More Than Just A Big Serve

AP

Andy Roddick's scraped elbow is visible as he holds his winner's trophy for the championship match of the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships tennis tournament Sunday, Feb. 20, 2011, in Memphis, Tenn. Roddick outgutted Milos Raonic 7-6 (7), 6-7 (11), 7-5, and made a diving return on the final shot.

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Will Andy Roddick end 2011 without a title for the first time in 11 years?

That was the question I almost posted as a random thought earlier this week when I finally glanced at the draw of Memphis. Following his unceremonious loss in the fourth round of Melbourne, a loss which the American commentators at ESPN almost seemed happy about, it surely seemed possible. I know there's much tennis to play in 2011, but still.

Something told me to hold my tongue.

For all of my fan-anxious criticism, Andy Roddick is the kind of player that enriches the tapestry of the sport I love. Since Melbourne, the only storyline worth (over)hyping has been the out-of-nowhere fairy tale of the 20-year-old Canadian via Montenegro Milos Raonic who's now the highest ranked Canadian male in tennis history. But the promising young upstart with the huge serve and big forehand lost to the tenacious old veteran with the huge serve and big forehand.

And tenacious he was. Roddick had to rally to defeat a virtual no-name in the first round, overcome the man who defeated him at the US Open last year in the second. In the quarterfinals he needed 7 match points and a dive or two, which drew blood on his right arm, the bruises you see above, to get past his old, tenacious rival Lleyton Hewitt. In the semifinals he broke the serve for the first time in the event of Juan Martin Del Potro, a man he's lost to on US hardcourts all three times they'd played, broke his serve three times. And in his 50th career final, he outgutted the man from Canada via Montenegro he'd never played before, the man the commentators have been hyping as the Next Great Thing (there were times during the encounter where if you didn't see it with your own eyes, you'd have thought Raonic was the only player on the court given all the lip service they gave the big kid) and won a match point for the ages to earn his 30th career title. All the while coughing up his lungs from one of those bad colds going round.

He did it with patience, defense, offense, netplay, backhands down the line, guile, guts, and, yes, big serving.

The match started slowly, mostly all about the serving, but then marched towards its dramatic finish. As both players began to read the other's game, the rallies got longer, the stakes, higher. But no one saw the ending coming. Surely, at 5-6, 30-40 and serving, Raonic, who'd saved all 4 match points he faced on serve in the second set tiebreak, would serve his way out of match point number 5, right?

Raonic struck a great serve out wide, but Roddick got it back with a backhand return. Raonic struck a hard forehand approach down the line that Roddick struck back with a hard backhand down the line. Raonic struck what appeared to be a clean volley winner deep and wide in the open court, but Roddick scrambled to chase it down, didn't look like he'd get there, but dove at the last second with his forehand outstretched and slapped a screaming passing shot winner that Raonic could only watch whiz by. Roddick didn't even seen where the ball landed as he rolled out of the dive. Just like that, the match was over. The commentators had to stop their Raonic hype mid-thought to acknowledge that the match was, indeed, over. About as abrupt an ending as a double fault, but far more fulfilling. Andy looked shocked for minutes after.

AP

AP

Roddick takes a lot of crap from the pundits and fans alike (I'm talking about you, Carter), especially in the United States. But there he is, 28-years-old, going about his business with the weight of a country on his shoulders, because, well, let's face it: whenever he arrives at a Slam anywhere in the world but Paris, he's the only American male who anyone expects to contend for the title. And it's been that way for the greater part of 11 years now.

AP

Hats off to a warrior who has now earned a small place in tennis history alongside his great nemesis for winning at least one singles title in each of those years. No way you achieve that unless your game is more than just a big serve. And his heart is even bigger. As an American, as a fan, I'm proud of Andy Roddick. Very proud. There. I said it.

AP