A Look Ahead To The Clay Court Season

With the clay court season fast approaching, Andy Roddick is not one of the first names visible on the list of top clay court players. This could prove to be a serious omission, as Andy has, in fact, had a lot of success on clay. When Andy first broke on to the scene in 2001, the first tournament he won that year was a clay court event in Atlanta where he only dropped one set. A week later he was holding up the trophy at the Men’s Claycourt Championships in Houston. Not many can boast back to back clay court tournaments.

As Andy said “It’s no secret that it’s (clay) not my favourite surface, but it’s definitely something that I’m trying to get better on. I think everybody has a weak surface; clay happens to be mine”. “I’m not a natural clay court player (but) once I get more and more comfortable on it, I start playing well.” This last statement is clearly evident in the impressive results he has picked up on the dirt and the big tussles he has been involved in with very accomplished clay court players.

Andy’s clay court success didn’t stop in 2001, he has had success every year since then. He defended his title in Houston a year later in ‘02 and has reached the final there for the last two years. However Andy’s clay court wins aren’t limited to the States. In 2002 Andy reached the semi finals in Rome and a year later picked up his first title in Europe on the Austrian clay at St. Pölten. With his solid ground strokes Andy is not at sea on clay and although he acknowledges movement as being “the most difficult aspect,” sliding, is not a problem. “I grew up in Florida. You know, you play a lot of clay there. I slide fine”.

It has been a challenge for Andy to work out the results on clay. He admits that his days on the junior circuit didn’t produce the same type of results, “I used to get my butt kicked on it in Juniors a bunch when we came over here (to Europe). You know, the guys who are used to it just kind of used me for batting practice.” But where there’s a challenge involved you can expect Andy to rise up and meet it, “I like the challenge of trying to beat someone when they feel more comfortable and are a bit more natural. I think that’s part of tennis, that’s what makes tennis unique.”

Although he didn’t win in Seville, some of Andy’s most sterling efforts on clay were seen that weekend of the Davis Cup Final in December 2004. Andy was pitted against the clay’s best players and competed with them all the way in extremely gutsy performances. With his record on clay and the type of determination he showed in Spain, there is no reason why all of Andy’s fans should not be completely optimistic for the coming weeks!