“It seems like most times we play he’s on top of his game, which is a little annoying.” said Andy Roddick after his defeat to Roger Federer.
Federer decimates the American for the 15th time in 16 meetings
SHANGHAI: Andy Roddick was mad. The American stormed into the press conference on Friday after a 4-6 2-6 drubbing by Roger Federer and looked real angry, “It seems like most times we play he’s on top of his game, which is a little annoying.”
But does he even think he has a chance of taking the Swiss’ clockwork apart? Ever?
“You know, you just dissect it even more. I promise you this isn’t for lack of thought or lack of work. You get up, you work, you try to think your way through it, hope for that day. There’s not much more you can do.”
The last time Roddick beat Federer was four years ago in a third-set tiebreak. The last time he was even close was in their round-robin encounter at this very tournament when the American failed to make enough of three match points in the second set tiebreak.
Since then he has not won a set.
On Friday there was never even a whiff of victory for Roddick to take heart from.
An 83% first serve in from Federer with 33 winners and three breaks thrown in made for an hour of exceptional dominance.
“I was impressed with my own performance,” he would say later.
And what impresses a man as impressive as Federer? “My variety. Came into the net nicely, volleyed off nice shots. Really served very well. That was not to be expected, to be honest.”
Nikolay Davydenko beat Fernando Gonzalez 6-4 6-3 in an earlier encounter and that — given the elaborate mathematics of the round-robin format — meant that both
Federer and Roddick had qualified for the semifinals.
As such the result of the subsequent contest between the two became inconsequential. But not if you take into account the mental aspect of this whole game.
Every time Roddick goes out against Federer he carries the monkey of each past decimation prancing on his back.
On Saturday, Federer takes on Rafael Nadal while Roddick faces the man on a mean streak — David Ferrer. Nadal has said there is little he can do if Federer plays his best.
Such is the aura of this man, they don’t even think they can beat him unless he lets himself down. Ferrer may just disagree before the end of this week.
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