By Joel Drucker

Sporting a pair of bright red running shoes, looking more subdued than usual, perhaps tired from having attended the Super Bowl and seeing one-time tennis opponent Drew Brees in action, three-time SAP Open champ Andy Roddick spoke briefly one night prior to his first-round SAP Open match.

Having been struck with a right shoulder injury that hindered him during his quarterfinal loss to Marin Cilic at last month’s Australian Open, Roddick admits, “it was a little touch and go to be playing here. But I got the clearance I needed and I’ll give it go.”

Keeping the ball-hitting to a minimum since Australia, Roddick only started serving in the last few days. “That’s the part I’ll be most concerned about,” says Roddick. “The first match will be telling. If I can get through that one, I should be OK. I may have to work my way into this tournament a little bit.”

Roddick’s tennis rivalry with Brees goes back to his early childhood in Austin. Nearly four years older than Roddick, Brees, as Roddick recalls, “beat me a couple of times. I beat him and then he quit to play all sorts of other sports. I don’t remember his game, but I do remember he was quite an athlete.” Asked for more, Roddick joked, “I’d love to be able to break down point structure for you” – and then conceded he was only nine years old at the time.

More than 20 years later, he’s still grinding away, still looking for the answers. As he sees it, Roddick’s 2009 “had a lot more positives than negatives,” a year he regards as his most successful end-to-end campaign since 2004 (when he finished the year ranked number two in the world). As far as San Jose goes, Roddick says, “I always have a good time here. There’s a comfort to it.”

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