New York, Sept 10: Blanche Roddick read Brad Gilbert's book "Winning Ugly" when her son Andy was 13 and dreaming big about life as a professional tennis star. That was about eight years before Gilbert started coaching the new US Open champion.
"One thing he said was that you have to get others to believe," she recalled Sunday while celebrating her youngest son's first grand slam title with family and friends in a private suite at Arthur Ashe stadium. "That was one thing I was not focused on, finding a person to believe."
Thanks in large part to Gilbert, everybody believes now. Roddick rode his rocket of a serve to a 6-3 7-6 (7/2) 6-3 victory over French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain to win the US Open Sunday, capping off his sensational summer on the hard courts.
"It's been an unbelievable three weeks," said Gilbert, who was giving the thumbs-up sign in the locker room after the match while talking on a cell phone. "He's got an amazing game and talent. I changed nothing. I was just the right guy at the right time. ... I just knew from the first practice he had the game. He needed more strategy. He's 21. He'll get better. He definitely can serve better. Andy's serve was a way of taking out his nerves."
Roddick blasted three straight aces to end it, giving him 23 for the final and a tournament total of 123. He won his season-leading 19th straight match, and he's 37-2 since hiring Gilbert, Andre Agassi's former coach, after a first-round loss at the French Open. He has won a tour-best six titles this year and moves up to a career-best no 2 in the rankings.


Bureau Report