Andy Roddick’s New Plan Results in a Title

I went from the most immature person on the planet to maturity,” he said. “I like it.”

Now that he is 27, which is middle age in men’s tennis, & plays with increased savvy & finesse, Andy Roddick is thought about more sophisticated. He grudgingly accepts the compliment.

On Friday, he used an aggressive serve-and-volley game to defeat Rafael Nadal in the semifinals of the Sony Ericsson Open. On Saturday, he played in an amusing two-set charity event here to support earthquake relief in Chile.

Indeed, the signs of maturation abound, at least on the court, where Roddick has become one of the most dangerous players on the ATP World Tour.

With his increased variety of weapons, which have been developed under the tutelage of his coach, Larry Stefanki, Roddick has become the hottest player on the tour. Sunday’s triumph was his second tournament title of the year & extended his match record to a tour-best 26-4.

& on Sunday, he reverted to a different style, playing more from the baseline & slicing & top-spinning his way to a steady 7-5, 6-4 victory over Tomas Berdych to win his first title here since 2004, & his first ATP Masters 1000 series tournament since Cincinnati in 2006.

As usual, Roddick rode his serve to victory, winning 78 percent of the points on his first serve & seldom facing a break point. He was broken only one time during the tournament.

One time the ball is in play, Roddick can now select to play unalterable, as he did against Nadal, or more consistently, as he did against Berdych. Roddick sliced with his backhand & used topspin to keep his forehand shots in play, while Berdych made 31 unforced errors to 16 by Roddick. & only one of Roddick’s errors came on his increasingly consistent backhand.

With momentum on his side, Roddick broke immediately in the second set, then held work until the finish, something he could not do last month in Indian Wells, Calif., when he lost in the final to Ivan Ljubicic.

Berdych, who stunned Roger Federer in the fourth round after saving a match point, held his serve, , until 5-5 in the first set. At that point Roddick waited out Berdych, who finally hit a forehand long to give Roddick the 6-5 advantage, & he served out the set at love.