Sport | Tennis
Roddick fancies his chances again
'I have been playing well and I am happy with the way my game is progressing'
- By Alaric Gomes, Senior Reporter
- Published: 00:32 March 10, 2008
- Image Credit: Karl Jeffs/Gulf News
- Andy Roddick reacts after beating Feliciano Lopez in the men's final of the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championship.
Dubai: Going by his current form, the former world number one fancies his chances at more Grand Slam victories in the future.
"I feel my chances in the Grand Slams are a lot better now, provided I can keep this form," Roddick said at the post-match conference late on Saturday.
Roddick fought back from a one-set deficit to win 6-7 (8), 6-4, 6-2 against surprise finalist from Spain, Feliciano Lopez.
"I have been playing well and I am happy with the way my game is progressing. I feel I can be a threat again," stated the American.
Roddick has just one Grand Slam title to his name following his success at the US Open in 2003. He has made it to two finals at Wimbledon (2004 and 2005) and the final of the US Open in 2006. He was also a semifinalist at the Australian Open in 2003, 2005 and 2005.
It was a phenomenal Dubai tournament for Roddick as he did not drop serve even once on his way to the title during his maiden appearance here.
Coming to Dubai, Roddick has been on a steady winning streak, picking up the AAMI Kooyong Classic for three consecutive years.
Though he served a career high of 42 aces, Roddick lost to Philipp Kohlschreiber in the third round of the Australian Open.
Amazing performance
But the 25-year-old American followed this up with his first title for the year and the 24th of his career with a win against Radek Stepanek in San Jose two weeks back.
Last week, he reached the quarterfinals in Memphis losing to Robin Soderling.
"I feel I am a much better player now than before. When I came here I really did not know what to expect as I was literally asleep in the players lounge before my first match. I didn't even warm up that day, but just went out and played," he disclosed. "People were stepping all over me as I slept and Djokovic [Novak] was dropping things on me," he added. But he battled jet lag and the tiredness of the past few weeks to stage an amazing performance and make his long trip here a truly memorable one.
"After the first two matches, I felt a little better and then that performance against Nadal gave me a lot of confidence to go through the week," he admitted.
Roddick accepted that a big plan in his career was to travel here and get a chance to play against some of the top players who find the Dubai event particularly attractive. "I am excited at winning here, and a big part of my decision was to come here and get a shot against some of the top guys coming here," Roddick stated.
"I knew I wanted to get here and this success has made it look as though it was a good idea after all," he added.
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