Riding on a six match losing streak, Andy Roddick was desperately needing a confidence boost heading into Wimbledon. After a disappointing showing in Queen's, where he lost first round to unknown Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin, the American requested a wildcard for Eastbourne.
The draw was not kind to a player whose last win came in Miami, in March, i.e. the infamous win against Roger Federer. However, benefitting from the withdrawal of compatriot Sam Querrey, Andy obtained his first win in months. The result ignited the American and little by little, he was able to reproduce flashes of his superb grass-court game. Surviving two tricky encounters with Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, respectively Italian Fabio Fognini, only made Roddick stronger. He needed to come out on top of some tough battles to regain his momentum. Once this happened, the rest of the tournament proved a walk in the park for the popular American. He obtained his 600th career victory taking advantage of yet another injured opponent, Belgian Steve Darcis retiring while trailing 6-3,3-1. In the final, his first since Memphis 2011, Andy proved too strong for defending champion, beating Italian Andreas Seppi 6-3,6-2 to secure the perfect preparation ahead of his favourite Grand Slam.
As Haas did last week, Roddick proved the old guns shouldn't be written off just yet. Wimbledon can be a pretty challenging tournament for unexperienced players and the American's pedigree on grass could just be his biggest weapon in his quest of achieving his biggest career dream.
photo: AFP
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