By Doug Roberson, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution –
ATLANTA — In the city that jump-started his career, Andy Roddick added to his legacy by rallying to beat Gilles Muller, 1-6, 7-6 (2), 6-2, to win the BB&T Atlanta Open on Sunday.
Fittingly, Roddick finished it with his 18th ace for the 32nd title of his career. The victory came 11 years after he won his first tournament on the clay courts of Atlanta Athletic Club when he was 18 years old. Roddick has accomplished a lot between those victories, including winning the U.S. Open, but he seems more proud of the process rather than the results.
(PHOTO: Andy Roddick, of the United States, returns a shot to Gilles Muller, of Luxembourg, in the Atlanta Open tennis championship on Sunday, July 22, 2012.)
“I’ve won 32 times now and I never assume I’m going to win again,” he said. “I try to go about the process of playing and I work hard and try to put myself into position to create success for myself.” Wearing red, white and blue sneakers ahead of his appearance in the upcoming Olympics and with supermodel wife Brooklyn Decker in the stands, Roddick seemed inspired at Atlantic Station.
He shook off a sore shoulder that he said had “no pop” to improve to 11-1 in his past 12 matches and win his second tournament in three tries. Roddick said he doesn’t know why the shoulder didn’t feel right, but said he didn’t need to get a MRI.
Because of the shoulder, Roddick said he didn’t have his best serve in Sunday’s battle between the big servers, but he got stronger with six aces in his last two service games. Muller’s serve weakened because of nerves and the heat, culminating in four double-faults across two games that practically handed the match to Roddick.
It was a surprising finish considering how Muller stunned the sell-out crowd by blitzing Roddick 6-1 in the first set.
“It’s probably good for me that it got away so fast,” Roddick said. “I could let it go.” Roddick began testing his right shoulder early in the first set. His semifinal victory over John Isner on Saturday was the longest match of the tournament (2 hours, 28 minutes) and didn’t end until 10:30 p.m., which didn’t leave Roddick much time to recover for the championship. He said that may have also affected his shoulder.
Roddick called for a trainer to examine it after the first set on Sunday, but said he didn’t consider retiring. After a medical timeout during which the trainer rubbed the shoulder, Roddick returned and fired his second and third aces to win the first game.
Neither could break the other in the second set, with Roddick failing to take advantage of three set points. But he bounced back in the tiebreaker, helped by Muller’s wild forehand and a double-fault, to tie the match.
Muller said his lack of experience in championship matches — he hadn’t played for a title since 2005 — may have affected him. He admitted that he started to get nervous when he couldn’t close out the second set.
“Maybe I lost too quick the belief in myself to win that match,” he said.
Muller said he also began to tire. Roddick broke Muller with a searing backhand cross-court winner to take a 2-1 lead in the third set. Muller didn’t help himself with two more double-faults in the game to bring his total in the match to seven.
Roddick took advantage of his serve in the next game to take a 3-1 lead. Roddick broke Muller in the next game, thanks to two more double-faults, to take a 4-1 lead. He held serve to finish match and add another chapter to his history.
“I’ve worked hard,” he said. “I don’t know if I can pull of the shots that a Roger (Federer) or Rafa (Nadal) can pull off but I feel like I’ve done pretty well with what I was given. I sleep pretty well knowing that I haven’t cheated myself.”
