After Wimbledon, I'm left wondering whose heart will heal faster, Andy Roddick's or those of his most ardent fans. For while Roddick is a fit and able competitor who has demonstrated over and over that he lives by that champion's maxim -- "Every day is a new day" (How else could he have so effectively ignored his dismal 2-18 head-to-head record against Roger Federer before their epic Wimbledon final?) -- fans don't share that mentality.
With them, it's more like: "Every day is a new day to die (or explode in ecstasy)." It's just one of the differences between them (the players) and us (the fans and pundits). Still, this past Wimbledon was a crushing blow, all right. But if it's any consolation, Roddick is now in some very distinguished company as a seemingly snakebitten Wimbledon competitor.
This was his third -- and most agonizing -- loss to Federer in a Wimbledon final, and he also lost to him in the semis to set the table for tragedy, way back in 2003. You can look at the bright side and say Roddick is making progress, albeit at a glacial pace. Or you can throw your hands up and say he's nothing more than a Ken Rosewall, a Mats Wilander or an Ivan Lendl.
Now you get my drift: Players who have achieved a lot more than Roddick has so far in his career -- hey, it's not like every losing finalist is a Mark Philippoussis or a Cedric Pioline -- have had their hearts broken repeatedly at the All England Club, unable to capitalize on a singular career opportunity to bag the Wimbledon title. And that should give Roddick and his fans hope, should memories come back to haunt Andy as the months and even years roll on.
Wilander, for all his accomplishments, can be left out of this discussion, because he never did get into the hunt at Wimbledon; his best results were three straight quarterfinal defeats, starting in 2007. After absorbing those losses, he didn't even bother to show up, except on one occasion, until he retired in 1996. But Rosewall and Lendl were different stories.
Rosewall often made Rod Laver's life miserable, and was certainly the No. 1 player for a few years in the pre-computer ranking days of the early 1960s. He had all the tools for success on grass, as attested to by his collection of seven Grand Slam titles earned on that surface.
Rosewall played his first major in 1951 and his last in 1978. And although he was in the mix at an extraordinarily high level for most of those years, he failed to win Wimbledon despite four trips to the final, losing (in chronological order, starting in 1954) to Lew Hoad, Jaroslav Drobny, John Newcombe and Jimmy Connors. On that last occasion, in 1974, he was 39 years old.
Then there was Lendl, who made no secret about his ambition to win Wimbledon. In 1990 and '91, he even skipped the French Open (where he won the title three times) in order to improve his chances at Wimbledon. He also hired Tony Roche, an old-school Australian icon, to help him realize his dream. But while Lendl made the semifinals or better six times in seven years (including two finals) starting in 1983, he never got over the championship hump.
The big takeaways for Roddick: You're in very good company when it comes to Wimbledon, and there's still plenty of time to get the job done. Just look at Goran Ivanisevic, who went from wild card to champion in 2001 after having been a distraught runner-up on three different occasions.
You've got a long way to go before you hit 39.
Peter Bodo
