Roddick bombs out for French Open

Andy Robbick provided a typical uncertain performance on the Paris clay courts a his form on clay continues to fall after a difficult year on the men’s tennis circuit. The 29 year old crashed against Nicolas Mahut, who had never beaten Roddick before and has only progressed beyond the first round at  the French open once in his last ten attempts. Roddick Leaving the French Open is of little surprise as he has never been able to translate his game to the French clay pitches and an early exit is almost a French Open tradition.

Roddick’s preparation could not have been much worse going into the competition with only 3 games being played on clay pitches this year before his loss at Roland Garros. This poor preparation is due to a string of injuries which has limited the world number 33’s court time this year and explaining his rapid fall from the top of the world rankings. Nicolas Mahut who is ranked 89 in the world beat Roddick 6-3. 6-3, 4-6. 6-2. Despite Roddick’s poor history in Paris, this was his first opening round deafeat in five years.

The ex-US Open winner has seen his game crumble and has not performed at his best since his historic loss in the Wimbledon final against Roger Federer in 2009.  Since then Roddick has only managed a quarter final in any grand slam tournament and the former world number one has fallen down the ranking which may leave him unseeded going into Wimbledon where Roddick is usually a strong candidate for victory.  Roddick requires a strong tournament in England to make sure he remains a seeded player in future tournaments to help him recapture his form and ability which led him to the top of the men’s world rankings.