen-Hsun Lu.
It was considered by many as the biggest upset of 2010 given Roddick’s exemplary record on grass.
The year prior he had fallen in his third final at the All-England Club in a mammoth 16-14 fifth-set loss to Roger Federer, a player whose form has also suffered from a bout of mononucleosis.
“A lot of people who play with this sickness don’t play for three or four months,” Roddick said.
“I chose against suggestions of professionals to play through to try to put a year together.”
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The move backfired as poor results bumped Roddick out of the top 10, but he managed to scrape through to his eighth-straight ATP Tour Finals appearance after a solid start to the year.
“I had no business being there how bad a shape I was in,” he lamented.
“This is probably the first time since May last year I haven’t felt like I’m playing catch-up, trying to cover something up or being able to play with all my options because I’m confident that my fitness is there so it’s more exciting, you don’t feel as frustrated.”
As a charity fundraiser at the the tour championships the eight end-of-season finalists auctioned off their self-portraits with Roddick’s emerging with the highest bid, fetching $33,100.
“Funny thing was I joked and said [to an ATP staffer] ‘I don’t want to be embarrassed, I’m going to go bid on myself’,” he said.
“Then when the number came through he instantly thought [I’d done] that and had no faith in me.”
So could it have been his proud mother, Blanche, who landed the winning bid?
“My mum is too cheap to buy a painting for that much and the same goes for my dad,” Roddick quipped.
“My relatives are all farmers in Wisconsin so I doubt they would spring for a $33,000 painting.
“I heard that the person was from England and I don’t have any relatives there so I was surprised, especially because I probably didn’t do too much to inspire with my play over there.”
For the record, Federer’s self-portrait fetched the second-highest price, with Rafael Nadal’s third – a rare moment where Roddick found himself outranking two of the game’s greatest.
Quick to heap praise on the two biggest hurdles responsible for foiling attempts at adding to his lone Grand Slam title from 2003, Roddick was keen to put their standing in perspective.
“Obviously with him [Nadal] and Roger, with what they are both accomplishing, I said at the end of last year I hope people appreciate it because you’re going to be looking back in 10 or 15 years going ‘gosh, man those guys were really good’,” Roddick said.
“It seems everything’s great in retrospect, but I think people should realise now.”
Heading into today’s semifinal Roddick holds a perfect eight-from-eight record at Pat Rafter Arena and will start a heavy favourite against unheralded South African Kevin Anderson.
“I’m three from three this year so that’s what I’m paying attention to,” he said.
So is the A-Rod gaining momentum?
“To put ‘the’ in front of your name you have to be like the lead guitarist of U2 so I’m not going to draw any parallels there,” Roddick said.
“I’d pale in comparison I think.”
A reference to Irish rocker The Edge, Roddick may well be qualified to draw parallels with the moniker should he defend his title on Sunday and carry his winning form through to a maiden Australian Open crown.
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Under the tutelage of respected coach and former professional Larry Stefanki, Andy Roddick is a meticulous student. But as an on-court bodyguard, he fails dismally.
After dismantling dangerous Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis to reach the Brisbane International semifinals, Roddick shed some light on a recurring pattern when practicing with his fellow Americans.
From the safety of the players’ box Stefanki is a picture of composure, his calm poker face behind the sunglasses a reassuring figure for his charge on centre stage.
Stand him on the sidelines at a practice session with an American across the net though and he becomes a marked man.
“Yeah, basically anybody on the court when taking practice overheads or hitting any balls is in play to get hit,” Roddick said.
“It’s rare that someone does get hit because, you know, they’re alert but it’s always funny when they do.”
Last year at Pat Rafter Arena, Roddick lost a practice set to countryman Sam Querrey.
Harking back to a humorous on-court punishment usually played out between teenagers, Roddick and Stefanki were forced to crouch facing away, allowing Querrey to launch a serve at them.
Both emerged unscathed.
This year, it was Mardy Fish’s turn.
He wasn’t about to wait for the chance to beat A-Rod in a practice set, instead sending stray smashes in Stefanki’s direction – one of which he managed to block down low with his racket.
A relaxed Roddick is back in Brisbane to defend the title he won 12 months ago and admits it is the best he has felt in almost eight months.
After defeating Tomas Berdych to claim the Miami 1000 Masters crown in April, A-Rod’s season hit a snag.
A lethargic mid-year form slump – later attributed to a mild case of mononucleosis – saw him bundled out in the fourth round at Wimbledon to 82nd-ranked Taiwanese player Yen-Hsun Lu.
It was considered by many as the biggest upset of 2010 given Roddick’s exemplary record on grass.
The year prior he had fallen in his third final at the All-England Club in a mammoth 16-14 fifth-set loss to Roger Federer, a player whose form has also suffered from a bout of mononucleosis.
“A lot of people who play with this sickness don’t play for three or four months,” Roddick said.
“I chose against suggestions of professionals to play through to try to put a year together.”
The move backfired as poor results bumped Roddick out of the top 10, but he managed to scrape through to his eighth-straight ATP Tour Finals appearance after a solid start to the year.
“I had no business being there how bad a shape I was in,” he lamented.
“This is probably the first time since May last year I haven’t felt like I’m playing catch-up, trying to cover something up or being able to play with all my options because I’m confident that my fitness is there so it’s more exciting, you don’t feel as frustrated.”
As a charity fundraiser at the the tour championships the eight end-of-season finalists auctioned off their self-portraits with Roddick’s emerging with the highest bid, fetching $33,100.
“Funny thing was I joked and said [to an ATP staffer] ‘I don’t want to be embarrassed, I’m going to go bid on myself’,” he said.
“Then when the number came through he instantly thought [I’d done] that and had no faith in me.”
So could it have been his proud mother, Blanche, who landed the winning bid?
“My mum is too cheap to buy a painting for that much and the same goes for my dad,” Roddick quipped.
“My relatives are all farmers in Wisconsin so I doubt they would spring for a $33,000 painting.
“I heard that the person was from England and I don’t have any relatives there so I was surprised, especially because I probably didn’t do too much to inspire with my play over there.”
For the record, Federer’s self-portrait fetched the second-highest price, with Rafael Nadal’s third – a rare moment where Roddick found himself outranking two of the game’s greatest.
Quick to heap praise on the two biggest hurdles responsible for foiling attempts at adding to his lone Grand Slam title from 2003, Roddick was keen to put their standing in perspective.
“Obviously with him [Nadal] and Roger, with what they are both accomplishing, I said at the end of last year I hope people appreciate it because you’re going to be looking back in 10 or 15 years going ‘gosh, man those guys were really good’,” Roddick said.
“It seems everything’s great in retrospect, but I think people should realise now.”
Heading into today’s semifinal Roddick holds a perfect eight-from-eight record at Pat Rafter Arena and will start a heavy favourite against unheralded South African Kevin Anderson.
“I’m three from three this year so that’s what I’m paying attention to,” he said.
So is the A-Rod gaining momentum?
“To put ‘the’ in front of your name you have to be like the lead guitarist of U2 so I’m not going to draw any parallels there,” Roddick said.
“I’d pale in comparison I think.”
A reference to Irish rocker The Edge, Roddick may well be qualified to draw parallels with the moniker should he defend his title on Sunday and carry his winning form through to a maiden Australian Open crown.