SAN JOSE, CALIF. — He lost the bet, but he won the match.
Andy Roddick‘s wife — swimsuit model Brooklyn Decker — arrived in the mail on Wednesday in the form of a Sports Illustrated cover girl, settling once and for all a spouse vs. spouse wager on who would be the first to appear on the front of the magazine.
Only hours later, Roddick returned to the court for the first time since his quarterfinal loss at the Australian Open, handing lefty qualifier Ryler DeHeart a 6-1, 7-6(1) first-round loss at the SAP Open.
Roddick was a question mark coming in. He had seen a doctor in Austin, Texas on Tuesday morning before getting clearance for San Jose. The reason for the visit? It wasn’t the hip injury that sidelined him for five weeks last year. Or the bum knee that shut down his ’09 campaign altogether, keeping him out of the ATP World Tour Finals. This time around it was a nerve injury that he says he suffered in the days leading up to his five-set loss to Marin Cilic in Melbourne.
The world No. 7 said his status was “touch and go” prior to the match, that his biggest concern was how his serve would hold up. But on Wednesday night at the HP Pavilion, he surprised himself.
“It was just about getting in repetitions,” said Roddick, who improved to 10-1 on the year. “I haven’t served much at all coming in here. I was a little worried about that. I served a little better than I thought I would, to be honest.”
While he never approached his record 155 mph range, Roddick looked comfortable from the service stripe and totaled 11 aces on the night. He broke his 26-year-old opponent to go up 3-1 in the first set, just moments after complaining to chair umpire Steve Ullrich that the live action being carried on the arena’s overhead video display board was distracting him.
“There’s like a 12-foot version of him [DeHeart] right in front of me,” he told Ullrich. (Tournament officials soon capitulated and cut off the live feed.)
DeHeart, ranked No. 226 and a member of the NCAA championship Illinois team of ‘03, appeared unfazed and came out firing in the second set, breaking Roddick to take an early 2-0 advantage. But when it came time to serve out the set at 5-4, the moment seemed to overwhelm the lefthander, who, after opening the game with a double fault, was broken back. Once into the second-set tiebreaker, Roddick’s big-match experience put him in the driver’s seat and he closed out the match in one hour, six minutes.
Roddick, who counts a chiropractor among his entourage in San Jose, said it was a pinched nerve at the T1 vertebrae that has been the source of his recent discomfort, which has included numbness in his right hand. While he wasn’t ready to put a percentage on his physical status, the top-seeded Roddick did say that he’s still got some work ahead of him.
“The strength’s there — it’s just a matter of repetition. I’m probably going to have to work my way into this tournament and prepare a little bit more on the go than I would like, but that’s what you do,” he said. “You get there and try to work your way in.”
As for that little wager with his better half?
“It’s a win for her in the household,” said Roddick. “She’s not going to let me forget anytime soon, I can tell you that.”
SAP OPEN NOTES
Aussie Open champs Mike and Bob Bryan were upset in the second round by the doubles duo of Benjamin Becker/Leonardo Mayer 7-6(6), 6-3. The twins were seeking their first SAP Open title in nine tries.
Two-time SAP Open finalist Mardy Fish withdrew from his first-round match against Michael Russell with a knee injury. “I had surgery in late September and I was able to get ready for Australia and compete down there. For whatever reason, the knee is not where it needs to be and not 100 percent,” said Fish, who still plans to play doubles with partner Sam Querrey.
Fernando Verdasco estimates that he’s seen replays of the Andre Agassi vs. Pete Sampras Australian Open final of 1995 at least 100 times. (The Spaniard’s childhood hero Agassi won 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(6), 6-4.)
