Gilbert Fires Roddick With the Gas of a Champion

For the moment Andy Roddick does not see it as part of his game to get to the net more than is strictly necessary, notwithstanding his big serve. "But it will be, it will be," emphasised his new coach Brad Gilbert.

If and when Gilbert transforms Roddick into a serve-volleyer, then heaven help everybody on grass. As it is, such is the velocity and accuracy of the 20-year-old American's serve that, even allowing for his gaucheness at the net, he may well win his first Wimbledon title a week tomorrow at a younger age than either Pete Sampras or Andre Agassi.

There was a danger that Roddick, after seeing off Greg Rusedski in three highly charged sets in the second round, might, on his return to Centre Court yesterday, suffer an emotional let-down against Spain's Tommy Robredo. But once again he played with iron concentration when it most mattered, winning 7-6, 6-4, 6-4 against the Spaniard. It was the concentration of a champion, perhaps.

Roddick is a long way off the finished article and knows it but the influence of Gilbert, Agassi's former coach, has had an immediate and telling effect. The two Americans had been together only two weeks when Roddick won the Stella Artois tournament, his first grass title, and under Gilbert's tutelage he has now won eight consecutive matches.

Twenty years of travelling had come to an abrupt halt for Gilbert when Agassi, whom he had coached since 1994, decided the time was right for a change and hired Australia's Darren Cahill in February last year. Now the man who wrote the second-best-selling tennis book of all time, Playing Ugly, is back on the road for what may, as with Agassi, be a very long and productive drive.

"If we can ever start talking about Andre and Andy in the same breath it will mean that Andy will be doing some pretty amazing things. Andre has some of the most God-given talent ever," said Gilbert. "God willing, we may be saying the same thing about Andy in a year's time." Or it may be sooner.

The new partnership began after Gilbert's six-year-old daughter answered the phone to Roddick during the French Open. "Dad's not home," she said and hung up. Roddick persisted; Gilbert needed little time to think. "We spoke on Saturday and I caught the plane on Sunday."

Roddick had come through the junior ranks with the Frenchman Tariq Benhabiles but a first-round defeat at Roland Garros persuaded him, as many had been urging for 12 months, that he needed a change.

"I told Tariq I needed something fresh, new and exciting. Brad was the person; his name most excited me."

The bonding between the two has been immediate. Gilbert is rarely a demonstrative figure when a match is in progress, save for his endless chattering, but he was on his feet the instant Roddick won the first set against Rusedski.

"Usually I just kinda sit there and let him know I'm not too excited or too down. I might be dying nine deaths inside but I'm going to be pretty stoic. When he looks over I want him to see the same solid look," said Gilbert. "My wife said I tortured her by looking at her all the time.

"'I don't know anything about tennis, so what the hell are looking at me for?' she said. But, you know, it's nice for a player to look at a face he knows during a match."

Robredo, 21, and seeded No25, saved a break point on his own first service game, holding for 1-1, and then had his one and only break point against Roddick when the American, not for the only time, mishit a forehand. Warming to the Spaniard, perhaps because he sounded half-British, the Centre Court crowd were moved to chant "Come on, Tommy" with considerable enthusiasm.

Their enthusiasm was understandable. He was mixing up his shots well and rarely allowing Roddick to get into a rhythm, save for his serve which Robredo could do nothing about, except smile the smile of the afflicted. From the ninth game of the first set to the end of the tie-break, which he took 7-5, Roddick won 14 out of 15 points on his serve.

Robredo tried all he could: fierce forehands, skimming backhands, fabulously looped lobs and the occasional exquisite drop shot. But all the time Roddick's serve pounded a relentless rhythm of ultimate defeat for the Spaniard.

In 46 service games to date Roddick has faced only five break points, with only Rusedski managing a bona fide break; and look what happened to him.

"Brad and I are sports junkies," said Roddick. "We're both pretty animated, so it's a good fit. But, when it comes to tennis, he's very serious and very precise. His scouting reports are simple, definite game plans. There's no really grey area. He sticks to what he believes in and gives you things to look for about your opponent, things you maybe would not have noticed."

So far then, so very good. Roddick now has two full days' rest before Monday's fourth-round match against Thailand's Paradorn Srichaphan. In his 10 previous grand slam events he has reached the last 16 three times, and never at Wimbledon. To win his first title here is a big ask but he is growing to the challenge with each match under Gilbert. "The first one is always the toughest to get," said Roddick. "The biggest fear is the fear of the unknown but I'm starting to believe in myself. The ultimate goal is to try and win."

Agassi won six of his eight grand slam titles with Gilbert in his corner. "I went grey with Andre," said Gilbert. "A year from now I'll probably be white." Maybe, like Tolkien's Gandalf, his powers are growing ever stronger. Roddick clearly believes so.

Roddick at the grand slams

2000

US Open - first round, lost to Albert Costa (Sp)

2001

French Open - third round, lost to Lleyton Hewitt (Aus)

Wimbledon - third round, lost to Goran Ivanisevic (Cro)

US Open - quarter-final lost to Hewitt

2002

Australian Open - second round, lost to Ivan Ljubicic (Cro)

French Open - first round, lost to Wayne Arthurs (Aus)

Wimbledon - third round, lost to Greg Rusedski (GB)

US Open - quarter-final, lost to Pete Sampras (US)

2003

Australian Open - semi-final, lost to Rainer Schuettler (Ger)

French Open - first round, lost to Sargis Sargsian (Arm)