Roddick Looks to Snap Federer Streak
© Getty Images By Sandra Harwitt
It was just the other day that Andy Roddick jokingly commented that “Hey, nobody beats me 12 times” when asked about the prospect of playing world No. 1 Roger Federer in the round robin portion of the Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai.
Federer vs. Roddick By The Numbers
Although it was clear that Roddick was just going for the joke, it also would be true that the American is hopeful that his pronouncement bears some truth. After all, Roddick can’t be all that happy about Federer’s 11-1 winning record against him (head-to-head). And it’s been a long time since Roddick won his lone match against Federer -- you have to go way back to the 2003 Masters Series Canada semifinals.
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Interestingly, in the last six matches they played – all were in the finals – three took place at the grand slams, most recently at the U.S. Open in September.
The good news for Roddick is that he seems to be back to his former self, the guy who always had a quick reply and a slightly cocky way about himself. That’s just the kind of confident attitude a player needs to have, most especially when they head into a match where the opponent has the edge.
© Getty Images Roddick contributes his resurgence to his new coaching relationship with Jimmy Connors, carefully making note that when a superstar of Connors stature tells you that you can do it, you tend to take their word as gospel.
That said, it still would be remiss not to admit that Federer is likely to be a tough opponent for Roddick to conquer each and every time they step on the court. Federer just seems to be the total package – he not only possesses every shot in the book, but he has a calm persona that keeps him from steering off course.
Just the other day, it was Federer who told the tale that led to his greatness. It began when he learned how to not panic when matches were slipping away. By the time he won his first grand slam title at Wimbledon 2003, Federer’s aura was beginning to rattle opponents, who were now doing the panicking.
Federer’s won the Tennis Masters Cup twice in his still young career – in 2003 and 2004 – the same years that Roddick reached the semifinals at this year-end championship.
While both Federer and Roddick will be looking to go ahead 2-0 in the Red Group today, David Nalbandian and Ivan Ljubicic will be looking for a change of luck as they hope to post their first victory of the week.
© Getty Images The good news for Ljubicic is that he not only holds a slight 3-2 advantage over Nalbandian in their career meetings, but he also won both of their matches in straight sets this year (head-to-head).
Nalbandian, however, is the defending champion here and it seems as if he’s feeling the love of the crowd, who has taken to the Argentine. Always a potent competitor, Nalbandian’s greatest career success was winning this title and it’s easy to know that he’d like to keep the Tennis Masters Cup title in his pocket for another year.
The Bryan brothers find themselves in an atypical situation today as they are going to have to fight an uphill battle to stay in contention here this year. After taking the loss to Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram on Sunday, the Bryans will try to rebound against Martin Damm and Leander Paes today. The Bryans have beaten Damm and Paes both times that they’ve played.
In the other doubles match of the day, the two winning teams from Sunday – Erlich and Ram and Paul Hanley and Kevin Ullyett will vie for a 2-0 record in their Red Group. Hanley and Ullyett hold a 3-2 lead over the Israel team.
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