Times Online: Roddick is devoted to finding his feet on clay

It would stretch credulity to suggest that Andy Roddick will ever join a Roman institution of which Pete Sampras, Jim Courier and Jimmy Arias are American members – the Italian Open Champions’ Society.

“It’s tough because the movement is something we didn’t acquire at a young age,” the world No 3 said. “It’s like a language. If you learn it at 3 and 4, it’s a lot easier to pick up but if you’re trying to get it at 16 or 17, it’s tougher to learn. That’s the same with us on clay.”

Actually, Roddick has a decent record at the Foro Italico, with semi-final and quarter-final appearances, and yesterday, in a second-round match of deep intrigue, he defeated Gastón Gaudio, the 2004 French Open champion from Argentina, 6-1, 7-6 on his fifth match point. It is usually at Roland Garros in Paris where the clay shifts under his feet, but in Rome Roddick is very much at home.

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