The fans expected great things of the all-American boy at the start of his tennis career, though the experts always had doubts. But there's nothing he likes more than representing his country - so Russia beware! When most of the elite players are having a rest after a long season and making arrangements for Christmas, American star Andy Roddick is deep into his tennis as if the campaign has only just begun.This coming weekend, Roddick, together with team-mates James Blake and the Bryan brothers, Bob and Mike, will be the busiest players around when they take on the Russians in the Davis Cup Final in Oregon.
Davis Cup for some players is a weird event. Big players with big egos are used to playing for themselves only during the year, and suddenly they have to put all their personal interests aside and concentrate on playing for their country.For Roddick, at least this one time and at this particular event, every win will feel like the best and most important victory ever. Roddick is a patriot. He likes to play for his national flag. He likes the atmosphere, the crowd, the feeling that he has more than his coach and family in his corner - a whole nation hungry for success, in fact.
In the twilight of Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi's careers, all fingers where pointing at Roddick as the leader of a new generation of American tennis stars. That never happened. Roddick was able to deliver some of the promise when he won his first and only Grand Slam at home in 2003, but he never quite stood up to the expectations of his fans - and especially the nation.
Objective tennis experts knew from day one that Roddick was no Sampras or Agassi. They saw a player with mediocre talent but loads of will, ambition and fighting spirit, though not a star like many others predicted him to be.Roddick is a decent player with a huge serve and nothing much more – and his results to this day tell the whole story. Coaches like Brad Gilbert and Jimmy Connors helped his game immensely, but even they couldn't turn him into something he wasn't capable of being.Davis Cup might just change Roddick's luck. He needs another big title under his belt after four years of disappointments, especially on the big occasions.Davis Cup in not another Grand Slam, but it is as close as it gets to it. Roddick needs to feel he is part of such a big occasion to maybe finally raise his game to the next level, and become what a whole nation expected of him.
