LONDON—Andy Roddick was living a somewhat charmed life at the AEGON Championships, “was” being the key word.
Healthy, confident and serving huge at one of his favorite pit stops on the sprawling men’s circuit, Roddick nevertheless needed four straight tiebreaks to overcome fellow four-time tournament champion Lleyton Hewitt and gargantuan Croat Ivo Karlovic. Roddick wasn’t broken and conceded just a solitary break point en route to the semifinals.
Then came Saturday in sunny southwest London. In a moment that shattered the Texan’s hopes of claiming a fifth career Queen’s Club title and more importantly, threatened to derail his Wimbledon campaign before it started, Roddick twisted his right ankle in his match against good buddy James Blake.
Uh oh.
No, Roddick wasn’t wrong footed, nor did he slip. In the third game, in the aftermath of an attempted shot between his legs—the stroke was precipitated by a lovely Blake lob—Roddick fell victim to the uneven surface that separates grass from concrete at the back of center court.
Roddick took an injury timeout prior to the eighth game and held, but understandably didn’t want to risk things ahead of the one Grand Slam event he desperately wants to win (though yes, he’d take any major, really) to augment his 2003 U.S. Open crown. The end came at 4-4.
Don’t forget that a shoulder injury forced Roddick to skip last year’s French Open and visibly hampered his performance at Wimbledon, where his short run culminated in a dramatic, ugly loss to Serb Janko Tipsarevic in the second round.
“Initial tests showed the stability was OK,” Roddick said post match. “Strength was OK. It was just range of motion limited right now. So that’s good as far as, you know, I’m not walking in here saying I’m going to be out six weeks or anything like that. We’re looking at days, not weeks.”
Roddick has blossomed under Larry Stefanki, his latest high-profile coach. The world No. 6 has shed a few pounds, worked on his backhand and return game, and become a little more aggressive, rather than passive, on the baseline. His combined results at this year’s Australian Open and French Open—an 8-2 record—are the best of his career, and who knows how fit defending champion Rafael Nadal will be if he shows up at Wimbledon at all. Roddick has the upper hand on another member of the Big Four, Novak Djokovic, who lost early in Paris and was fortunate to win his opener in Halle, Germany, last week.
In other words, Roddick figures to, if the draw helps and the ankle holds up, have a legitimate shot of reaching a first semifinal at Wimbledon since 2005, when history-maker Roger Federer beat him in the final for the second straight year.
Roddick was at least happy to get in three-and-a-half matches at the Queen’s Club this year.
“I felt like I was hitting the ball fine, moving fine, serving really well,” he said. “It wasn’t the first match of the week, so I don’t have two weeks to wait before I play a match again. So as far as tennis wise and preparation, I’m not worried about that at this point.”
Blake, having another roller-coaster season, navigated past a tough trio to resurface over the weekend. He ousted a rejuvenated Ivan Ljubicic, big-serving Sam Querrey, who must be eyeing Blake’s spot on the U.S. Davis Cup team, and the dangerous Mikhail Youzhny. Blake appeared to be in formidable form before Roddick’s injury, manufacturing a break point in the second game.
Meanwhile, Andy Murray was easing past former world No. 1 and 2003 French Open winner Juan Carlos Ferrero, part of the Brit’s comfy draw. Sure, Ferrero achieved his last major quarterfinal at Wimbledon two years ago and has won substantially more at the All England Club since 2004 than at Roland Garros, but Saturday marked the 29-year-old’s maiden grass-court semi.
British media, even bigger in number thanks to a tournament at home, gleefully pointed out that Murray needed one more victory to become the first Brit to win Queen’s since Henry “Bunny” Austin, twice a Wimbledon finalist, in 1938. Three times the tiger that was Tim Henman got tamed at the final hurdle, falling to Hewitt twice, and Pete Sampras.
Blake’s high-risk game needed fire Sunday, and that included picking on Murray’s second serve. Shadowing Roddick, Murray stuttered once on serve in four matches, losing his only break point faced to Andreas Seppi, the Italian who rarely succumbs to those below him and rarely defeats those above him. Murray’s serve has improved immensely in the last year, as opponents routinely suggest.
Blake reminded all he was half British to gain some support, although he needn’t have worried about overwhelming bias. British tennis fans are nowhere near as raucous supporting their own compared to the French and Americans, among others, and such was the case as the fine weather actually continued.
First blood to Murray, who broke in the third game, aided by a wonderful backhand pass down the line. Surprisingly Murray faltered immediately, dropping serve when Blake, showing good variety, was given the chance to string together five straight forehands on break point.
Blake failed to capitalize with the world No. 3 serving at 3-4, 15-30, and 4-5, 15-30. In the latter game, Murray produced a lethal serve down the middle for 30-all, Blake erred on a backhand down the line—there was an opening—and Murray then won the point of the encounter, which might have been the turning point altogether.
Off a second serve, Blake delivered a drop shot cross court. Murray showed off his movement, getting to the ball and replying with a deft drop of his own down the line that featured ample sidespin. Murray pumped his fist, Blake handed over the next game with four unforced errors, and the lone break of the second emanated at 3-3 as Blake blew a 30-0 advantage.
Any nerves serving for a first title on British soil? Nah. Two aces, a forehand following a clever serve out wide, and a Blake backhand into the net sealed the comprehensive 7-5, 6-4 win in one hour, seven minutes. Austin now has company.
“Whether it’s moving forward, staying back and chipping, he uses his variety very well,” said Blake. “I think he’s one of the best in the world of having that variety. His hands are so good that he can really do almost everything with the ball.”
Blake intends to spend much of this week practicing at Wimbledon, with an exhibition to come, too. The goal, he says, is finally go deep at the Big W, never having advanced past the third round and in 2008 suffering another upset loss, to aging German Rainer Schuettler in round two. Schuettler had a clear path to the semis.
A semifinal seems highly realistic for Murray; Britain expects more.
Cue the hype.
“I don’t know how many times I’m going to have to say this the next week, but for the people that sit and read the papers and that write the papers and do the bits on TV and on radio, `You can get caught up in it if you want to,’” Murray said.
“For me, if I go into a Grand Slam feeling confident and having won a tournament, regardless of whether it’s here or in Paris or the U.S. Open, it’s good for my game. I’m not planning on getting caught up in the whole hype, and the pressure, because I don’t think that helps if you do.”
He might not have a choice.
Ravi Ubha is a freelance writer covering Queen's Club for TENNIS.com.