Andy Roddick has become the world’s number-one tennis player under the guidance of Andre Agassi’s former coach. Now he plans to follow Agassi’s ultra-fitness training regimen to stay on top.
Reigning US Open champion Roddick finished atop the year-end ATP rankings released on Monday after a run to the semifinals of the ATP Masters Cup, which ended in Houston on Sunday with Roger Federer beating Agassi in the final.
Federer rose to number two in the world and is the prime foe Roddick must consider as top players begin their preparations for January’s Australian Open.
Roddick, coached by ex-Agassi mentor Brad Gilbert, plans to start a serious off-season fitness programme in December. He wants to improve his conditioning and prepare for the challenge of proving his 2003 run to glory was no fluke.
”I hope to get started on a good physical training program,” Roddick said. ”I think [Agassi] is a great model for it. This is the one time where you can go all-out on physical activity and not have to worry about the consequences of having to play the next week.
”I just want to keep improving. I might finish next year third, fourth or fifth, but feel like I’m a better player.”
Roddick joins a legacy of year-end number ones such as Agassi, John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Stefan Edberg and Pete Sampras. But the 21-year-old American said only time and achievement will make him worthy.
”I’m not in any of their classes yet,” Roddick said. ”You think of them as legends of the game. To be in that breath for a day maybe is kind of cool. I know if I want to stay there I’m going to have to go to work.”
Fleet-footed Agassi credits his trainer, veteran Las Vegas boxing workout man Gil Reyes, for his longevity. Agassi became the eldest world number one this year at age 33 after slipping as low as 141st in the rankings in 1997.
”He has kept me out here,” Agassi said of Reyes. ”We’ve been together 14 years. He has kept me getting better as an athlete, consistently. He has helped me through some pretty difficult times. He is the reason why I am still here.”
Superior fitness has contributed to Agassi remaining competitive with rivals more than 10 years younger.
”My age is irrelevant when I’m on the court,” Agassi said. ”The tennis speaks for itself. There’s no guesswork out there. You can’t bluff your way through anything. I can’t get around being 33.”
Agassi is the last star of his generation near the top while Roddick’s rise has come as a new set of stars has taken command and after he dumped Frenchman Tarik Benhabiles as his coach for Gilbert after a first-round French Open loss.
”I was sitting there in May not really playing much after the French, kind of deciding what route I wanted to go,” Roddick said.
”I didn’t really expect to finish up so strong. To have a Grand Slam title and the number-one trophy as well, it has been a ride since then.”
Roddick won 19 matches in a row and claimed titles at Indianapolis, Montreal and Cincinnati before capturing his first Slam crown at Flushing Meadows.
”I don’t think it’s going to happen every year where I get on a roll like I did this summer and just win that many tough matches in a row and have everything go your way,” Roddick said.
”I realise that as well as I was playing, there was a good amount of luck still involved with that. We’ll see. I feel like I can improve.”
Agassi has not played an ATP match against Roddick since Wimbledon but has seen Gilbert’s latest pupil boost his results in tight matches.
”He has come a long way,” Agassi said. ”He has won a lot of close matches that maybe in the past he hadn’t gotten over that hump. Sometimes that’s what it takes, just that little bit extra.”
Roddick struggled to a 10-6 record after the US Open and indicated he will consider taking more time off next year. Agassi took a two-month break before playing in Houston to rest his body and said he should have cut his schedule sooner.
”It turned out to be a pretty good decision, one that I should have made more often the last few years,” Agassi said. ”There have been a lot of years where I have come to this tournament more spent than prepared. As you get older, the end of a long year becomes more of a factor.
”I feel like I have done some smart things since the Open and after this tournament I will be in a better position to make some more good choices in preparation for Australia. Hopefully I can have another good year.” — Sapa-AFP