Lu -- who? -- loss looks like Roddick's last Wimbledon stand

WIMBLEDON, England -- The plot invariably differs, but every ending is the same. Andy Roddick doesn't win Wimbledon.

It doesn't matter if he loses gallantly to Roger Federer in the final, as he did last year and twice before that, or stunningly to someone named Yen-Hsun Lu, as he did Monday in the fourth round.

Roddick can't explain his stunning loss to Yen-Hsun Lu. (Getty Images)

Andy Roddick loses. Or more accurately, since the word losing has a stigma, Andy Roddick simply doesn't succeed.

Lu, a 26-year-old from Chinese Taipei who came into this Wimbledon having been ousted in the first round of five straight Grand Slams, who came into this Wimbledon having been bounced in the opening round of the last four Wimbledons, defeated Roddick 4-6, 7-6, 7-6, 6-7, 9-7.

And with the loss by Sam Querrey to Andy Murray, there went the U.S. men, out of here. Bye, bye, Mr. American Pie.

"It never gets easier," said Roddick.

When someone had the temerity to ask him whether he was angry, he said sardonically, "I'm going to be thrilled. I mean, come on. Of course I'm going to be (ticked) when I wake up. I mean, if you got fired from your job, you probably wouldn't wake up the next day in a great mood."

When Andy Roddick wakes up it will be to the realization that, two months from his 28th birthday, the dream of ever winning the men's singles title at The Championships is all but gone.

The way he is from this 2010 Wimbledon.

Lu is 82nd in the ATP rankings. He's never won a tournament. He plays mostly in the Challenger Series -- the minor leagues, if you will. But he looked like Pete Sampras and Boris Becker against Roddick. Mainly because Roddick, ranked No. 7, looked like someone in total chaos.

"Through three sets I was playing horrendously," said Roddick. "I mean really, really badly. I mean to the point where I was trying to think of how to put balls on the court."

Roddick's strength is that big serve, and it was big enough. But when you play three consecutive tiebreakers and then a fifth set, which at Wimbledon must be played out -- or don't you remember 70-68 from last week? -- there are other problems.

Many caused by Lu, whom Roddick had beaten twice in the late winter, once at Memphis, once at Indian Wells.

"You know, I thought he served better than he has against me," Roddick conceded. "That being said, I had shots. I didn't take advantage of them."

Lu was as much disbelieving as he was elated.

"The fifth set," Lu said, "I don't believe I can win because he is a better server than me. ... But I just tell myself, even if I don't believe, I have to fight, yeah."

Roddick hadn't been beaten by anyone ranked as far down as Lu since he dropped a match to Viktor Troicki, ranked 93rd when he upset Roddick in 2008. But that was at a regular tournament in Washington, D.C. This was in the tournament most people -- players, critics, fans -- consider the most important.

Lu's previous highlight was a win over another Andy, Andy Murray, at the Beijing Olympics.

"I think these tournaments improve my serve," said Lu. "Especially in tough situation."

Does the situation get any tougher for Roddick? Athletically, that is. He's married to a fashion model, Brooklyn Decker, a star of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. He does have one Slam, the 2003 U.S. Open. He's rich and famous and can answer sports trivia questions with alacrity. But his career seemingly isn't going any further.

A couple of years back, he confided, "If I win a tournament, you guys don't care unless it's another Slam." And he's correct. Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are judged by their majors. The tennis players, such as Federer, Roddick and Rafael Nadal, are judged by their Slams.

"I don't think stunned is the right word," Roddick said when asked whether he was. "You know, I don't view what happens (Monday) as an impossibility. I take every match seriously.

"You know, I don't know. I always struggle to describe my mood. There's only so many ways you can say it. So use your intuition and reach out and come up with something."

But then, Roddick was unable to reach out and come up with something during the match.

"He played high-risk," Roddick said of Lu. "But he executed very well. He had a game plan. He stuck to it, and he deserved to win more than I did. That's for sure."

Roddick said Lu's ball stayed low, which on the grass courts of Wimbledon is not unusual.

"It's tough to come in on a ball that stays low and flat like that," Roddick said. "It's tough charging off a ball not coming off the ground too much. If I was in the middle, he was getting length and driving the ball.

"It wasn't my serve. I didn't get broken for five sets. It was my returning. It was crap. It was really bad."

As bad as Andy Roddick's chance of ever winning Wimbledon.