DUBAI—Less than two weeks after the the not-entirely-unexpected departure of coaching guru Jimmy Connors, it's business as usual for Team Roddick. Roddick made an ideal debut in the desert by winning the title at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships and defeating world No. 2 Rafael Nadal and world No. 3 Novak Djokovic on the way.
Roddick admits that he was initially taken aback by the break-up of the coaching relationship after less than two years, but the adjustment had been quick because Connors was a peripheral - if key - part of the mix.
"It's always been [brother] John and [trainer] Doug [Spreen] on the road anyway," said Roddick, who appears to have caught fire since parting ways with the eight-time Grand Slam champion. "This week has not been a lot different than most of them, minus a phone chat or two with Jimmy. The last time I worked with him was at the Australian Open."
And some things haven't changed that much yet. After reaching the Dubai final against Spain's Feliciano Lopez, Roddick happily revealed: "I spoke with Jimmy just last night, he had a lot of nice things to say."
After trusting the fine-tuning of his game with Connors after joining forces at a low point in summer 2006, Roddick remains keen to give the old master full credit, even in his absence.
"When we got together I was as close to down and out. I spent the week after that [2006 loss to Andy Murray in the third round at] Wimbledon as close to depressed as I have ever been as far as my career goes," said Roddick. "You can't discount what worked for 18 months in just five days.
"If a sports team loses a successful manager and does well the next season, that surely had something to do with the past."
Statistics, however, show that it was Roddick's previous coach, Brad Gilbert who really jump-started Roddick's career when the two worked together bwtween 2003 and 2004.
Under Gilbert, Roddick produced a 121-26 record, claiming nine titles including his only Slam, the 2003 US Open. He reached 16 finals during the period and finished 2003 as No. 1.
The Connors era, which took place during some of Federer's most dominant stretches, ended with seven finals and four titles.
Roddick believes that it was the travel demands of ATP life combined with the struggle to produce big wins that finally drove Connors back to the golf course and his daily dog walks. "Maybe we didn’t get the results he wanted and it was tough for him to do it part-time," reflected Roddick.
"Communication got tough when Jimmy was not there," he added. "Maybe the match wasn't on television. You came off the court and struggled to explain where your head was at (over the phone). I think we did the mentor bit as well as we could but when I am going from Australia to Austria to California to Memphis to Dubai like I have done so far this year it becomes difficult."
Roddick is pleased that he still has a friendly arrangement with Connors, whom he will still feel free to call upon for the odd bit of advice.
"Its completely amicable and we are still friends. I just have so much respect for him as a person and Im thankful for what he was able to give to me as well as taking some time out of his retirement to spend it with me.
"I'm sure the phone number is still there for me if I need to bounce something off him. We've not talked about it but I don't see him hanging up the receiver if I want to ask him a question. It ended up just about as well as something like this can be."