Nice Try, Justin Gimelstob
Gimelstob on si.com yesterday ahead of Andy Roddick's match with Roger Federer, outlining why he thought Roddick would pull the upset:
"Andy is one of the few players who can successfully take Federer's time away. He can overpower Federer with his powerful serve. Moreover, with his increased comfort and proficiency at the net, Andy now has a way to rush Federer when his serve comes back. Andy has spent endless hours improving not only his volleying, but also his approach shots and net coverage. When I was in Hawaii with him last month, we spent much of our practices re-enacting patterns of play where he would approach and have to win points at the net. I believe this, in addition to the technical improvements Connors has made to shore up Andy's backhand, will make a significant difference on Thursday."
And...the match results are in and:
Federer in straights sets 6-4, 6-0, 6-2.
To recap, in the second set, Roddick was as effective against Federer as you or I would have been (tongue-in-cheek hyperbole included). To say that Federer is playing tennis that is in a different universe from mortals at this point would be an understatement. He's still the best I have ever seen. Not even close. But, thanks for playing Justin Gimelstob. Jon Wertheim with a can't miss post-massacre column of thoughts on si.com, including:
"Even in defeat, Roddick has a hell of a sense of humor. His postmortem was one for the ages. Among the highlights. 'It was frustrating. It sucked. It was terrible. Besides that, it was fine.' How will he sleep tonight? 'It depends on how much I drink.' Roddick was told that he had performed better in the news conference than on the court. His reponse: 'No s---.'"
Heh. Props to Roddick for handling the slaughter in that manner. It's simply his bad luck to have come along at the same time as Federer.