You Are My Hero

Roddick's win over Andy Murray on Friday was awe-inspiring if you've followed the fortunes of this hard-playing but luckless young man. He happened to compete during the era of Roger Federer and more than for anyone else, Federer was Roddick's kryptonite. Against Roddick, Federer becomes even more perfect and polished than usual. Roddick thrashes and lunges and can't make a dent in the guy. Even when Federer started to be beaten by other guys, Roddick still couldn't beat him.

For years everyone told Roddick, or said about him, that he was finished. And diehard fans, including me, assumed he'd never pull it together enough to be a force in the top of the game.

But the other day, he did that. He faced Andy Murray and didn't get bottled up with his own desire. "Sometimes you want it too much," he commented after one loss, and finally, after all the years of struggle, he gained the experience to get on top of that unwieldy need, and just focus on winning points.

And he did it over and over. He didn't let his mistakes bother him. He came to net at intelligent times, not hare-brained ones. He served a ton of aces. But it wasn't just the serving. He stayed in each point, he didn't panic, and he found ways to win.

That's all new. He's had to get on top of so many things about himself, he could be a poster boy for Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections.

He had to get control of his temper. He had to curb his bash-from-the-baseline style and then go back to it to reinstate some of that mindless power. He had to practice his net play endlessly, I'd imagine, until he could toss volleys back without flinching, like Federer at his best.

All of this is not what comes naturally to him, but was within him if he brought it out the right way.

All the work meant he was able to be more fully and naturally himself. But better.

I can't explain it. He worked a lot, yet he also stayed himself, and his win over Murray meant he gained the skills to play within himself, as a sportswriter said.

That seems both profound and inspiring to me! In some ways Andy Roddick seems like the ultimate renegade -- toiling in obscurity, no one believing in him. But in truth he's been toeing the line as hard as he could. He's been trying really hard to be the best "him" he can be. In other words he'll do anything under the sun to win -- everything within his power to get out of his own way.

I'm too tired (and watching Michael Jackson videos) to explain this any better.

It's sweet and sad to see Michael Jackson with nice short curly hair and his own face. He looks so carefree, so lithe and blithe.
What happened? When did it all go south?

Good luck tomorrow, Andy R.