Andy Roddick: The Reasons for My Failure at Madrid

Hi Guys...

By now I am sure each and everyone must have heard the news [I have heard that news travels faster than light or sound] that Roger Federer has defeated me [for the first time] at Madrid clay.

To tell you guys the truth, I am not surprised myself at the final result [though I didn't show it while the match was on] because after having getting bludgeoned at almost all places, the only due left was at clay and I guess I did honor Roger with that opportunity!

But...but...you have to admit, I did manage to almost pull one over Roger when I wrenched the second set from him. It was the best moment of the day for me and made me realise that I am not at all that bad in the dirt [I wonder now, who told me I practically sucked there?].

Coming back to the match [I am easily distracted these days especially since I got married; it ain't easy as it's made to appear in romantic novels] I must say that I am actually relieved that Roger won today. Because if I had gotten through today, I would have definitely got slaughtered tomorrow [Murray would have just swept the court with me].

Of course, I am not intending to say that I am scared at the prospect of facing Murray, but then the fact remains that while I can handle Nole [except clay, so double thanks to the organisers for that] with more ease, Murray is a spitfire these days; and taking into consideration that I am not my usual self at clay [it's tricky, you know] I didn't want to take any risks with the encounter.

Now, before you think that me and Roger fixed something between us, you are utterly WRONG! I am just clarifying and elucidating the pros of my loss against Federer [acting as my own defence attorney here] and the long term consequence if I would have notched up a victory!

But there is a catch there: Had Murray's form been anything like what it was last year on clay, I would have fought tooth and nail to get past Federer; but then this time it was a simple choice of: "From the Frying Pan into the Fire" and I just chose the frying pan.

After all, with a head-to-head statistics of 2-17, you tend to start getting predictable by every Tom, Dick and Harry.

Trust me, once you start a losing trend, almost everyone puts you in your place with all those high tosh words like " Psychological Block", "Mental Fear"...and on and on...so there isn't much you have to do: just keep tandem with the so-called mental thingy and everything works without a hitch!

There is just one thing though, I still haven't worked out how to switch off the so-called "Mental Phobia" whenever I want to, even though it's supposed to be presumed and it's causing a hell lot of problems in my professional life.

Moreover, these days I am fearing that I am actually losing my control over the assumed and the factual [something like the Jekyll and Hyde theory] though I am hoping that Larry puts everything right [at least I have that advantage over Roger]!

Well, I guess I have to call it a day now [technically it's evening]...see ya at Roland Garros [I hope Larry solves that on-off problem by then] and until then Vamos Rafa [I never once said I appreciate losing to Federer, it hurts you know!!] and Ciao Madrid!!