Roddick seems destined to face familiar foe in semis

WIMBLEDON, England -- They call them Nearly Men over here, athletes who get so close but can't reach the top. At Wimbledon, where he has lifted hopes but never the champion's trophy, that description might be appropriate for Andy Roddick.

Is this the year that Andy Roddick finally gets over the hump at Wimbledon? (Getty Images)

Or it might not.

Roddick hasn't won the Wimbledon title, but three times he was in the final, as fate would decree, against Roger Federer, arguably the finest player ever.

That can't happen this year. They are in the same bracket, but now, two months from his 28th birthday, Roddick might be worthy of Federer in the semis.

Both won third-round matches Friday as the All England Lawn Tennis Championships slipped back to a state of semi-normalcy after that surrealistic match that took three days and a zillion games (actually only 183) and even diverted England's attention from the World Cup.

Indeed, on the front page of Friday's Times there were John Isner and Nicolas Mahut, arms about each other.

Isner, weary, took his leave in the third round Friday, whipped by Dutchman Thiemo de Bakker, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2, showing the effects of that marathon, but as Roddick pointed out also showing class. Venus Williams was broken once yet still breezed past Alisa Kleybanova, 6-4, 6-2, and Roddick played well enough often enough to beat Philipp Kohlschreiber, 7-5, 6-7, 6-3, 6-3.

What a strange and captivating few days it's been, this Wimbledon 2010, and that doesn't take into account the weather, the thermometer in the low 80s and climbing.

"We were talking about it in our house," said Roddick. "From the first match out of the gate, with Roger [losing the first two sets to Alejandro Falla] being up against it, you know, to the Isner-Mahut trilogy to the Queen coming, to Rafa [Nadal] in five. If you guys are struggling for storylines, you need to get a different job fast."

Roddick's struggle is to get another Grand Slam before it's too late. He captured the U.S. Open seven years ago. Remember that American Express commercial of him trying to stuff the trophy in an overhead bin of a jet? Since then, with little more than a serve, it's been only his trilogy of runner-up finishes here.

The critics said he lacked the groundstrokes. The dreamers said he came along in the wrong era, the one controlled by Federer, once again this year the No. 1 seed. Roddick's game is more embellished now. His outlook is more magnanimous.

The Brits embrace him as one of their own. "We love people who never quit," said an English journalist. "We also love losers."

Roddick, almost the sentimentalist, said about his popularity in Britain, "It's nice. I feel, whether it's right or wrong, that they kind of appreciate the body of work that I've put together. It's always gratifying."

There's not an individual, tennis fan or not, who didn't appreciate the battle between Isner and Mahut. It elevated the 25-year-old Isner to nearly legendary status. It also doomed him to defeat Friday.

"I didn't really have a chance," he conceded. Tennis had a big chance and made the best of it. Serena Williams, who plays Saturday, said "a lot of eyes" were on the sport, noting non-sports blogs were referencing a match that lasted 11 hours, 5 minutes.

Older sister Venus, now into the fourth round, said of Isner-Mahut, "Basically the impossible happened. I don't know when or how the impossible will ever happen again. It's a shame it wasn't deeper into the event."

For Roddick, who began his news conference by saying, "I want to make you ask one question about my match first," Isner-Mahut, with that 70-68 score in the fifth set, was a global event.

"I mean," said Roddick, "it was ridiculous. You don't get past 20. And to get to 70, it's never, ever going to come close to happening again. Like normally, records in sports, you say eventually they'll be broken. That will never, ever, ever."

Some say that about Roddick winning here. He probably has Federer, the defending champion, up ahead, and perhaps Rafael Nadal, should Andy get that far. But he's thinking of the moment, not the future.

"I'm always relieved to get through," said Roddick. "[Philipp] Kohlschreiber had one of the tougher second-round draws [Teimuraz Gabashvili of Russia, whom he defeated 9-7 in the fifth set]. Obviously, I'd lost to him in a Slam before. So, yeah, I knew it was going to be tough."

Roddick and Sam Querrey, scheduled to play Saturday, are the last two American men left in a tournament that not so long ago, in the days of Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi, the United States owned. Andy was supposed to be the heir apparent, but it hasn't quite worked out that way.

When someone mentioned that Wimbledon "seemed to be on steroids," with the five-set Nadal-Federer final in '08, the five-set Roddick-Federer final in '09 and the Isner-Mahut match, he shook his head in agreement.

"Yeah," said Roddick. "It's a small percentage of good things, and then a large percentage of fortunate coincidences. It's on a good run, and I'm glad that stuff is happening here. It's the Mecca of our sport."

It's the place where Andy Roddick deserves to get a victory before it's too late, before the Nearly Man is nearly out of opportunities.