Roddick Advances to Wimbledon Finals, Regains Place Among Tennis Elite

America finally has a new men's tennis star.

Andy Roddick.

I know, he's been around forever. But now he's for real. Finally, he has a strategy and a coach and a brain and some actual footwork and speed. And even a backhand. Finally, he's not just a serve, not just a one-stroke gimmick with an empty head.

And finally, he is back in the Wimbledon finals. Roddick won the Battle of Andys Friday, beating Scotland's Andy Murray 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (9-7), 7-6 (7-5) in the Wimbledon semifinals, and crushing Great Britain's hopes for the first Brit champ since 1936.

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Roddick dropped to his knees, put his hand on his head, clapped politely to the crowd, which, of course, was strongly for Murray, and then walked to his chair, sat down and buried his face in his hands.

"To be honest, the last couple of years, I didn't know if I'd get another chance to play for another grand slam title," he said. "Now, I do. It's just a dream."

This is the story of a guy who decided he was not done. That's all. He arrived at the end of tennis' mindless-power era, won a U.S. Open, reached a couple major finals, climbed to No. 1 in the rankings.

And then Roger Federer came in. And then Rafael Nadal. And Murray. And Novak Djokovic. And Roddick was just pushed down by people who dared to play with thoughts while his game became outdated.

For all his failings, he is the American tennis star, which actually, has served to condemn American tennis.

That's what American tennis is about?

Still, Roddick stayed in the top 10 and had a pretty good gig going overall, really, with his millions, his fame and his beautiful wife. But he went to coach Larry Stefanki, was willing to listen and to change. And he worked his way into the modern era of tennis.

"Throughout my career, I've had a lot of shortcomings," he said.

"But trying hard hasn't been one of them."

True enough.

But it wasn't just hustle that won it for him on Friday. Roddick played serve-and-volley at times, dinked at times, floated the ball at times. And having lost 15 pounds, he ran well, rather than his old plodding. Not to mention, he still has the big serve.



Does that mean he's going to beat Federer? I can't say that. But I can ask the question now without giggling.

Roddick has a chance now. He's on the top level now.

As for Murray, well, the guess is that the Queen won't show up for the finals now. She had written fan letters only to Murray. Fans were packed on the grounds on what was once called Henman Hill, where people sat and watched year after year as Brit Tim Henman failed to win. Murray is the new Brit hope, and the hill renamed Mount Murray.

And now, those poor Brits feel like, well, Cubs fans.

Wait till next year.

"To be fair, he had all the pressure on him, and I could come out and swing,'' Roddick said. "Make no mistake, he's been a much better player than I have over the past year, that's for sure. I was a little better today."

Murray has been the anti-Roddick, thinking too much and too hesitant to just let go. But in the past year, that has changed and he was adding just enough power. On Friday, he was too conservative again. And Roddick, now 26, was a mix of everything. Finally.

"I had to play my best tennis out there to win today," he said. "I can't say enough good things about Andy's game, but I can play some tennis sometimes. Not many people were giving me much of a chance at all."

Well, after his disaster at the French Open, why would anyone feel confident that this was a new Roddick? For the first time in his career, he reached the second week at the French. On the red clay, you have to play with care and strategy. But then when Roddick lost to Gael Monfils, he had one of his classic meltdowns, arguing with the chair umpire, lecturing him about the darkness, and complaining to other tournament officials between points.

But then at Wimbledon, on Wednesday, he finished off a five-set classic against Lleyton Hewitt, and it was clear something had changed. We didn't know how much, though, until Friday, beating one of the game's real stars.

So the same old guy is a new face of American tennis now. And this is something much more acceptable.

American tennis, which has seemed dead for so long, now has three of the four Wimbledon singles finalists. Venus Williams will play Serena Williams for the women's title on Saturday.

On top of that, American Melanie Oudin, a teenager, beat former No. 1 Jelena Jankovic at this Wimbledon, and American Jesse Levine emerged in the early rounds.

Friday's match was supposed to be about a guy named Andy carrying the hopes of a nation.

Turned out, it was.

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