Roddick’s Slam Struggles Continue

What name would come to mind when Andy Roddick loses a match and his foe hits 24 more winners than Roddick?

Well, two. Roger Federer and Marat Safin.

Uh, not Marcos Baghdatis.

But that’s exactly what happened in the fourth round at the Australian Open when the 20-year-old from Cyprus defeated the second-seeded Roddick, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4. That’s Cyprus, not the Cypress in the tennis mecca of Orange County.

This will be the third time in the last four Grand Slams that Roddick has failed to reach the quarterfinals. He has shown the ability in the past to change course in a crisis, making a coaching change, if necessary.

Whether that happens now is unclear. But it’s undeniable Roddick has been struggling at Slams not named Wimbledon, making a habit of losing to players from countries smaller than most states. There was Gilles Muller of Luxembourg (slightly smaller than Rhode Island) in the first round at the U.S. Open last year, and now Baghdatis of Cyprus (1 1/2 times the size of Delaware).

U.S. Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe, who is here working for ESPN, also cited the stunning ratio of baseline winners in Roddick’s loss: Baghdatis had 42 to Roddick’s 12. Overall, Baghdatis had a 63-39 edge.

“That just shows Andy is not using his game right,” McEnroe said. “He basically got out-positioned. You can’t hit through [some] players. James [Blake] and Andy fell into that trap.”

McEnroe thought that Roddick might have been too defensive and that Blake relied on going for too much offense in his straight-set loss to Tommy Robredo of Spain in the third round.

Roddick and Blake appeared as though they didn’t know what to do when one strategy wasn’t working.

“James didn’t have a Plan B when Plan A was obviously not going to work,” McEnroe said. “Andy was certainly getting outmaneuvered. He’s got to figure out a way when the court is slower how to use the rest of his game.”

There was little hint that Baghdatis had any nerves in the fourth set. He broke Roddick at love to get the decisive service break and held at love when he served for the match.

“Andy has gotten into trouble, like against Gilles Muller, for example, when he plays poor positional tennis. He allows these guys to grow in confidence as the match goes on,” McEnroe said.

Roddick and Blake weren’t the only major disappointments in Melbourne. Taylor Dent lost in the first round in straight sets and Robby Ginepri went out in the second round against a German qualifier. McEnroe was more surprised and disappointed at the way the four players lost, than that they lost.

“You can’t lose a match when you’re up two sets and 3-0 love in the third against a qualifier, especially when he’s one of the fittest guys out there and when his opponent is tiring,” he said of Ginepri’s loss.

But McEnroe was not hitting the panic button heading into next month’s Davis Cup match against Romania, saying that this is just one tournament. Blake, at least, did win the tune-up tournament in Sydney. And the U.S. Open wasn’t that long ago, when Ginepri reached the semifinals and Blake got to the quarterfinals.

This is the first time since 2002 that there were no American men in the quarterfinals here. Usually, that happens only on red clay in Europe.

“You guys are always concerned, aren’t you?” Roddick said. “If we’re playing well at the moment, then it’s, ‘Who’s next?’ If we’re not playing well at the time, it’s, ‘Who’s now?’ You guys are always [complaining] about something.”

He did acknowledge that it was a “bad tournament” for the U.S. men but cautioned against reading too much into one event.

“I think we’ll rebound,” Roddick said. “I think you’ll see Robby and James and all those guys have career years this year. I see that happening.... We’re probably really, really disappointed right now. Especially on a hard surface. But I don’t know if I’d overreact.”