For Worldwide Andy Roddick fans, massive amounts of confusion have set in wondering when Roddick will snap out of his funk or is he simply at the end of a good career.
With the dominance of Nadal, Djokovic, Federer and the explosive comeback rise of Del Potrto, where is Andy Roddick? Roddick is now ranked 12 in the world rankings. Not far off from the number 1 ranking he reached in March of 2003, however, still out of the top ten. It seems each year he grinds and grinds to get in the best shape of his life and starts the year off strong only to achieve disappointment such as his recent loss at the Sony Ericsson Open to 67th ranked Pablo Cuevas. Who? How about his early 1st round exit this week to italian qualifier, Flavio Cipolla.
What makes a performer? What makes a player stay at the peak of his game for weeks, month’s years on end? What is behind Nadal’s 37 win streak dominance on clay, Djokovic’s 30 match winning streak, or Federer’s Grand Slam bucket of hardware? It really is simple and it is the key ingredient that Roddick has lost, the title of "performer". It is the key to success in this sport, the ability to go out and perform tennis, rather than play tennis. Week in week out. Roddick has now fallen into the “ tennis player” roll rather than being a "tennis performer."
Roddick has lost his mojo.This is not about his monster serve, or huge groundstrokes, rather his drop in the performing percentages. For outsiders observing his slow decline, you clearly can see Roddick simply playing tennis not performing. He is playing tennis not to lose, rather performing tennis to win. Yes he spent the off season in a vigorous pre-season workout, however, it is my belief that as important as that is for an athlete, Roddick needs to devote time, major time, to what tools he has in his bag, and how to perform using those tools. Physically he is in great shape, or is he? Mentally he is beat up. The level that Nadal, Djokovic and even Federer are at is still in his reach.There is complete balance in a player when they reach that level, of fitness, tennis and off court life are all in line to create a masterpiece season, like an artist. His games balance is all messed up, and it wont matter how great a shape he is in, or who his coach is, or how many aces he hits, it needs to fit perfectly in order to achieve the level of greatness.
Performing tennis is not a talent rather years of cultivating one’s talent into a performing art form. It brings a player to a level of euphoric proportions, the exact dominating level generating a win streak that Djokovic’s has going. It is the same dominance that Nadal is experiencing, the same as Federer’s dominance on tour all those years. Current American up and coming performer is Ryan Harrisson. He is in that process right now and the next few years will show whether or not he has cultivated his talents into top performer status.
This is not an attack on Roddick, rather an outcry to Roddick to search within his soul, seek that inner peace to bring his life to balance again, to finish his career performing at his level that is exactly that, his level. To once again, have his life’s kinetic chain drive him to a level that it shows. He knows how to hit, he knows how to serve, he needs to know once again, that he has the unbelievable ability that if all put together, I believe he will win another Grand Slam before his career is over. I predict that to be another US Open trophy within the next 3 years.
Ten years from now, he will be done, retired from a sport that has dominated his life. Roddick is either going to be telling himself- I did it and ended my career on a great note or simply, I could have done more. There is no doubt that the tennis world needs Roddick for the next few years until the next generation of American tennis takes over. Fans want to see Roddick perform again. Take it one match at a time, and perform your way back to the top. There are plenty of performances left. Roddick needs to contact good friend Andre Agassi for tips on taking his career to a perfomer level, during the later years of his career.
Stay tuned World tennis fans, (especially Raul R.), Roddick's days are not over, his curtain call is up to him.
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