ANDY RODDICK insists he does not care about being the forgotten man of tennis – and on the basis of his victory over Jeremy Chardy it is probably just as well.
Roddick, twice a beaten finalist at the All England Club, opened the first- round match with two aces and raced into a 5-0 lead for the loss of just three points in 12 minutes on Centre Court.
But after taking the first set 6-3 and the second on a tie-break, the American lost the third set and looked bereft of ideas before a timely ‘comfort break’ helped the former world number one regain his composure and secure a 6-3 7-6 4-6 6-3 victory.
It was still a far from convincing performance from the 26-year-old, who has found himself overtaken at the top of the men’s game by Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic.
Not that the American is too concerned.
"I don’t care who you guys are writing about," he said.
"Predicting two weeks from now, that’s not how we go about our tournaments. I know it’s great and your job is to sensationalise stuff and get it out there, you’ve got to make people read about the sport.
"As players, we appreciate that, but that’s not our job. Our job is to try to get through each round. As far as who’s talking about what, I don’t really care. I just want to go out and win matches."
