Andy Roddick's coach, Jimmy Connors, only dabbled in Davis Cup during his stellar career leaving it to John McEnroe to do much of the heavy-lifting in the late 70s and early 80s. Andre Agassi took over from there as a Davis Cup stalwart but as he aged and stopped playing for the U.S. team, Roddick took the baton and has been a real hero for American tennis.
Playing just over a week after straining his left hamstring, Roddick shook off a slow start to beat Spain's Fernando Verdasco 7-6 (5), 6-1, 6-4 on the fast, indoor hard court. In the first match of the best-of-five event, James Blake broke out of his slump to beat Tommy Robredo 6-4, 6-3, 6-4. The U.S. takes a 2-0 lead over Spain in the quarter-finals and needs to win only one out of the next three matches to advance to the semifinals.
"With Andy coming in off a slight injury. I really felt like it was time for James to step up and win a big match," U.S. captain Patrick McEnroe said. "He did, so Andy could come out with a 1-0 lead. After Andy won that first set, the momentum swung in his favour."
Roddick acknowledged he wasn't 100 per cent from the injury that forced him to retire in the quarter-finals of the Sony Ericsson Open.
"We had a tough conversation the other night just about where I was at, and whether I could get through two (matches)," he said. "I'm sure I'll spend a very boring day (Saturday) on my face with various gimmicks attached to my leg."
Roddick improved to 23-9 in Davis Cup play.