Andy Roddick On Serena Williams as a Doubles Partner, LeBron as a Teammate

WASHINGTON--Andy Roddick has always played well at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington.  It was where he made his first ATP quarterfinal back in 2000, and he has won the event three times.  The combination of extremely fast courts and extremely partisan Washington fans does him all sorts of good.

Roddick met with the press Monday afternoon, before his tournament gets underway Tuesday night.  Since these opening press conferences are generally the best time to raise things that are not especially relevant, I thought it would be a good time to ask him about his much talked about pairing to play mixed doubles at the 2012 Olympics in London with compatriot (and two time doubles gold medalist) Serena Williams.

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TDF: You've announced that you're playing mixed doubles in the 2012 Olympics with Serena Williams--do you two have any plans to reel off a couple slam doubles titles or Hopman Cup in the meantime?

Andy Roddick: Yeah, you know, we figure we're not doing anything, we'll just reel off a couple slam doubles titles (laughs).  I know that's how she thinks, but... (laughs).

Ya know, it's 2010. I have not made any plans as of now to do anything for that, except for 24 seconds after they announced that they were going to have mixed doubles in the Olympics, I was flooding Serena's telephone.  Calls, missed calls, text messages--borderline stalking.  And I annoyed her into submission.

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I should have asked if these were the same tactics he used to land Brooklyn Decker.

Another question, asked by Liz Clarke of The Washington Post, gave Roddick more opportunity to talk about Serena.

"The thing about her is, I've seen her play Team Tennis matches where she loses to players ranked #200 in the world, then all the sudden she's in the Wimbledon final, Roddick mused.

"She plays great.  She has the ability to raise her game...She's just able to step up--she's a champion."

Late in the presser, another reporter (with some clear Cleveland loyalties, it seemed) asked Roddick what he thought about LeBron James going down to Miami to play with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.  Roddick, a Heat fan, vehemently defended LeBron's move, saying it was ridiculous to criticize a guy who is taking less money so he can win.

With LeBron opting to play with the best so he could win, I had to ask if Roddick saw any congruency between his Olympics decision and LeBron's "The Decision."

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TDF: Do you see a parallel between LeBron James joining forces with Dwyane Wade and you joining forces with Serena for the Olympics, in terms of giving yourself that same best chance to win?

Andy Roddick: Well, that would mean I would consider myself to be like LeBron, which I don't (laughs).  He's a couple-time MVP, so, no.  But I've always said my best asset as a doubles player is picking good partners.

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Roddick plays his first match on Tuesday night, not before 7 PM.  He will face qualifier Grega Zemlja, who just trounced Benjamin Becker 6-2, 6-3.