A year ago, Andy Roddick left the U.S. Open in tatters, his confidence riddled with as many holes as his game after a first-round upset loss.
Working with Jimmy Connors helped him get back to the final at Flushing Meadows on Sunday, and after playing Roger Federer for the championship, Roddick was asked what it feels like to be back at the top of the tennis mountain.
``Close to the top, anyway,'' Roddick corrected.
After a 10-month title drought dropped Roddick out of the top 10 briefly, he showed he can still compete with the elite _ except, perhaps, for Federer, who beat him 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 for a third consecutive U.S. Open title.
Roddick dropped to 1-11 against Federer, including three losses in Grand Slam finals. So close, yet so far.
The 24-year-old American was nothing if not optimistic, though.
``I leave here excited about where I'm heading right now. With the exception of the last set there, I was in there with him,'' said Roddick, who won the 2003 U.S. Open for his only Grand Slam title. ``Maybe I was flirting with it for a little bit.''
After a disastrous first set _ Federer went up 5-0 in 17 minutes _ Roddick made a match of it for about an hour. He broke Federer at love en route to winning the second set, then was right there until the middle of the third set.
At 2-2, Roddick got to love-40 on Federer's serve. But Federer erased the first break point with an ace, the second with an overhead and the third by drawing a Roddick backhand into the net. Roddick later had a fourth break point in that game, but put a forehands into the net.
That, essentially, was Roddick's last stand.
He staved off five break points in the next game, but got broken while serving down 6-5 in the third set, then again in the second game of the final set.
In the end, Federer was simply too good in too many ways, even compiling more aces than Roddick, 17-7.
But Roddick showed off the many ways in which he's improved while getting help from Connors, a five-time Open champion. He attacked the net, mixed in serve-and-volley tactics, and flashed the two-fisted, down-the-line backhand Connors used.
``I'm excited. I can't wait to spend the off-season working with Jimmy for an extended period of time, as well,'' Roddick said. ``I still feel like I have a lot to learn, and there's a lot of upsides still there.''
Roddick clearly was revelling in the moment Sunday, motioning to the crowd to make more noise after he'd hit winners and picking out people in the seats, including U.S. Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe, to tell them how much fun he was having.
``You want to be on that stage. At that point, it was a real battle. I was really enjoying myself out there,'' Roddick said. ``That was a lot more fun than a lot of the losses I've had this year.''
© The Canadian Press, 2007
