!Picby Pete Bodo
WIMBLEDON, England—This may not have been the greatest day in American men's tennis at this tournament; the history is as long as it is rich. But it may have been the most eventful, and in any case it almost certainly was the longest. It began when Brian Baker strolled languidly into the bright sunshine flooding Court No. 2 at almost exactly 11:30 a.m., and ended in the gloaming almost 10 hours later, at 9:03 p.m., when Sam Querrey failed to get a good swing on Marin Cilic's serve and thereby lost the second-longest match (5:31) in recorded Wimbledon history.
The time in between was occupied with a remarkable number of highs and lows, sometimes within one set or match, sometimes in the press room, or in the simple contemplation of time passing—or not passing, as must have seemed the case for Querrey and Cilic, two combatants who seemed bent on venturing into Isner-Mahut territory like a pair of deluded, punch-drunk romantics. Time passing, because the other loser on this long day for the U.S. at Wimbledon was Andy Roddick, whose time here is slipping ever more quickly through the hourglass.
By the time the mellow late evening light washed over a disappointed Querrey's visage—he collegially patted Cilic on the tummy a few times, right after the handshake at the net, as if to say, Phew, am I glad that's finally over, pard!—two American men had advanced to the second week of the tournament, and they were not the ones most pundits or fans might have predicted. They were Baker and Fish, while Querrey and Roddick were finished.
I wrote about Baker earlier today so lets focus on the other three matches and the themes they engendered:
David Ferrer (No. 7) d. Andy Roddick (No. 30), 2-6, 7-6 (8), 6-4, 6-3: The score of this match constitutes an accurate comment on just how things went out on the Centre Court, where Roddick has been such a regular fixture for so many years. They're at once a testament to Ferrer's ability to wear down opponents, but perhaps also to the high mileage on Roddick's odometer.
Roddick took great big cuts from the get-go, which is is no great feat in and of itself. But he also swarmed over Ferrer and drove him back by playing up on the baseline or inside the court, and that's a considerably tougher trick to turn. He overpowered Ferrer in the first set and seemed to have him under control for almost all of the second. You have to like Roddick's chances when he can get into a tiebreaker, especially against an opponent who, unlike the American, can't shoot out the lights with his serve.
It's probably small consolation to Roddick that there were only two mini-breaks in this 18-point tiebreaker, back-to-back ones at that, in just the third and fourth points served. There were four set points—two for each man—but Ferrer was the one who converted when Roddick, despite making a good serve, belted an inside-out forehand beyond the sideline.
It began to get away from Roddick after the tiebreaker, and it did so slowly but with almost agonizing inevitability, as Ferrer calibrated the game he uses to wear down opponents the way water wears down stone. Soon, Roddick's aggression and energy began to decline.
Roddick fell behind 0-40 serving the seventh game of the third set. He staved off the first two set points with whistling service winners, but Ferrer got the third one into play and eventually Roddick made a forehand error. Ferrer hung onto his serve like a determined terrier to win the set, and his ability to also do that in the next set was the key to his win.
As Roddick left the court, he seemed to take a longer than usual look around, and blew a kiss to the crowd. Even before he had made it through the portal leading to the inner sanctum of Centre Court, television commentators were interpreting his slow departure and the heartfelt gesture in the most dramatic manner.
Of course, the first thing the British press wanted to know was whether he was finished at Wimbledon—could he give a definitive answer?
Roddick replied, "No." The question was slightly reconfigured and again he said, "No."
After an interval and a few questions about the match and Roddick's form, someone (oddly enough, the fella had a British accent) asked him if too much was being made of that kiss he blew to the crowd. Roddick said, "Yeah. That's just another way of going about it. I understand that journalistic ploy and that's what you're supposed to do and stuff. I certainly appreciate the softball questions in between, but, again, I don't have an answer for you (about returning in 2013). I'm not going to be able to give you much else."
On the whole, though, Roddick was in a good spirits and a philosophical mood, "You know, honestly, going into Eastbourne I was hoping I'd win a match because I hadn't won a match in so long. So you tell me I win seven straight and have a chance to move on against a guy that is five in the world and played a pretty good match—that's some progress in a short period of time."
And do not for a moment think that Roddick is unaware that the Olympic tennis event will be held right here at the All England Club—or that it will be a veteran-friendly, best-of-three format. As Roddick said, "a crapshoot."
Last hurrah at Wimbledon? I think not.
!PicMardy Fish (No. 10) d. David Goffin, 6-3, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (6): The wind appeared to distress the 21-year-old wild card from Belgium in this match. After all, his career record on grass going in was just 2-1 (compared to Fish's 45-25). That edge in experience proved insurmountable, as Fish called upon his veteran wiles to win a match many thought he might lose because of the toll taken by his last one, a long five-setter. After all, before the start of Wimbledon, Fish hadn't played a match since April because of that awful heart-related health scare he's been dealing with.
"It was windy out there, sort of tricky conditions," Fish said. "I used that to my advantage, for sure. Growing up in Florida and playing in windy conditions most of my life, that doesn't bother me, those types of situations. You know, so I played a lot of matches like that. So, yeah, I was very satisfied to play well, to play that way. That guy can play on any surface so it was a good win."
Fish also was asked about Roddick's legacy, and he mused: "I think he'll go down as one of the best grass-court players to ever play. Certainly could be one of the best grass-court players to never win Wimbledon, you know, and three finals all to Federer. You know, that's unfortunate. There is a lot of guys who have won Grand Slams that haven't had to play Roger Federer in the final to win."
He went on to elaborate, "He was the alpha male in our generation, certainly the biggest name by a good distance. He handled the burden of the press and the pressure and the expectation for 10 years, and there were some guys to come and go as he stayed there. Unbelievably consistent. Doesn't get enough credit for it. He finished the year, finished in the Top 10 in the world eight straight years. Pretty amazing."
It sounded a lot like a eulogy, so someone asked Fish if he would be surprised if Roddick didn't return to play at Wimbledon in 2013. He said, "Yeah, I would."
Marin Cilic (No. 16) d. Sam Querrey, 7-6 (6), 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-7 (7), 17-15: The key to this epic, according to Querrey, was his own failure to hold the advantage gained when he broke Cilic in the very first game.
As for the rest of it, it was a familiar enough grass-court saga, especially in the fifth set, when both men succumbed to that hypnotic, dance-like ritual of hold-hold-hold. Yet this wasn't quite the serving contest we saw in the Isner-Mahut classic; the quality of the rallies bordered on the exceptional, given the fatigue that both men must have felt by about the middle of that final, long set.
Querrey was self-effacing about that afterward, saying, "Yeah, a lot of times both of us are tired, and the ball didn't have that extra umph on it, and the ball maybe slows down a bit. I think guys can get a little—you get a little nervous. Maybe you're not hitting quite as tough. We had great rallies in the end, especially the 30?all in the end, but that's how it goes."
That sells the quality of the players' efforts short, but it does point toward an emerging streak of toughness in Querrey. So did his bearing and comments in the post-match presser. He sat down, grinned, and when asked if he felt gutted he answered: "I'm a little tired, but it was a good match. It was a fun match. I had my chances, but you know, he kind of came through at the end."
The loser understood better than anyone that in a match like that one, either man's advantage at any point in the fifth set was tenuous at best, and that a tired mind is one prone to doubts and second-guessing itself. He hit two double faults in the critical 31st game of the fifth set, the one in which he was broken, and tried to explain how things like that happen: "It's just little things here and there, you know, challenges that are in or out. You know,I had the two double faults. That hurt me. (That was in the penultimate game, after which Cilic served it out.) You know, 30?all and second serve and you kind of tell yourself to take a swing at this one. Right before you're (thinking) like, Just make it in. . . it's little tiny things here and there."
And despite his fatigue, Querrey was able to articulate what Roddick has meant to him, and his career:
"He's probably the greatest kind of influence on me growing up. He was the guy that I know. He's been our highest?ranked American basically for 10 years. He was the guy when I was first a Davis Cup practice partner. He was on the team when I was 17, 18. He would let me come to Austin where he lived, five, six, seven times, to practice with him.
So for me, he was, you know, he's been monumental in my kind of upbringing and watching him. You know, he's so generous with letting me come to his house. I know he's done that with tons of other guys, too. So, I mean, he's been great to me. I mean, I think all the guys would say he's been a great leader for U.S. tennis, and just an awesome guy."
Querrey sat back, folding his arms over a gray t-shirt with colorful surfing image and the message: Have an Awesome Day.
Thanks to you, and Mardy and Brian and Andy, we did.