French Open 2012: Andy Roddick's Choke Job Should Be No Surprise

Andy Roddick never got along with potters.

The former No. 1 tennis player in the world was upset by the 88th-ranked Nicolas Mahut in the first round of the 2012 French Open (6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2) on Sunday. His elimination shouldn’t be a surprise, though—clay was never kind to him.

Roddick is now 0-4 on clay this season. No, he isn’t suffering from a slump on the surface. This drought has plagued him his entire career.

In the Australian Open, Roddick has made it to the semifinals four times. At Wimbledon, he fought his way into the final three times. And in the US Open, he won the lone singles Grand Slam of his career.

Comparatively, the furthest he’s ever made it in the French Open is the fourth round. And he accomplished that feat just once.

To amplify his weakness on clay, Roddick is 29 years old. At 7-10 this season, the American is without a doubt on the downside of his career. While Roger Federer continues to compete on the wrong side of 30, Roddick never possessed that level of talent.

A-Rod’s best attribute has always been his power. Because of that, his game will deteriorate at a much faster rate. And when you combine his slowing serve with the fact that Roddick has always struggled on the slower surface, his usual disappointing results are going to naturally disappoint even further.

According to Chris Chase of Yahoo! Sports, Roddick said after his defeat: "I lost a match to a guy who played better than I did. I played. I'm fine. I lost."

Now, I hate to take anything away from Mahut. The 30-year-old definitely knows what he’s doing. But rather than Mahut displaying his dominance, Sunday’s loss was more of a case of Roddick failing to live up to his potential once again.

And that shouldn’t shock anyone.

David Daniels is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer.

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