Fallen hero needs time to heal

Andy Roddick

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His press conferences are the stuff of legend among the touring hacks, but it was no surprise that a subdued Andy Roddick emerged through the door following his 5-7 7-6(6) 7-6(5) 3-6 16-14 defeat at the hands of Roger Federer.

Having spoken previously this tournament about the hurt he felt at last year’s Championships after being bundled out in the third round by Janko Tipsarevic, it was clear that coming so close made things no easier to take.

Roddick was monosyllabic in describing what happened today, summarising with one word: “lost.”

Ever the sporting gentleman, he was more conversational in heaping praise on his opponent Roger Federer. “He gets a lot of credit for a lot of things, but not a lot of the time is how many matches he kind of digs deep and toughs out. He doesn’t get a lot of credit for that because it looks easy to him a lot of the times –but he definitely stuck in there today.”

The difference today, he conceded, was in Federer’s serve “He served just great. He did what he had to. If he hadn’t have served better I’d probably be sitting here in a better mood.”

“I just keep going, you know – there’s not another option”

There was no solace to be found in the knowledge that the match was played in front of 15,000 people on a packed Centre Court who offered him countless ovations for his part, nor the millions around the world on TV to see both players give everything of themselves. With a reputation for gutsing it out and having played some of his best tennis this fortnight, A-Rod was simply drained. He had given it his all out there today, and it had taken its toll.

“You know, it’s kind of hard to digest it and come in here and give you guys a lot of insight afterwards. But I just keep going, you know – there’s not another option.”

While it is plain to see just how much it meant to him to come so close there are those who will know better than most, not least wife Brooklyn, who Roddick has said played a key role in turning him around over the past year, and coach Larry Stefanki, who will doubtless be impressed with how his charge came so close to achieving his dream today.

But just what state this epic match leaves Roddick – who is in the Davis Cup squad to play Croatia at the weekend – remains to be seen. He certainly couldn’t face talking about it: “To be honest right now, I don’t really want to think about it.” There wasn’t much of anything he seemed ready to look forward to. The pain of this loss will not disappear overnight.

It was charming sage Bud Collins who demanded that we “liberate this man” after seven arduous minutes for the American, and with those compassionate words and a round of applause from the hacks more accustomed to sharing laughs with him than tears, A-Rod was released from his press conference to go and face up to the cruel side of the sport.