Steve,
Just a quick hello before a busy, sunny day on the grounds. There feels like a lot of trap matches possible, which means players like Agassi, Nadal, Roddick, and Murray better take care of the business in front of them before considering their possible next round competition. I’m going to crack my Court 2 seal today with Sharapova, Safin, and Roddick all scheduled to play there.
Speaking of Roddick, didn’t you think he celebrated a little hard yesterday for a first round win? Tipsarevic is a flashy, colorful, shot maker with plenty of game. Love his jailhouse tats, but not sold on the eyebrow ring. He’s never had a ranking inside the top 90, but Roddick acted like he cleared a Himalayan-sized hurdle. Kind of shows his confidence level at the moment. Every win is precious, and worth celebrating.
In regards to his serve, yes it’s his primary reason for being a Top 5 player. And if he lost it, and with the rest of strokes as is, I actually think he would be more like a top 50 player. What other part of Roddick’s game is so special that he would be any better than a player like Tipsarevic? But I think he would learn to compensate and develop some other bread-and-butter shots. Once you remove a crutch, you will learn to stand without falling down.
The serve is without question the most important shot in tennis, particularly on the men’s side. And to remove it from the equation makes it an almost impossible argument. It would be like comparing baseball teams without considering the pitching staffs. And at an individual level, could Roger Clemens thrive on nothing but splitters? Not likely.
Roddick maybe a one-trick pony, but he can certainly fool most players with it.
I’ll catch up with you later.
JL