Andy Roddick is living the dream, having completed a fantasy season that saw him rise from a first-round Grand Slam ouster in May to become the world’s top-ranked tennis player.
The 21-year-old American became the second-youngest year-end world number one in ATP history in Houston on Wednesday when second-ranked Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain was beaten by Andre Agassi at the season-ending Masters Cup.
The loss meant Ferrero would not advance from round-robin play to the semifinals and therefore could not overcome his deficit to Roddick in the ATP Champions Race.
Roddick, younger than all before him save for Australian Lleyton Hewitt, is the 13th man to be year-end number one and the sixth American in the spot, joining Agassi, Pete Sampras, Jim Courier, Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe.
”I’m incredibly honoured to finish the year as number one, but I’m probably more proud to be the sixth American ever,” Roddick said in a statement.
”It’s hard to reflect on what a year this has been but I’m incredibly fortunate to be playing at home in the United States. To be able to share all of this with my friends and family is better than I could have imagined.”
Roddick, who won his first Grand Slam title in September at the US Open, arrived in Houston on the eve of the event after spending a week in New York rehearsing and hosting the comedy show Saturday Night Live.
It’s the sort of fast-lane life Agassi knows all too well. It’s one of the things that contributed to an up-and-down career that saw him claim year-end honours only in 1999 compared to the six-year run of Sampras.
”He is giving me advice there. He seems like he is doing a fine job,” Agassi said of Roddick’s handling of the high life. ”He is finishing the year number one with a lot of people tugging at him. I’m sure he is doing a fine job.
”He has proved himself the best among the greatest players in the world. That’s a lot to be proud of.”
Roddick began the year with a run to the Australian Open semifinals that included an epic five-hour marathon quarterfinal triumph over Moroccan Younes El Aynaoui that ended with a 21-19 fifth-set victory.
Roddick injured his right wrist in the endurance test and lost to Germany’s Rainer Schuettler in the semifinal.
He wrist got better but his game struggled. After losing to Armenia’s Sargis Sargsian in the first round of the French Open, Roddick decided it was time to make a change.
Roddick dumped his coach, Frenchman Tarik Benhabiles, and hired Agassi’s former coach, Brad Gilbert. Under Gilbert’s more relaxed instructional system, Roddick has thrived, going 46-6 since making the switch.
Roddick served notice of his improvement by winning at Queen’s and reaching the Wimbledon semifinals, losing to eventual champion Roger Federer.
Then Roddick ripped through the US hardcourt season, capturing a tour-best 19-match win streak, taking titles at Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Montreal and reaching the Washington semifinals, where he lost his only US Open tuneup match to Britain’s Tim Henman.
Roddick avenged the loss to Henman in the first match of his run to the US Open crown, then rallied from a two-set deficit and saved a match point to beat Argentina’s David Nalbandian in a semi before beating Ferrero in the final.
That launched Roddick to the top of the rankings. After two months of duelling Ferrero, he knows he will finish the year on top, the future of men’s tennis having served notice that the future is now.
”It’s an incredible accomplishment, especially the way he has done it, coming on at the end of the year,” Agassi said.
”He was going into the summer a lot closer to 20 the world than one. For him to dominate the hardcourt season like he did was unbelievable. For him to pull it off is a great accomplishment.” — Sapa-AFP