Andy Roddick is going to miss this noisy place.
As Roddick went to serve for his match against Fabio Fognini late in the fourth set yesterday, a packed Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd gave him one of its loudest ovations of the day. The cheers got louder after each point. Roddick hit a backhand volley winner to go up 30-0. Louder still.
Roddick bashed an ace for 40-0. And now the cheers hit a crescendo as Roddick lined up for one more big serve on triple match point. His gritty, charismatic opponent, Fognini, whacked a backhand return into the net and the crowd exploded one more time — and maybe for the final time in celebrating a Roddick win.
Roddick, after postponing retirement at least another 48 hours, raised his arms, pointed toward his player’s box. Moments later, Roddick flung one of his rackets into the crowd. Then he took his sweaty towels and rifled them into the throng, too. It was his 43rd Open win — now second all-time to Roger Federer.
“It was loud out there, as loud as I remember,’’ Roddick said. “They definitely established themselves out here. It’s honestly way more than I ever expected.’’
The Andy Roddick Open rages on. His rugged four-set, three-hour win over the Italian, 7-5, 7-6 (7-1), 4-6, 6-4, sets up a dreamy Round of 16 showdown against ninth-seeded Juan Martin Del Potro tomorrow night. Roddick will be an underdog against the hulking, big-serving Argentine, who won the 2009 Open.
There are times Roddick looks like the Andy of old — as when he served a 129 mph ace when faced with a break point at 5-5 in the first set. But other times, Roddick’s tired shoulder doesn’t have enough pop in it to rout an opponent like Fognini, who is best on clay and did too much damage at the net and hit more aces than Roddick (15-10).
“I’d be an idiot not to use the crowd right now,’’ Roddick said. “It’s a huge advantage. Each match is almost like it’s another memory. The last couple of days, since I said what I was going to do, it’s been humbling. I really appreciate this support. I really do.’’
Roddick called his shoulder “hamburger helper’’ and admitted he has put off an MRI exam for months because he didn’t want to learn he needs surgery.
“[The shoulder’s] not great, but it’s good enough,’’ Roddick said. “I got max a week of tennis left, so it’s good enough for that.’’
It was an entertaining and inspiring three hours. Fognini, one of the tour’s characters, played the villain nicely, spent lots of time complaining in Italian about the fan noise, about challenges that went against him. Often he just berated himself. The 59th-ranked Italian still hit the most acrobatic shot of the match, even if he lost the point.
Fognini chased down a Roddick lob at the baseline, hit a smoker between his legs. Roddick reached out for a tough volley winner and the crowd gave the players a standing ovation. Fognini playfully threw his racket 20 yards toward the net, then rifled two balls at Roddick.
“I hit a lunging volley,’’ said Roddick, who is friends with Fognini. “That’s about as cleanly as you can hit a between-the-legs passing shot. He hit the thing from Jersey and almost won the point. That was fun.’’
It’s all fun now. The 20th-seeded Roddick announced his retirement Thursday and he has been in the Flushing clouds ever since. There has even been talk about the 30-year-old American staging a run such as the one Jimmy Connors, his former coach, made in 1991.
“I’ve been walking around with a smile on my face for three days,’’ Roddick said. “All of a sudden, you’re kind of smiling, humming, whistling, walking around and you feel pretty good about it. All of a sudden you have to say good-bye to something. It’s like this gut-check moment It’s these extreme emotions from five minutes to the next five minutes.’’
It is surreal and Roddick’s entourage is soaking in all these final moments. During the second-set tiebeaker he won 7-1, Roddick sprinted off the court for a towel, wagging his index finger after winning a point. There was his actress wife, Brooklyn Decker, outside the practice courts after the match, autographing those big tennis balls for several minutes — something she never does.
Decker again appeared at Roddick’s press conference, sat in the fourth row, and brought along the 3-year-old daughter of Roddick’s deceased agent, Ken Meyerson. The blonde tyke, named Emily, ran laps around the interview room, bringing more smiles to Roddick.
“I love this place,’’ Roddick had said on the court. “I love all of you and I’m having a blast. I’m trying to keep my emotions together.’’
Roddick was asked if he’ll have enough energy to combat Del Potro’s power baseline game.
“It doesn’t matter what energy I have,’’ Roddick said. “I’m just going to keep going. What else do I have to do?’’
Nothing but enjoy one last Flushing ride.