Andy Roddick- Getty Images

Roddick Wants Wimbledon

June 23, 2008

When Andy Roddick broke onto the tennis scene, he made no secret of what his intentions were. Since he was young, his four career goals included winning the US Open, attaining No. 1 player status, capturing a Davis Cup championship for his country and lifting the Wimbledon trophy. Roddick has managed to accomplish all but one of these, so his efforts are now solely focused on leaving London next week as the Wimbledon champion.

“When I'm in the gym or on the practice court dying, I'm thinking about Wimbledon,” said Roddick. “That's what's on my mind every day. I don't really think about where I'm ranked. If you told me I could win Wimbledon and be ranked 20th in the world, I would take it without even thinking.”

Roddick has come close to tasting glory at Wimbledon having made the final twice in 2004 and 2005. However, he was unfortunate enough to have faced Roger Federer, a terminator on grass, on both occasions. This year, with Federer showing signs of vulnerability and facing constant speculation that he is just not on the top of his game, Roddick believes he has just as good a chance as anyone.

”I've always played well on grass, and if it weren't for Roger, I'd probably be looking at two or three Wimbledon titles,” said Roddick. “I don't think I'm tricking myself into believing I have a chance to win. I honestly believe I'm one of a few who has a shot this year, and I'm excited about that.”

Roddick just may be right. After finishing last season by leading the US to a Davis Cup championship, his play so far this year has been exceptional. He is making all of the right decisions to put him in a place to win a second Grand Slam (his first was the 2003 US Open). Roddick has also shown that he can swim with the big fish this year as he has defeated all three of the top players.

He captured his first title of the year in San Jose and then made his way over to Dubai for his first ever appearance at the event. The field was very strong with the American having to face Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals. He defeated Nadal and was not given any time to rest as his semifinal opponent was Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic. He pushed the Serb aside in straight sets to go on and win his second championship of the season.

While these two wins were extremely impressive, it was not until the Masters Series event in Miami that Roddick proved that he has upped his game to a new level. Facing Federer in the quarter-finals, Roddick managed to halt an 11-match losing streak against the No. 1, winning in three sets.

After the victory, Roddick (who is known for his witty press conferences) said, “I came in knowing that nobody has beaten me 12 times in a row. So I had that on my side.”

Most recently, after being briefly sidelined by a shoulder injury that forced him to miss the French Open, Roddick returned back to action at the Artois Championships in London and reached the semifinals to warm-up for Wimbledon.

All of this success comes on the heels of some interesting personal life and career choices from Roddick. At the beginning of March, he announced his split with coach and American tennis legend Jimmy Connors. After more than 18 months of working together, the pair parted ways amicably and Roddick’s brother John has since taken over full coaching duties. Following that announcement, the fervent nationalist shocked everyone by bowing out of the Beijing Olympics in favour of preparing for the US Open on home soil. Lastly, at the end of March, Roddick made public his engagement to swimsuit model Brooklyn Decker after just eight months of dating.

While these decisions may seem rather odd to an outsider, they have clearly worked to Roddick’s benefit. After a crazy first six months of the year, with major developments both on and off the court, it really does seem as though Roddick is cruising towards a head-on collision with tennis’ oldest trophy and his last major career ambition.