| Thursday, 26 June 2008 Written by Helen Gilbert Andy Roddick has never been one for mincing his words. And this was no exception. He may have suffered a 6-7, 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 second round defeat to Janko Tipsarevic, but the Nebraska-born boy revealed afterwards that he is not giving up just yet. He wants to win another Grand Slam.
Unfortunately, the Wimbledon 2008 title will not be it. His problem was, perhaps, simply wanting it too much. A two-time Wimbledon finalist and last year’s quarter finalist, Roddick admitted that he choked on every opportunity he got.
"That’s tough to deal with and that’s not something you really want to do," Roddick said. "I could sit here and try to dance around it all night but it was what it was. It’s like you want something so bad you almost squeeze too tight." The 25-year-old described his shots on breakpoints as "horrific" and said there was "no excuse" for not making returns off 90 mile-an-hour serves that fell in the middle of the box. "It's not the same as 2006 where I couldn't have hit the ball into an ocean on the beach," he said. "It was just the big moments. I blinked. You know, there's no way of getting around that." Even though A-Rod was clearly disappointed — describing his performance as "just bad" — he will dust himself down and prepare for the US Open. For him, "coasting along as a top 10 player" doesn’t really appeal and he yearns to win another major event.
"I want to win another slam. If I'm being honest with you guys, and if you guys are being honest with me, if I go and win a tour event, what are you guys going to say: 'Who cares'?"
Tipsarevic, on the other hand, believes he won simply by taking his chances, whereas Roddick didn't.
"He had a lot of breakpoints, I think 11 or 12, four set points even in the whole match and he didn't use them. The good thing for me is he didn't make me play too much on these set points and breakpoints. He was making unforced errors."
"I could see that he was tight, and this is one of the reasons why, especially in the important moments, I made him play. I didn't try to hit great shots like impossible down the line shots or something like that."
For Tipsy, as he is known, the victory only began to sink in when he was back in the locker room when, "your emotions are down and your brain starts to work".
|
Tipsarevic Stuns Roddick
Subscription Video (Live)
