KING OF QUEENS: The retiring Andy Roddick, preparing to serve in last night’s rain-delayed fourth-round match that will resume today, is conjuring memories of Jimmy Connors’ 1991 Open run. (
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They are different players from different eras with career accomplishments so incomparable they border on lopsided.
Yet as this U.S. Open has ambled along for its first nine days ailing from a significant lack of memorable-moment energy, it has been difficult not to envision the possibility of some similar farewell theatrics for the retiring Andy Roddick as the magic that unfolded across a series of unforgettable New York City nights for Jimmy Connors 21 years ago.
Connors was an iconic figure in tennis, having won eight Grand Slam singles titles and having owned the No. 1 world ranking for 268 weeks in his career when he nearly mowed through the field in that ’91 U.S. Open playing on 39-year-old legs, ranked 174th in the world and in the field as a wild card.
Roddick, five days removed from his retirement announcement, entered last night’s Round-of-16 match against Juan Martin del Potro at Ashe Stadium having enjoyed a nice career that produced one Grand Slam, 32 tournament victories and a cup of tea at No. 1 at age 21.
Since the moment Roddick announced Thursday that he will retire after this Open, the tournament has been craving a Connors moment with the New York fans rabidly willing Roddick to victory against all odds.
Last night looked like the perfect backdrop for that Connors moment. It looked early on like there might be magic in the air, with the 20th-seeded Roddick charging to a 5-2 opening-set lead over the seventh-seeded Del Potro.
But Roddick would leak the lead away and then the rain came, suspending their match to be completed today at 6-6 with Roddick leading 1-0 in the tiebreaker.
The suspension suspended the end to Roddick’s career for at least one more day, still leaving room for that potential Connors moment when the passionate New York crowd picks Roddick up by the alligator logo on the chest of his tennis shirt and carries him into the quarterfinals.
Patrick McEnroe, a former player who was Connors’ first victim during that 1991 run, losing in a five-set thriller, also was Roddick’s Davis Cup captain and is now an ESPN analyst. So he has a perfect perspective on the careers of both Connors and Roddick.
As the Roddick-Del Potro match was beginning last night, McEnroe told The Post he believed the only way Roddick could advance in this tournament is with the crowd carrying him the way it did Connors.
“I don’t see him winning this match unless the crowd goes crazy and he’s jacked up,’’ McEnroe said. “This guy [Del Potro] is just a better player than Andy is now, so Andy’s going to need that crowd willing him on to win this match.’’
The crowd never truly got its chance to do that because of the rain. The Connors moment would have to wait.
As well as anyone, Roddick understands the power of one of those Connors moments, because he was in the crowd at age 9 for some of those matches in ’91.
“That was my first taste of live tennis and it was that run,’’ Roddick recalled. “That’s as good as it gets. I remember we flew in and flew over the stadium the night [Connors] was playing Patrick. I saw a bunch of the other ones.’’
Roddick is nine years younger than Connors was, but there are similar traits between the two.
“The comparisons I would make are in their passion and intensity,’’ Patrick McEnroe said. “Certainly, Andy loves the big stages, loves to compete. Jimmy was a showman. Jimmy milked the crowd for all it was worth. Roddick has a little bit of that in him, but not as much as Jimmy.’’
Roddick gets it, though. After his third-round match, he conceded that he’d “be an idiot not to use the crowd right now,’’ adding, “Each match is almost like it’s another memory.’’
This U.S. Open could desperately use a memorable moment or two. Roddick putting off his retirement for a few more days would be the perfect elixir.