Roddick Focused on Losing U.S. Open, Not Olympics

By Chris Mottram
[img=http://i.tsn.com/i/photos/20080312/87514.jpg]
If this isn’t a sign that the Olympics no longer matter, I don’t know what is. Andy Roddick has decided to skip the Beijing Games in order to play in the Legg Mason Classic(!).
[quote="The AP"]The highest-ranked American tennis player is skipping the Beijing Olympics, choosing instead to focus on preparing for the U.S. Open by playing at the hard-court Legg Mason Tennis Classic. ... He lost in the third round at the 2004 Athens Olympics, and said at the time: “Some guys really don’t care that much. I cared a lot. It’s not the biggest thing in our sport, but it’s the biggest thing in sports.”[/quote]
Clearly, Roddick doesn’t care that much. And really, who can blame him? In a sport like tennis that is completely about personal achievement, preparing for the U.S. Open is clearly more important than playing in Beijing.
Plus, the Legg Mason is one of the few tourneys that Roddick actually wins on a regular basis. How can we expect him to give that up just to represent his country (or something) in the Olympics? And, in case you forgot, it’s part of his training for the United States Open. It doesn’t get more American than giving the rest of the world a big F-U in order to ensure personal success at home.
And when I say “success,” what I mean is that Roddick will make it to the quarterfinals, only to lose in straight sets to some 19-year-old with seven consecutive consonants in his name.↵