SAN JOSE, CALIF. — Andy Roddick is acutely aware that his sport has changed in leaps and bounds since he debuted on the ATP Tour as a brash, all-forehand-and-smashmouth-serve 18-year-old back in 2000. And if the now-27-year-old Texan —who last year finished inside the top 10 for the eighth straight year — is proud of one thing, it’s that he hasn’t let the game pass him by.
“I’ve had to figure out different ways to stay effective,” said Roddick, who’s tweaked his game over the years under a veritable revolving door of coaches, including Tarik Benhabiles, Brad Gilbert, Dean Goldfine, Jimmy Connors, brother John Roddick and man-of-the-hour Larry Stefanki. “I don’t think I’ve let my pride get in the way of doing that. It’s been an adjustment. The game’s completely different. It’s a lot better than it was in ’02-’03 as far as the way guys can move and play. The consistency of tennis now. The conditions have slowed down. You’ve had to adjust and try to figure out a way to navigate through that.”
In the seven years (has it really been that long?) since he won his one and only Slam at the ’03 U.S. Open, becoming the first American man not named Sampras, Agassi, Courier or Chang to bag a major in nearly two decades, the competition has sure become a whole lot stiffer.
“The game’s gotten a lot more physical,” said the top-ranked American. “The game used to be more about shotmaking. If you watch video from 10 years ago, there are a lot more shots being tried and consequently a lot more unforced errors. Now it seems like the rallies are long and everyone hits a consistently big ball as opposed to just trying to stripe a winner here and there.”
He might as well have been filing a scouting report on Fernando Verdasco, who on Sunday handed him a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 defeat in the SAP Open final at the HP Pavilion — the first time since 2002 that the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds met in the title match.
A patient, powerful player with a clay-courter’s mentality and a ‘til-the-last-ball-is-struck ability to go corner-to-corner with elite players (just YouTube some highlights from his five-set marathon against Rafal Nadal at the ’09 Aussie Open), Verdasco impressed all week, pushing aside Yen-Hsun Lu, Benjamin Becker, Ricardas Berankis and Denis Istomin en route to the final. Pete Sampras, who got an up-close-and-personal look at Verdasco’s game, too, when he dropped a Monday night exo to the 6-foot-2 lefty, was among the believers.
“He’s a tricky player,” observed the 14-time Slam champ. “He plays with a lot of spin. Tricky second serve. You give him a short forehand and you’re done. He’s the real deal.”
Verdasco, who became the first Spaniard to win the SAP Open since Manuel Santana in 1964, looked shaky early, with a pair of double faults in his first service game, and a service break in his second. His opponent capitalized and closed out the first set in 44 minutes.
But Roddick got off track early in the second set when he was broken at 1-all. He responded by smacking a ball high up into the seats and was immediately handed a code violation by chair ump Steve Ullrich. Then, unhappy about a line call trailing 4-2, he screamed into his towel, “MAKE THEM ALL MACHINES! ALL OF THEM! AUTOMATED SCOREKEEPERS!”
Serving at 5-4, 40-30, Verdasco sent the match into a third set with a 140 mph ace.
“I was more aggressive,” said Verdasco. “I started to push him a little more, to play more inside the court, going more to the net.”
Verdasco, who finished inside the top 10 last year, hasn’t exactly been lights-out against the top 10. Coming into the final, he was 9-46 against top-10 foes, an alarming stat that included losses in his last 15 straight. But he managed to curtail that streak against No. 7 Roddick, scoring the one break he needed at 4-4, luring Roddick into the net, then blasting a forehand that the American couldn’t handle. One game later, he sealed the match with a 130 mph ace and raised his arms in victory.
Roddick was out-aced 15-10, and won just 29 percent (8 for 29) of his second-serve points.
“He didn’t serve well tonight,” Stefanki, told Inside Tennis. “That’s maybe the worst I’ve seen him serve this year. He still needs to serve and volley a little bit more. That has to evolve. That has to grow. He still has some places where he can get a lot better, but I like the fact that he’s taking the ball earlier, he’s not playing back retrieving anymore and his style is evolving. That’s all evolving.”
“I don’t feel like I deserved this title this year,” said Roddick, who has been dealing with a pinched nerve and was nearly a no-show in San Jose. “I was short [on practice] coming. I felt like I was fighting it the whole week. It’s only going to work for so long. I still gave it a chance and fought and competed, but that wasn’t going to be enough.”
Verdasco’s win in San Jose might just be the medicine he needs to gain confidence and turn that unfavorable record against top 10 players more toward his favor.
“It was a really hard final for me against Andy here, in his country,” he said. “I’m so happy I was able to beat him here.”
The all-American duo of Mardy Fish/Sam Querrey claimed the doubles title with a 7-6(3), 7-5 win over Benjamin Becker/Leonardo Mayer (who had upended the top-seeded Bryan Bros. in the second round).
