Bonded For Life

Andy Roddick says he’s developed a special bond with Dutchman Sjeng Schalken, the fellow player whom the American helped to save from a Rome hotel fire last May before start of the Italian Open. When an early-morning fire broke out in the luxury hotel in which players were staying for the Italian event, Roddick was hailed as a hero for herding people onto his balcony in the VIP suite before they were eventually rescued by the fire brigade. Three people died in the blaze. Schalken and his wife Ricky, who shot pictures of the ordeal on a digital camera, had posted them on her husband’s website within a few hours.

They were saved by leaping to safety one floor down to Roddick’s sixth-floor balcony at the Parco dei Principi hotel. At the time, Roddick shrugged off any label of hero, saying it was just a reaction to the situation.

“There’s always something there when you share an experience that’s pretty traumatic,'’ said the 21-year-old, who lost in the Rome first round and headed home. “I don’t know what that bond is but there’s something a little different there. That’s kind of neat.'’ He said that at the time, tennis was the last thing on his mind. “It rattled me for a week. Rome was probably the first time in my life when I was out on a court and I couldn’t care less if I won or lost.'’