What I thought would have been an easy match for American Andy Roddick against Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, turned out to be another early exit for the American hopeful. This is the second year in a row where I have seen Roddick play some terrible tennis, he simply got outplayed.
Lopez did put up a great fight, handling all of Roddick’s heat off the serve and playing a calm and collect match. It did help that Andy was double faulting his way out of the match, however; even if he hadn’t faulted as much as he did, Lopez still would have won. Lopez played an exceptional tennis match and I applaud his victory.
Did the 2009 Wimbledon finals really shake up Andy that bad? Apparently so, since the epic match against Roger Federer in 2009, Roddick has not been the same on grass. Last year he was dismissed by a valiant Lu Yen-hsun in the fourth round – I’m sure that exit has some ’09 baggage carried over. This year, I thought for sure he checked his ’09 baggage at the door and picked himself up to play the best he has. Unfortunately, Andy didn’t bring his A game today. He had moments of brilliance and moments of pure disappointment; though he certainly did not play his best.
What does this mean for Roddick? Only he and his camp know what this loss means. This is his best surface and the best chance he has to win an elusive second major. There’s still the US Open, though he’s looking pretty tired out there. Who knows, this could be his final year of tennis, or it could be the rebirth of the United States greatest champion that never was.
Roddick’s loss today really screws up my Wimbledon predictions from yesterday, so I’ll update that at a later time.
Photo credit Wimbledon.com
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