Roddick's Dedication Gives U.S. the Edge

Andy Roddick probably won't ever stack up to Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal in wins or titles, but in one regard he's vastly superior to both of them: the Davis Cup.

The U.S. team returns to action this weekend as the favorites against Spain in the quarterfinals, and Roddick's commitment to the competition is the reason. The world no. 3 will play his 12th consecutive tie going back to the fall of 2003, and the 17th of his career. The team has a record of 11–5 in ties he's played, and has reached a final and three semifinals. Roddick's record in singles is 22–9 (seven of those losses were on clay courts).

When these two teams last met, Spain, led by Nadal when he was still an unknown quantity, defeated the U.S. in front of a record 27,000 fans in Seville in 2004. Spain took the title, and the U.S. went home empty handed, as it has done every year since it defeated Russian in 1995.

Things ought to turn out differently in Winston-Salem, N.C., this weekend. The courts are hard, fast, and indoors, and Nadal is home nursing a sore foot, giving the U.S. an advantage in a match that might have proved disastrous had Nadal chosen to play.

At Indian Wells a few weeks ago, Nadal dusted Roddick in straight sets on his way to his first title since last year's French Open. In Miami, he looked nearly as impressive until Novak Djokovic solved him. But before playing that match, Nadal had announced that he would skip the Davis Cup to rest his twice-injured foot, which cost him several months in 2005 and 2006. Nadal said he recently felt some soreness, and decided to put singles before Spain.

His decision isn't surprising — Nadal, Federer, and many other top players before them have chosen their singles careers over the Davis Cup (Federer and Nadal skipped a dream first-round match earlier this year, when Spain defeated Switzerland 3–2). But it's interesting to contrast Roddick's reaction to similar circumstances. When the world no. 3 tweaked his hamstring against Andy Murray in Miami last week, visions of a Davis Cup loss, not a decline in his ranking or his bank account, were foremost in his mind. Roddick forfeited the match against Murray, passing on a chance to play in the semifinals of the biggest tournament outside the four majors — on the off chance that he would recover for this tie against Spain.

Roddick's dedication to the Cup is laudable. It's about the worst event in which to pick up a racket after an injury because the matches are best-of-five sets and a player's losses affect the entire team, not just the individual. There's also some risk to the team: If Roddick's hamstring tightens up and he can't continue, the U.S. will lose a point.

For captain Patrick McEnroe, it's a risk worth taking. James Blake, a Davis Cup regular since his return from injuries in 2005, has had a disappointing year so far (a 14–7 record and a fall from no. 4 to no. 9 in the rankings). Sam Querrey, a 19-year-old who has jumped 60 places this year to no. 67 in the world, probably is ready for this stage, but perhaps not in a winnertake-all match on Sunday. Unless Blake finds his game, Roddick may have to win two matches and leave the rest to the doubles duo of Bob and Mike Bryan, who are 10–1 in their Davis Cup career.

Blake opens the contest this afternoon against Tommy Robredo (he holds a 3–2 advantage in previous meetings). Robredo won the last match between the two at the Tennis Masters Cup, and though that contest meant nothing for Blake (he had advanced past the round-robin), Robredo is steady, versatile, and more than capable of capitalizing on the casual errors Blake has made too often this season.

Roddick follows against the lefthanded Fernando Verdasco, a bit of a surprise pick considering that David Ferrer is ranked higher and beat Roddick on hard courts last year. Roddick holds a 5–2 lead over Verdasco (one loss on clay, the other a forfeit on a hard court), but Verdasco had the American in trouble at the U.S. Open last year, where Roddick won in five sets. He's the more explosive of the two players, so perhaps it's a good gamble by Spain's captain, Emilio Sanchez.

When the reverse singles arrive on Sunday, Roddick has a distinct advantage if Spain stays with Robredo. He hasn't dominated Robredo in his career — he has absolutely, positively owned the Spaniard. In their seven meetings, Robredo hasn't won a set, and four of those matches were of the bestof-five variety. Robredo does not return serve well; on these courts, Roddick might be able to beat him with one hamstring. If it comes to that, we can certainly count on Roddick to try. No matter the result, the U.S. team couldn't be luckier to have him leading the way.

Elsewhere in the world this weekend, Russia hosts France (Marat Safin was replaced by Mikhail Youzhny for the first day of singles); Belgium hosts Germany (the Rochus brothers, Olivier and Christophe, take on Tommy Haas and company), and Sweden hosts Argentina, the most talented team in the competition.

Mats Wilander's Swedish team could do the U.S. a huge favor with an upset. Thomas Johansson, 32 years old and looking to regain the form that made him a top 10 player, is the key to the tie. If he defeats David Nalbandian today — and Nalbandian hasn't exactly sparkled this year (six wins, six losses, no titles, and a drop outside the top 10) — Argentina might have some trouble, though the resurgent Guillermo Canas is a good bet to bail out his mates.

tperrotta@nysun.com