TMS Houston Update

Andy Roddick arrived in Houston from New York at 5:15 a.m. Monday via a private airplane. For Roddick, who had spent the past week rehearsing and hosting Saturday Night Live, attending a charity event back in Florida, and of course practicing for the Masters Cup, sleep was a top priority. He went from the airport straight to the hotel to catch some z’s.

Afterall, it was a busy week. Besides his tennis and acting duties, he had one more role to play: that of becoming the No. 1 player in the world. Roddick was officially crowned with the ranking last Monday, as he became the second youngest American man in history to become the top-ranked player in the world, following behind John McEnroe who first accomplished the feat in 1980.

As much as reporters inandated him with questions surrounding his decision to host the late-night show, Andy took it all in stride. The break actually did him some good. “It was a lot of fun. I definitely enjoyed myself. You know, I think it was a good thing. It kept me away from the craziness and getting too deep into all this stuff. I come here with a fresh head, and I’m ready to go.”

And the reviews are in. Word around the Westside Tennis Club is that Andy has pulled off an incredile performance. Since Andy arrived here in Houston, there has been much talk about his week-long stint in show business. People want more, but when asked whether he would do the show again, Andy replied, “sometime, but I don’t know if they’ll let me. I doubt the invitation is going to be extended again any time soon.”

But make no mistake about it, Andy has no regrets. As far as practice was concerned, Andy put in two practice sessions a day while in New York and gave the SNL producers a lot less time for rehearsal than they desired, but that was originally part of the deal. Need more proof? The skit with Billy Jean King was shot about 20 minutes after a practice session.

As for his thoughts on the year-end championship? “I’m excited. That was definitely one of my goals to start the year, was to make [the] Masters. I feel like I’ve gone above and beyond that so far this year. So I’m definitely excited to be here,” he says. And the competition? “I think you’re gonna see a lot of great tennis, with guys knowing they have one more week left and trying to leave it all out there.”

That’s just Andy will do when he takes on seventh seed Carlos Moya Tuesday night in his opening match at the Master’s Cup.