Let’s Get Ready To Rumble

Andy Roddick - 21 years old, 188cm, 89kg, No. 1 seed

Taylor Dent - 22 years old, 188cm, 88kg, No. 27 seed

Head to head in 2003 - 1-1. Dent won final at Memphis (Feb), Roddick won QF at Queens (June)

It’s shaping as the heavyweight slugfest of the tournament so far - a blockbuster between two big blokes who love to belt the ball around the court.

Current world No.1 Andy Roddick and fellow American Taylor Dent, tipped by many as the ‘next big thing’, are friends off the court but, according to compatriot James Blake, ‘it’s going to be down to business’ when the two meet in the third-round on Friday.

“You’re going to see some heat on those serves, that’s for sure,” Blake added in what is probably an understatement.

Roddick has fired down a tournament-high 225kmh thunderbolt already, while Dent is number two on the Australian Open speedometer with a fastest serve of 219kmh.

Roddick, 21, and Dent, 22, are both tall men, at 188cm (6′2), with Roddick (89kg) tipping the scales one kilogram heavier than Dent (88kg).

Many believe Roddick came of age during a gruelling encounter with Younes El Aynaoui at the 2003 Australian Open, eventually overcoming the tenacious Moroccan 21-19 in the fifth set.

After being a semi-finalist at the Australian Open and then Wimbledon, Roddick went on to win the US Open and, in the process, made the biggest leap in history to No.1 from a season-end ranking of No.10 in 2003.

While Roddick’s statistics speak for themselves, it is Dent’s fellow Americans who are talking him up as the one to watch in 2004.

Andre Agassi described Dent this week as ‘a guy you only expect to get better’ and sounded a warning for Roddick.

“Taylor has a lot of firepower off the serve. His groundstrokes, he’s very athletic at the net, has great hands,” Agassi said.

“He has the potential of making anybody uncomfortable out there, even somebody with the serving and holding ability of Andy.”

Blake was similarly effusive about Dent’s potential, describing his compatriots serve and aggression at the net as his biggest weapons.

“Taylor, on a given day, he can beat anyone with that serve,” Blake said.

“Any time someone has got a second serve that sits up a little bit, he’s going to chip and charge and get in.”

“His volleys have always been real solid…His hands are still unbelievable.”

Head to head in 2003, the two split the honors - Dent beat Roddick in the final at Memphis to capture his first ATP title, while Roddick took his revenge in a quarter-final at Queens.

Dent is on a roll after closing the season with back-to-back titles in Bangkok (defeating Ferrero) and Moscow, while Roddick has cruised through the first two rounds in Melbourne and looks relaxed and focused.

Even Roddick concedes that Dent is on the rise in 2004. “I see a great year ahead for Taylor,” Roddick said after his second-round match on Wednesday. “You know, I think it’s just a matter of it coming together for him.” “Hopefully he’ll delay it for a couple more days.”