Andy Roddick Loses His Cool, Loses Early in Second Round Upset

Andy Roddick had a disappointing US Open in 2009.  He lost in the third round to John Isner, falling in a fifth-set tiebreaker after dropping the first two sets.

Roddick came into the 2010 US Open with few points to defend, and relatively little hype, given the media swarm that always buzzes around Roddick in New York.  But Roddick failed to meet even the measured expectations that were set for him by the so-called experts of tennis.

Under the lights at Arthur Ashe Stadium, Roddick fell 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6(5) to Janko Tipsarevic (the most recent recipient of The Daily Forehand bump), meaning that Roddick failed to defend even the modest third round points he had earned last year.

Though it might seem like an exit in the second round would mean going out with something of a whimper, Roddick was extremely colorful in what turned out to be his final grand slam match of the year.

For starters, Roddick was wearing a bright blue shirt, a departure from the cycle of white, grey, and black that he has worn ever since switching to Lacoste some five or so years ago (maybe the occasional navy blue snuck in there, but that would have been it).  The bolder color certainly didn't embolden Roddick's game, as he played some of the most passive, restrained tennis possible for someone who purports to have a power game.

Roddick did go full-blast at one point in the match, however.  After being called for a foot-fault late in the third set, Roddick tore into the lineswoman who made the call, haranguing her for mistakenly saying that it was his right foot that hit the line instead of the left.

Roddick ranted on and on about the call for the rest of the third set, yapping at the lineswoman and nearby Tournament Referee Brian Earley for several minutes afterward.  The emotional outburst awoke the crowd for the first time in the night, a crowd that Roddick had completely failed to utilize to his advantage to that point.  

Though it might have helped his energy level for the remainder of the loss, the entire lineswoman incident reflected really poorly on Roddick.  Though he did not cross the line from "obnoxious" to "threatening" the way Serena Williams did last year, Roddick still acted like a bullying ass.  If he knew that he only ever foot faults with his left foot, why did he ask for clarification as to which one it was?

Replays showed that the call was the correct one, and two additional foot fault calls made later in the match showed that it was not an isolated problem for Roddick. 

But as problematic as Roddick's feet were for him, it was his head that did the most damage tonight.  Roddick played incredibly cautious, tentative tennis off the ground, not delivering his forehand with the cracking power he did back when he won this tournament some seven years ago.  His serve also wasn't nearly as lethal or aggressive as it has been.  Tipsarevic hit more aces than Roddick, and generally held with greater ease.

I don't understand why someone who possesses the power Roddick does would try to turn a match into a track meet, but that's what he did today.  Against the speedier Tipsarevic, Roddick prolonged rallies, instead of forcing the issue and imposing his game.

It's a broken record-like refrain at this point, but this loss has to go down as one of the most disappointing in Roddick's career.  After how well he played on American hard courts in the spring, making the finals of Indian Wells and winning Miami, his summer was horrendous.  Falling short of the quarterfinals at the last three majors (and losing to unseeded opponents at each) is not inspiring stuff.

Andy Roddick can still win another major. 

But not if he plays anything resembling the tennis he showed tonight.

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On a personal note, I'm fairly glad I hadn't published my full bracket predictions yet, because I had Roddick winning the whole thing this year.  I knew he had tough draws in his early rounds against Tipsarevic (and Monfils), but I thought the early tests would serve him well as his path crescendoed into Davydenko, Djokovic, Federer, and Murray or Nadal.  While losing my champion in the second round of the tournament will wreak major havoc, my predictions are actually holding up fairly well everywhere else.  I'll put up the graded drawsheets tomorrow.