By Randy Walker
Andy Roddick plays for the Sony Ericsson Open men’s singles title Sunday in Key Biscayne, taking on Thomas Berdych of the Czech Republic. The final will be played six years to the day when Roddick won his one and only previous title in Key Biscayne, as documented below from my book ON THIS DAY IN TENNIS HISTORY ($19.95, New Chapter Press, www.TennisHistoryBook.com)
2004 – Andy Roddick wins the NASDAQ-100 Open in Miami when his final round opponent, Guillermo Coria of Argentina, retires due to back pain with Roddick leading 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-1. Coria’s ailment is later diagnosed as kidney stones. Says Coria through a translator following the match, ”I felt burned out and very sad after all that I had to go through this week. I was hoping that the pain was going to go away, but I knew after a certain point that it was not going to go away. I believe I should have retired after the first set, but nobody wants to retire in a final with all the people that paid the money to come see me play. I knew that I probably couldn’t go through.”
The Sony Ericsson Open has always been a special tournament for Roddick. In 2000 as a 17-year-old, he won his career match on the ATP Tour, defeating Fernando Vicente of Spain 6-4, 6-0 in the first round, before falling to world No. 1 Andre Agassi in the second round 6-2, 6-3.
One year later, Roddick, ranked No. 119, started the changing of the guard in American tennis, as he upset Pete Sampras 7-6 (2), 6-3 in the third round. Roddick’s victory is his first over a player ranked in the top 10 and marked the first time Sampras lost to a player outside the Top 100 since losing to No. 205 Karim Alami in the first round of Doha, Qatar in January 1994.