This Could Be The Year

After the past few weeks, I'd imagine that a lot of tennis blogs will feature articles on the future of Andy Roddick. At the moment, he seems almost unstoppable. He has the most match wins for 2010 in the ATP with a record of 26-4 and already has two titles this year, including a win at the Miami Masters 1000 event this weekend, which is one of the biggest events on the tour outside of the Grand Slams. Ever since joining with coach Larry Stefanki at the end of 2008, it seems like Roddick has enjoyed a career resurgence.

For years, Americans dominated the tennis scene with Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras reaching a combined 33 Grand Slam finals between 1990 and 2005, and winning 22 of those. Andy Roddick was touted as the great young American hope to take over when Sampras and Agassi retired. Roddick won his first ever Grand Slam in 2003, at the age of 21 at the US Open. He became the youngest American to hold the ATP number 1 ranking. Roddick's future was bright, and for the majority of tennis players, his career achievements to date would be more than they could ever hope for. He's won a Grand Slam singles title, reached 4 more Grand Slam Finals (1 US Open and 3 Wimbledon,) and has another 28 career titles.

While Andy Roddick has already achieved a great deal in his career, he's never really managed to live up to everyone's expectations. Last year he came heartbreakingly close to winning Wimbledon and certainly proved that he still has the skills to win another major. For the past two years, it actually seems like he's been getting better and it honestly looks like all of that hard work could be leading to a second breakout year.

I want to make it clear that I don't see Andy Roddick as a let down for American tennis. He consistently finishes the year in the top 10 and usually wins at least a couple of titles. There are plenty of worse players out there. But I see incredible potential for Roddick's career and think he should go down in history as a guy who won more than one Grand Slam title.

For Roddick, 2010 has started with a bang. I expect to see great things from Andy this year. Personally, I would love to see him win Wimbledon. He's reached the final there 3 times and after last year's epic battle, I believe he really deserves to win.

**For those of you who never read my old blog, the title of this post, "This Could Be The Year," is a reference to a song by Ryan Star, my favorite singer. Please check it out, if you're unfamiliar with his work.