The evolution of Andy Roddick has been in progress for a while now.
Much has been written about the fitter Roddick, the Roddick that still has an effective first serve though he doesn't rely simply on pure heat; the Roddick with more variety off the ground.
All of that was clearly evident in Key Biscayne, Fla., where Roddick on Sunday won the Sony Ericsson Open for the second time. It was his second title of the year — he's also an ATP World Tour best 26-4 on the season — his fifth Masters 1000 title and the 29th ATP title of his career, third among active players.
To get there, Roddick beat Rafael Nadal in the semifinals and Tomas Berdych in the final, showing the versatility in his game that we now have come to expect.
Against Nadal, Roddick turned up the aggression after falling behind, charging the net against the Spaniard — "It's kind of like driving into head-on traffic," Roddick said — and pulling out a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory.
Momentum turned when he won the last 11 points of the second set, including a 143-mph serve — the fastest by any player in the tournament — for a winner on the final point to even the match.
Roddick kept coming, winning 12 points at the net in the final set. He also put more oomph into his forehand, especially on returns.
"I took a lot of risks there in the last two sets," he said. "I rolled the dice a lot and came up Yahtzee a couple times."
Nadal noticed.
"He started to play more aggressive," Nadal said. "It was a surprise for me."
In the 7-5, 6-4 victory against Berdych in the final, Roddick used delicate backhands, loopy forehands and changeup first serves to shake up his opponent's rhythm. (Click here to read what Tennis.com's Peter Bodo had to say about the Sony Ericsson final.)
It's been well-documented that since hiring Larry Stefanki as his coach in late 2008, Roddick has lost at least 10 pounds, improved his foot speed and developed a more well-rounded game.
What isn't as well-documented perhaps is Roddick's work ethic.
"He works as hard or harder than anybody else on this tour," Stefanki said. "He could be similar to Andre Agassi, where his best years are from 27 on."
The serve clearly is still a weapon — Roddick faced no break points against Berdych and dropped his serve only twice in the tournament — but it is much more nuanced.
A year-by-year review of Roddick's statistics shows that over the last decade the 6-2 Texan has upped his first-serve percentage by about 10%, including an ATP Tour-leading 70% in 2009. At the same time, he has consistently held serve nine out of 10 times.
In other words, sacrificing power for accuracy has not hurt his ability to dominate on serve and might help preserve his arm over time.
"The last month has been real good for me," said Roddick, ranked No. 7 in the world. "I've played well on the big moments. I've been able to have a game plan and execute it, regardless of what kind of shots it takes. So it's all good. It's all encouraging."
Clay-court season is up next, not Roddick's best surface. Does he think he can add a title?
"To be honest, I haven't thought about it for two seconds," Roddick said. "Four weeks from now I'm going to be feeling a lot different than I am in this moment. It's going be a process over the next month to get there. I know that's redundant and boring for you all. That's the reality of the situation. We'll see how I'm feeling then. I'll be able to give you some more insight."
