We're Off

I watched most of Andy Roddick's second round match today against wildcard Arnaud Clement in Doha which he won 6-3, 7-5. My first Andy match of the new year.

Yes, he won in straight sets. Yes he broke serve three times in two sets. These are decent statistics for a player with such a terrible break point conversion rate it can be painful to watch him play breakpoints. Though it was surprising to watch him broken twice in a row in the first set.

But for someone who has resolved to remain healthy in order to compete at the highest level (he started last year with a 24-5 record, including victories over the Top 3 for the first time in his career, and finished with a 26-13 record after injuring his shoulder and neck during Rome), he made himself do a whole lot of running by hanging out behind the baseline, slicing his backhand far too much, and allowing his weaponless opponent to dictate play for most of the match.

If he doesn't get more aggressive and keep those points short with his forehand and his transition game, it's going to be a long year for his body and his fans.

Last night, I had the pleasure of watching Amélie Mauresmo fight through a match lasting more than three hours to defeat compatriot and lucky loser Julie Coin in an intense and well-played match at the Brisbane International. The score: 5-7, 6-2, 7-6(11). That's right. A 24-point breaker closed out the battle.

Amélie faltered serving for the match at 6-4 in the tiebreak with a double fault. From that point forward, it felt like another entire match was played. Both players saved several match points with homeruns. The rallies were ridiculous. Someone wondered why it took Amélie so much effort to defeat Julie, but Julie was playing to win and didn't seem at all like a 95-ranked player. She hit a backhand angled smash to save one match point that was pure genius.

I had to go to bed on the James Blake and Nicolas Kiefer match in Hopman Cup. James was working my last nerve wasting break points like Roddick, and after dropping the second set after Kiefer saved two match points with winning tennis, I figured James would fold. Apparently, he fought back to win the third set, but he and Meghann Shaughnessy, who still has one of the tightest bodies in women's tennis, lost the doubles, so they're officially out of title contention.

The season is officially underway.