Andy Roddick On Married Life

By Richard Pagliaro
Photo Credit: Tony Chang/Chang Photography

(March 25, 2010) MIAMI — As Andy Roddick and wife Brooklyn Decker approach their one-year anniversary next month, Roddick seems recharged by married life.

There's the joy of sharing the most monumental moments of your life with your soul mate, the contentment that comes from settling down with someone you love and of course the crap that only a husband and wife can get away with giving one another over a friendly rivalry.

Roddick revealed today his wife "gave me a little crap" over the race to earn a coveted spot on the Sports Illustrated cover. Roddick came close to winning Wimbledon and claiming that cover shot last July.

For five pressure-packed sets on the game's grandest stage, Roddick played the greatest match of his life.

Unfortunately for Roddick, he happened to play his best against the most successful Grand Slam champion in history.

Playing near the peak of their powers in a furious fifth set that climaxed a match for the ages, Roger Federer withstood an inspired Roddick rally in the fourth set, then scored his sole service break in the last game to earn a dramatic 5-7, 7-6(6), 7-6(5), 3-6, 16-14 triumph to regain the Wimbledon championship, recapture the World No. 1 ranking and re-write tennis history in stirring style last July.

A victory in that match surely would have landed Roddick the SI cover, but instead his wife, who graced the cover of SI's annual swimsuit issue, beat him to it.

"I said after the Wimbledon final, after it was like three or four days afterwards and I had started speaking again, I was like 'You're gonna get it before me. Crap I had it,' " Roddick said with a smile. "That was one of the things I was most bitter about."

The fact that Decker has her own thriving career has reinforced the strength of their relationship, Roddick said. And while travel schedules can keep them apart, technology keeps them together.

"I think we get so excited for each other professionally that it's not really a detriment to us," Roddick said. "I think we just kind of roll with the punches. We communicate tons every day regardless of if we're with each other or not. But at the same time, it is important to kind of pencil in those weeks where we can kind of just hang out and have nothing going on. I think we've been diligent about doing that as well."

In a memorable Wimbledon final that offered a slew of staggering statistics — Federer hit a career-best 50 aces and Roddick responded with 27 aces — try wrapping your mind around this number: in more than four hours of play against one of the game’s best returners Roddick did not surrender serve until the last game of the final.

In the end, Federer fought off Roddick in a Grand Slam-final record 30-game fifth set that was often a shot-making spectacle, spanning 95 minutes, as neither man shrunk from the magnitude of the moment.

In a cruel twist of fate, a match featuring such a superlative standard of play for so long climaxed with two flukey, framed shots — it was like watching a Shakespearean drama build to a spirit-soaring level then abruptly end on an ill-timed punch line. Federer shanked a return that slithered into an awkward angle near the front court forcing Roddick to race forward. His forehand floated long to hand Federer championship point after 4 hours, 16 minutes of play.

Roddick said today while he was "bummed out" about the loss, life outside the lines has given him a sense of perspective that served as a coping mechanism.

"It's a matter of perspective. If my world falls apart because of a tennis match then I really don't have much else going for me," Roddick said today. "My worst day, most heartbreaking loss, is a lot of people's best day. I had the center court at Wimbledon chanting my name afterward. I mean, that's a great thing. That was really cool."

The former Boca Raton resident has always enjoyed strong support in Miami where he burst onto the scene with a serve as searing as a flamethrower in dispatching former World No. 1 players Pete Sampras and Marcelo Rios en route to the 2001 quarterfinals at the age of 18.

Roddick won the Sony Ericsson Open in 2004 and has reached at least the quarterfinals for four consecutive years. He opens against Igor Andreev tomorrow night. Coming off his loss to Ivan Ljubicic in the Indian Wells final last Sunday, Roddick said he's pleased with his level of play.

"I think it would be challenging to make a run here had I not done well in Indian Wells," Roddick said. "It's always challenging at a Masters Series event to make a run. That being said, I feel like I'm playing good tennsi, so I like my chances better in that head space than having come in losing first round of Indian Wells and not really knowing where I'm at."