Anyone Else Actually Miss Roddick?

Rafael Nadal just won his record-breaking 8th French Open title  Anyone surprised?

Didn't think so.  Even after a 7 month injury time-out and enduring a 5 hour slugfest against the world #1, Rafa was expected to hand countryman David Ferrer the devastating loss.  Ferrer, who had not dropped a set over the past two weeks, was out of his league today and sadly remains the best player on the tour never to have won a slam.

Regardless, the match the boring.  The tournament was boring.  No successful upsets, no dramatic matches with exceptional shot-making and certainly no emotion left of the court.  Sure, Federer was taken down in an impressive straight-set effort by Jo Wilfried Tsonga.  But Jo Willy disappointed with the surgical-like precision of his unraveling in the semifinals.  

The lack luster performances of Ferrer and Tsonga reinforces our fixation on the top four - Djokovic, Nadal, Federer and Murray.  If they are playing, you'll likely watch these men battle it out during the final weekend.  But we generally anticipate the eventual victor at the outset.  Andy's win at last year's U.S Open may have been hard-fought, but everyone knew it was his best opportunity for a big W.  Fed is always the front runner in London.  Nadal has made Court Chatrier his home and Djokovic has found a way to conquer down under.  When the big four clash, there is no rivalry.

It makes me miss the days of Sampras-Agassi.  Or Martina-Chrissy.  Hell, I even miss Federer-Roddick.  And that illustrious 2009 Wimbledon final where A Rod was serving from behind in every game until his mishit backhand gave Fed his 15th Grand Slam victory - breaking Pistol Pete's record.

Though lopsided, Roger Federer and Andy Roddick gave the tennis community a heart-felt, emotional push and pull that lasted 24 matches over a full decade.  Their most epic battles were featured on Centre Court and each one of us had our favorite.  In fact, their 2004 clash marked the first Wimbledon No. 1 versus No. 2 in 22 years.  Roddick famously recalled that he "threw the kitchen sink at at him, but he went to the bathroom and got the tub."  That tub triumphed for 21 of the 24 matches, but we never quite knew if Roddick were going to pull out a win each time they walked onto to the court.

The pairing was so intriguing that when Andy announced his retirement in 2012, the first question asked by the press was if Roger were following suit.  A rivalry does not end with retirement, but a captivating one seems harder to be born.