From the Archives: Roddick's French Open gameplay

Watching Andy Roddick's strategy and execution of his gameplan at Wimbledon, where he is transitioning to net and volleying very well, I thought I'd post some of my older observations of his play earlier this year, particularly during the clay court season (obviously not Andy's favorite).

(Originally posted on May 27, 2005.)

Okay, I've dried off my tears after the Roddick-Acasuso match.

While I have seen some improvement in Andy Roddick's gameplay, there was always this sense of inevitability that he'd lose this particular match. Possibly I got this feeling from observing the following, not only during this second round match but also during the first round match:

1. His first serve percentage was high, but he wasn't winning the free points off it that he was used to getting. Therefore, he had to call upon his groundstrokes, which had to be reliable and consistent.
   
   Unfortunately in this case his strokes kept landing short and did not push his opponent far enough behind the baseline or off beyond the sidelines. This leads me to my next observation...



2. He stands so far back on the return of serve. I could understand that for the first serve, but I would have liked to see him step into the second serve for once.
   
   Since he didn't, he was stuck far behind the baseline on the return and got pinned there with Acasuso's punishing groundstrokes.



3. Nevertheless, he was also able to chase down drop shots, which lend credence to the "better fitness" he's been working on. His improved fitness, however, hadn't been tested by a five-set match and he was cramping by the fifth during the Acasuso match.



4. That said, I'm also happy about him attacking the net more, trying to end points there instead of trying to duel it out off the ground. However, he could have used angle volleys and drop volleys instead of punching them straight back to the baseline where Acasuso was waiting.



5. And speaking of attacking the net, when Acasuso had taken the net, Roddick had no passing shots or even a decent topspin lob.

Not to take anything away from Acasuso's win (which he obviously really worked hard for). These are just a few things I observed during Roddick's two matches at Roland Garros. I think they were also pretty evident in Rome and Hamburg.

posted by Noelle De Guzman @ 9:32 AM