Who would have thought, just a few short weeks ago, that the Dubai tournament this year would end up being all about Andy Roddick? Yet that's just what happened, and along the way Andy himself probably learned that he ought to "get out" more often - meaning, sometimes it's a good idea to stretch yourself, get out of your comfort zone, and put yourself into a tough situation, perhaps even one that may not seem very appealing.
And what could be less appealing to Andy Roddick than Dubai (if you discount the big fat appearance fee): It's far from Roddick's Austin, Tx. home, and it also happens to be the stomping grounds of his nemesis, Roger Federer.But now Roddick is in the final against Feliciano Lopez, who ought to get a free point or two just for having such a felicitous and non-threatening first name. Somehow, "I'm playing Feliciano" just doesn't have the same ring as "I'm playing Johnny Mac" or "Jimbo."
And speaking of Jimbo - the other big news from the Roddick camp is that Jimmy Connors has stepped down as Andy's coach (after roughly 18 months in that role). You can find my immediate reaction to that bit of new at news at my ESPN post of today, but I've been thinking about the subject some more since I wrote that this morning and I want to elaborate on a few elements touched on there.
The more I think about it, the more I recognize a huge, delicious irony at the heart of this story: Roddick today has the same number of majors (one) as he did before he started working with Connors, and while his ranking has improved, it is just about where it was not that long before Andy started working with Jimbo.
Furthermore, Roddick's greatest achievement in the "Connors period" of his career was leading the U.S. to victory in the Davis Cup final of 2007. Many of you know that Jimbo's career-long indifference to Davis Cup was well known and documented, and that a personal coach is persona non grata at a Davis Cup tie (the team is in the hands of the DC captain and/or coach). So, oddly enough, Connors can hardly claim direct credit for Andy's highlight moment of the past two years.
But all that just underscores the unique nature of the Connors-Roddick relationship, and it doesn't diminish Connors's contribution one iota. I don't think any coach has ever performed as ably as a champion's therapist **as Connors did for Roddick. And just as patients commonly fall in love with their therapists, Andy was so thoroughly drawn into Connors's orbit that he is now reaping what Jimmy Connors has sown. This helps explain those outbursts in Australia and San Jose, and the sentiments driving El Jon's recent, excellent commentary on present-day Andy over at SI.com.
I guarantee you, Andy has no problem with the growing chorus of critics who accuse him of having made Connors' legendary prickliness and swagger his own. Every player who's ever been accused of being a jerk, from Ilie Nastase through John McEnroe through Roddick has, figuratively, laughed all the way to the bank. The Andy Roddick who plays Feliciano Lopez in the Dubai final tomorrow will still be Connors' protege - who cares if Connors is actually sitting in the player guest box, or even officially Roddick's coach? Connors taught Roddick the value of fighting, the integrity of effort, the usefulness of rage, the satisfaction and, yes, cold nobility of asking no quarter, giving none, and leaving the arena with a snarl on your lip even if your ear is torn off and you're seeing triple.
Connors came along at a time when Roddick, who has a well-concealed soft streak, had just about crossed over to the dark side. He was in danger of giving up - not retiring, or anything like that, but sloughing off his identity as a callow, earnest, enthusiastic kid who led with his chin and took a punch with the best of them in favor of a less stressful role as a real cool dude with gelled hair and solid hipster connections. I think Andy's much better than that, and always will be. But the signs were ominous. Disillusion plus celebrity is not a pretty combination.
Roddick seemed disheartened by his inability to seriously threaten Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal had emerged as a force on all surfaces. Andy's own game was a power-based, straightforward, one-dimensional undertaking, which was a liability only in the sense that it could be described as such, and often was, when people wondered whether or not Roddick had shot his wad with that lone U.S. Open title and two Wimbledon finals. The worst thing about that kind of drift, of course, was that it ultimately offered Roddick a nice, easy way to excuse himself from the hunt: Me? Oh, I don't have the game to beat Federer or stop Nadal, just ask anybody. . .but life isn't so bad if you're any more marketable than Nikolay Davydenko and can hang around the Top 10.
Jimbo might have been heaven-sent, he so thoroughly halted any drift in that direction. Connors knew what was at stake, too, when he acknowledged that Roddick seemed like a talented but dispirited and struggling kid. Connors knew full that Roddick needed to be pulled back to the game. Although Connors once ran around Vegas in a Member's Only jacket, hobnobbed with Hef, and took turn or two at the mike in a recording studio, his own demon kept him on a short leash, insisting that Jimbo stick to what he knew best.
The thing Jimbo knew best, and the only thing with which he could achieve the distinction he craved, was the thing Jimbo always called "the tennis" - as if the game were some precious, three-dimensional object perched on an altar. I haven't watch much of the tennis, he would say. Or, the tennis isn't the same as it used to be, with all these bean counters in charge. . . if the guys had more personality, the tennis would be more in better shape. . .
I think the greatest and most important work Connors did was help Roddick recapture his love and enthusiasm for the game. It was manifest to me in what may have been Roddick's most disastrous moment on a tennis court: that godawful 2007 Australian Open semifinal (the one in which Roddick won just six games). True, Federer blasted Roddick to pieces and made him look hapless. The plan of attack, which was to attack, was probably ill-conceived and certainly badly executed. But. . . having the courage to try something a little different, having the poise to keep pursuing the plan, even with the sound of laughter ringing in your ears, the willingness to let it all hang out and to hail with self-consciousness, the ability to screw up and allow yourself to become angry at yourself, along with everyone else - those are commitments and dedications that pay major long-term dividends. We're seeing that now.
I don't think anyone's ever done a better coaching job at the emotional level that Connors did with
