OVERRATED

clap, clap, clap, clap clap.....

You're just figuring this out?

Show me another guy on the tour with a huge serve that follows it with a slice backhand. Some of the biggest groundies in the game, if he would just frickin hit them.

some of the biggest groundies in the game? his forehand and backhand from the back of the court are extremely mediocre. the vast majority of his winners (not counting aces) are a result of him hitting a big serve and getting a midcourt ball for a winner or hitting a two-shot pass and getting a volley.

roddick is where he is because of his serve and his competitiveness. no more, no less. for a guy with baseline tools as limited as his, it's amazing that he's at the level he has been at for the last 10 years, given the way the game has evolved.

i love the guy, and he is currently the best that we have. that won't be the case within the next three years, maybe sooner. but to say that he is overrated is a stretch. how can you be overrated when you're ranked by how you, individually, perform from week to week over the course of a year? if you win, you get points; if you lose, you don't. there are no ratings.

[This message has been edited by road not taken (edited 9/2/2010 7:10p).]

I think if someone would get ahold of him and tell him to actually hit his groundies, they could be deadly. You know when he came up, he had the biggest forehand you had ever seen. Why did that change?

I hate him following a bomb with a slice bh. Drives me insane. You use your weapon to set up the point, then neutralize it with the weak follow up shot.

As many know I am a big fan of Andy for a number of reasons. That said, it is hard to be over-rated when the numbers don't lie....Andy has had a number of shining moments, and a number of bad losses, including this week in New York. He is, and has been for the last number of years the best this country had to offer, which is in itself sad. He and his people have done a great job with marketing, which has raised his profile at least in this country considerably. One other thing, a friend of mine said earlier this year during one of Andy's matches that regardless of who won, Andy was the winner because he gets to go home with Brooklyn....lol...so true.

you guys are right that he can't be overrated based on his rankings. but i think the perception that he's overrated comes from the fact that when a grand slam is being promoted, it's always "federer, nadal, roddick". he's always mentioned in the same sentence as feds and rafa and the truth is that he's nowhere close to them. he gets hyped and publicized because of the big serve and he's currently the highest ranked american.

but yeah, brooklyn decker is the best about roddick right now.

The bottom line is that Roddick hits a slice backhand on low balls to that side primarily because he doesn't have complete confidence in the 2-hander. He's always been that way, just uses the slice more in the last 3-4 years to cover up that weakness. I don't have a problem with that. No doubt he would love to be able to drill his two hander consistently around the court from all levels.

He's always had mediocre ground strokes, especially the backhand side. On his backhand he essentially pushes the ball at all times, unless forced into a counter-punching situation or gets a short ball. Even his forehand, while big at times, is not technically sound (too wristy) and thus is more prone to break down at times on big points. This has been the case his whole career. The only difference now is I think the rest of the tour has closed the gap serving-wise with him. They also have the book on how to beat Roddick (pound his backhand).

I only consider Roddick perhaps slightly over-hyped is that he gets undue attention due to being the only consistently top ten American male player the last decade. Compare that to the Courier-Chang-Sampras-Agassi era and it's sad how far American tennis has fallen.


[This message has been edited by Aston04 (edited 9/5/2010 2:05p).]

isner, sam qurrey, harrison, roddick...think were doing ok.

It's not so much that American tennis has dropped drastically, though it has some. It's more of a reflection of how the rest of the world has caught up.

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isner, sam qurrey, harrison, roddick...think were doing ok.

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Doesn't compare to the past. Although I do agree there's been a recent upswing (save for Roddict skidding), which is encouraging.

I agree with many of the points above but I will say that after reading Hardcourt Confidential (the P. McEnroe book), I was really impressed with what P-Mac had to say about Andy, what a great Davis Cup teammate he is, and the enthusiasm with which he represents our country.

It's been nice to see him grow up from a cocky punk to a good man. I wish that his tennis career hadn't taken sort of an inverse path. Aside from the observations above about not capitalizing enough at times, I do think that he has improved overall as a player. He is lucky that he had those early successes and I think that he was mostly hurt by the fact that most of his prime coincided with two of the greatest players ever. I have been impressed with the commitment he has made to fitness and how he has tried to change his game to be able to at least give Federer a run for his money.

That 2009 Wimbledon final was the best that Roddick has ever played (and that includes the 2003 US Open win)...and he STILL lost to Federer. Roddick his a great player but he's no Sampras and to be fair, even Sampras would have been limited had he played in the same era as Federer and Nadal.

[This message has been edited by Harry Dunne (edited 9/6/2010 10:11p).]

Overly hyped b/c he's been the top american player for so long. A whiney b*tch to boot.

Thought his career would dive after that loss to Fed. Think its probably true...

so because he slices his backhand this what has held him back??? wow......

He doesnt hit a slice at the right times. After you hit a first serve 145 out wide and pull the guy off the court, you dont slice and let him back in the point.

I just dont think he knows when is a good time to hit a slice.

Please let me know what you think, Xl

Yes, explain what you mean XL. Does Roddick use the slice effectively? Why? What weakness is holding Roddick back?

I used to hate Roddick b/c of his attitude, but now I pull for him more and more because I see how much it really means to him. But I've always wished he would flatten out his forehand on certain points, that thing is too dang loopy.

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Yes, explain what you mean XL. Does Roddick use the slice effectively? Why? What weakness is holding Roddick back?

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Someone please let edberg and graf know that they weren't slicing at the righttime...to say that this is his main reason for holding him back is too simplistic....

Whats holding him back his is unwillingness to attack the net more...he is willing to trade groundes with his opponnets who often have better strokes then he does...Second I would say his mental game he wilts at any sign of stress...His best results were when he was coached by brad gilbert who is a master tatician.

Let me know if you want another lesson in tennis...anytime ladies.

[This message has been edited by XIaggie (edited 9/8/2010 11:02a).]

The question what was always does he use the slice effectively for a backhand, not whether or not one can win with the slice. You seem to mix-up what people are saying and then troll.

[This message has been edited by Aston04 (edited 9/8/2010 7:16p).]

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Yes, explain what you mean XL. Does Roddick use the slice effectively? Why? What weakness is holding Roddick back?

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I answered both of your questions you seem not to have the ability to read.... I am not going to restate read my previous post.

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The question what was always does he use the slice effectively for a backhand

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and this not a coherent sentence.

[This message has been edited by XIaggie (edited 9/8/2010 7:48p).]

true-- my bad. Could be a good Palin tweet.

[This message has been edited by Aston04 (edited 9/8/2010 9:03p).]