A tale of two Andy’s - Roddick and Murray

As a nation basks in the glory of Andy Murray’s Wimbledon triumph, the champion himself is living the moment. He made headlines throughout the world as the first male British champion at Wimbledon for 77 years.

From London to Dunblane (Murray’s hometown in Scotland), people are rejoicing in one of Britain’s greatest sporting triumphs. From David Beckham to David Cameron, the who’s who of Britain has personally congratulated Murray.

And why shouldn’t he be treated like a hero, after all, he has done something nobody could do in close to eight decades.

Amidst all this, it has hard to remember that there was another Andy who graced the courts of SW19 not very long ago – Andy Roddick; the American with a serve that could double up as a missile.

Roddick was maybe as talented as Murray but could never walk out of the courts of SW19 as a champion. Runner-up at the All England Club thrice, Roddick lost to Roger Federer in 2004, 2005, 2009; falling short at the final hurdle.

Both the Andy’s have a lot in common, apart from obviously their names. Like his namesake, Roddick was regarded by many as the face of country, after the retirements of Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras.

Right from his breakthrough win at the US Open in 2003, American tennis had a new star, even though he never really lived up to expectations. Like Murray (up until know that is), Roddick always fell short at the final hurdle.

The 2009 final was the most crushing of all. Leading 1-0, he was up 6-2 in the second set tie break and went on to lose that set as well as the match in five sets. Murray also lost last year’s final to Federer.

With the serve he possessed, Roddick could blast anyone away but he just couldn’t do it when it mattered the most at the Grand Slams, especially when the opponent was Federer.

Murray had the same (if I may call it) problem. He lost three Grand Slam finals to Federer and numerous semi-finals before finally beating him at this year’s Australian Open. One Andy (Murray) did what the other could not.

Not only did he win Wimbledon, he also finally lived up to the expectations of an entire nation. Roddick is no more a part of the ATP having called it a day last year but seeing Murray win and bask in the glory, he might just have wondered what might have been had he just won one of those finals.

But a champion and true sportsman that he is, Roddick was quick to congratulate his namesake and even asked him to put the title of Sir ahead of his name on a social networking website.

With Murray now having got the monkey of his back, let’s hope we can see him win many more Grand Slams and live up to his potential.

In all this let us not forget that there was another champion in Andy Roddick.