Federer Takes on Roddick, History at Wimbledon

The man Federer beat easily in the semifinals, Tommy Haas, was far less charitable.

Roger Federer of Switzerland plays a return to Tommy Haas of Germany during their semifinal match on centre court at Wimbledon, Friday, July 3, 2009. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

(AP)

"Andy Roddick is playing some of his best tennis that I've seen. Playing extremely well. Serving well," Haas said. "But I wouldn't give him really a chance to beat Roger in the final. Maybe take a set. That's my opinion."

To be fair, this is a rebuilt Roddick.

"You don't go back to a Wimbledon final by accident," he said. "It certainly is a process. And it's probably been a longer process than I would have liked."

After a second-round exit at Wimbledon in 2008, he sat down with then-girlfriend Brooklyn Decker — they were married this April — to discuss his future in tennis.

"That was a hard, hard couple of weeks. You know, Brook and I had a lot of talks on ... if I still thought I could play and at least be towards the top of the game. I definitely openly questioned it at that point," Roddick recalled. "So this offseason, we said, 'You know what? If you're not going to be up there, let's at least not wonder. Let's prepare yourself and give yourself every opportunity.'"

He dropped 15 pounds. He hired a new coach, Larry Stefanki. He focused on improving his backhand, volley and return.

All of those elements have been on display this fortnight.

"When you lose in the second round in an event you feel like you can win, it really irritates you. It gets under your skin, and you don't forget that," Stefanki said. "He's very motivated. There's a lot of good things that can happen if he stays relaxed, because he's done all the hard work now. Now he's just got to trust himself and play ball."

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