Roddick Builds Team For Long-term Success

WIMBLEDON, England — The more Andy Roddick grabs the limelight, the more he hunkers down outside its glare.

Andy Roddick has raised his celebrity and tennis status, becoming more settled and focused over the past year.

Roddick has hosted Saturday Night Live, appeared on The Late Show With David Letterman and graced the pages of GQ, Vogue, Rolling Stone and People. This week at Wimbledon, the No. 2 seed and reigning U.S. Open champ showed up on the popular British TV program The Weakest Link and faced off against Dennis the Menace in of one of the country’s most venerable cartoon strips, “Beano.”

But even as Roddick’s celebrity status slowly bleeds into crossover territory, the 21-year-old American is increasingly single-minded about his tennis. It’s a formula he hopes will result in winning his second major title this week.

“I live this amazing life because of what tennis has given to me,” says Roddick, who beat big-serving Taylor Dent 6-3, 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-1) Sunday to reach the fourth round. “It’s as simple as that.”

Roddick, who next plays unseeded Alexander Popp of Germany, is not the player who 12 months ago arrived at the All-England Club after a first-round exit from the French Open, looking to make his first Grand Slam final after two years of hype.

He’s still the twitchy, nervous kid who feeds off his intensity as much as his anxiety, but he is more settled, having bought a house near his two older brothers where he grew up in Austin.

He still berates himself on court and plays to the crowd, but he has toned down his act while displaying a deftness for diffusing potentially image-damaging situations.

He still smashes the ball with unprecedented abandon — he hit a 153-mph serve at the Stella Artois Championship at Queen’s Club in London three weeks ago, the fastest recorded and the third time he has raised the bar — yet his game has more variety and fewer holes.

Where a year ago Roddick was just assembling the pieces of his team, most notably by hiring Andre Agassi’s former coach, Brad Gilbert, his traveling entourage is firmly set.

“I trust my team,” says Roddick, who also lured trainer Doug Spreen from the ATP Tour and is working with Golden State Warriors fitness and nutritional specialist Mark Grabow. “They are my family away from home. I feel I have the people that will do this with me for a long time.”

Grass courts give him a lift

The balance between crossover star and star-crossed can be tricky to navigate, especially for young players with early success.

But Roddick’s response — to promote himself and his sport while building a solid foundation — is a prudent one, U.S. Davis Cup coach Patrick McEnroe says.

“He’s comfortable with where he is, but he’s trying to get better in every aspect: how he handles himself, how he takes care of his body, improving his game,” McEnroe says. “He’s smart and he knows what he wants to do, and he’s getting the people around him that aren”t just yes men to push him and help him get there.”

The stepped-up dedication is also the work of world No. 1 Roger Federer, whose sublime play for most of the last year has set the standard.

Roddick “realizes that this guy has raised the bar and so he has to try to stay with him,” McEnroe says.

Wimbledon is one of Team Roddick’s biggest tests yet. Although Roddick won the U.S. Open last year and finished No. 1, he lost the top ranking to Federer early this year.

The smooth-stroking, defending Wimbledon champ has shown no signs of relinquishing it anytime soon. The 22-year-old Swiss star is 42-4 in 2004 with a tour-leading five titles, including a second major at January’s Australian Open.

Federer stretched his grass-court winning streak to 20 on Sunday by dismantling former Australian Open champ Thomas Johansson of Sweden in three sets. It’s the longest streak since Sampras won 23 consecutive matches from 1998 to 2000.

But that doesn”t mean Roddick isn”t on his mind.

“I always keep watching a little bit of his matches, because he’s No. 2 in the world,” Federer says. “But here I’m checking him out more than maybe other tournaments.”

Roddick’s first half of the year has been slightly less impressive, although his game is kicking into gear. He has three titles and a 41-8 overall record. His 18-1 match record on grass the past two seasons includes two consecutive Queen’s Club crowns, his only loss coming to Federer in the semifinals of Wimbledon last year. Roddick is 1-5 in his career against Federer.

But his game is peaking. Grass suits his bludgeoning power game. And it was during the grass-court season last year when Roddick began his surge to the top of the rankings.

“It’s a lot of good memories from last year,” he says. “I feel like Queen’s really started my run for the American summer. It definitely all started over here.”

Maturing through life’s tests

Many players have assembled similar close-knit groups to help guide them to success. Agassi teamed with Gilbert and longtime trainer Gil Reyes for eight years. (Reyes remains with Agassi.) Paul Annacone coached Sampras to most of his record-setting 14 majors. So if the kaleidoscope’s scattered pieces are starting to take a recognizable form around Roddick, it is hardly unusual.

“The biggest thing with coaches is sometimes having too big an ego that you want to learn to do everything,” Gilbert says. “I feel like the best thing I can do is bring people on board that know things I don’t know.”

But that’s only part of the picture. Roddick’s evolving persona and resolve have been shaped by 12 months of experience most people don’t see in a lifetime.

Criticized for his enthusiastic on-court antics such as shouts of “C”mon,” fist pumps or high-fives to fans, Roddick now plays with more reserve and respect.

Roddick has also shown a deft touch when he has rubbed fellow players the wrong way.

-At last year’s U.S. Open, Croat Ivan Ljubicic launched into Roddick at his postmatch news conference, but Roddick quickly smoothed things over by calling Ljubicic at his hotel after the match and talking.

-When Roddick beat fellow American Todd Martin in the first round of the French Open last month, the two exchanged words at the net over a disputed line call earlier in the match. The dust-up was quickly quelled in the locker room.

“He’s a much more even-keeled competitor than he used to be, which is a sign of maturity,” says Martin, adding the disagreement was “bygones” by the evening of the match in Paris. “It confirms what I already had believed about him.”

-During a deadly hotel fire in Rome this spring, Roddick helped a dozen people into his room and herded them onto his sixth floor balcony as they scampered to escape the smoke and flames. That included 6-4 Dutch player Sjeng Schalken, who jumped with his wife practically into Roddick’s arms.

The incident left the players, already friends and occasional practice partners, shaken but with a special bond, according to Schalken.

“Rome was probably the first time in my life I was out on the court and could care less if I won or lost,” says Roddick, who lost his match after the hotel fire. “I wanted to go home, and I wanted to see my family. After about a week of that my boredom set in and I was ready to go again.”

-His widely publicized romance and breakup with pop singer Mandy Moore gave him a taste of the pitfalls of high-profile dating. Roddick, since romantically linked to model Lauren Bedford, declines to discuss either relationship.

Building a better game

As his Q rating rises, so too does his dedication to his craft. Already fit enough to survive a five-hour marathon against Younes El Aynaoui at the Australian Open last year, Roddick has shed about 10 pounds in the last two months by working on his diet with Grabow.

“I used to eat a loaf of bread at dinner,” says Roddick, who is down from 200-plus pounds. “His fighting weight is 193,” chimes in trainer Spreen.

Equally important is the ongoing influence of the center of his inner circle: Gilbert. The fast-talking strategy guru has helped the easily distracted Roddick focus his game while helping him improve his sometimes-suspect backhand and volleys.

“One of the coolest things about working with Brad was he came in and he’s like, “Listen, we”re going to simplify things,” ” says Roddick, 9-5 in finals before working with Gilbert, 9-1 since. “It wasn”t all this technical mumbo-jumbo. He just made it very simple.”

Roddick also goes out of his way to boost the sport, stopping for fan photographs and autographs on the grounds of the All England Club, making himself available to the media and letting the dust of celebrity coat him — as long as it brings up the stature of tennis.

“I feel like it is one of my responsibilities to give back and help where I can,” he says. “I’m still learning what that is and how to go about it. But, you know, if I can do anything to kind of help promote the game and make it bigger, then I will.”

One thing sure to make the game bigger is rivalries. Many are hoping for a Roddick-Federer showdown in the July 4 final.

If Roddick hasn”t looked as sharp as Federer, his draw is a bit easier. Among the experienced grass-courters still lurking in Roddick’s half are No. 5 seed Tim Henman, 2003 finalist Mark Philippoussis and 2002 semifinalist Xavier Malisse. None is in his quarter. The highest seed in Roddick’s way to the semis is No. 12 Schalken.

Federer has No. 9 seed Carlos Moya and 2002 Wimbledon champ Hewitt in his quarter, with 2003 semifinalist Sebastien Grosjean in his half. But his form makes him the clear favorite.

“If Federer is at his best, it will be very tough to beat him,” McEnroe says. “But I think Andy has the serve and the firepower that he can hold serve. I think that’s why he’s doing all these things off the court.”

Even if he doesn”t win a second Grand Slam this week, Roddick is focused on building a foundation for long-term success. He is aware that winning the U.S. Open and finishing as the youngest American No. 1 means that failing to capture a Slam in 2004 will look to some as a decline.

“Dealing with what people say is part of being one of the top players in your sport,” Roddick says.

Fourteen-time major winner Sampras won the 1990 U.S. Open at 19 but did not win another Slam until Wimbledon in 1993. Agassi, with eight majors, lost his first three Grand Slam finals in 1990-91 before winning the 1992 Wimbledon title.

“If I win a Slam this year, it’s an extremely successful year,” Roddick says. “I don’t think about what I might not do.”