Wimbledon 2011: Did Andy Roddick's Window of Opportunity Just Close?

In my formative years as a tennis fan, I loved watching Andy Roddick play. His aggressive, all-or-nothing playing style was attractive to a teenager like me. Literally nothing was more fun as a young American tennis fan than watching Roddick blow serve after serve past his powerless opponent.

I also admired the way he went about playing. With a style like his, he won matches in grandiose fashion and lost them in the same manner. There was very little middle ground with him. Win or lose, Roddick came out with guns blazing.

I understood even at that relatively young age that Roddick was a fantastically talented young man, but he was inherently flawed as a player. If his opponent could force long rallies or simply keep the powerful serve in front of him, it might be a long day for Andy.

There was something almost honorable about his style. He had holes in his game. Everyone knew it. He knew it. And yet, Andy just kept firing away as he always had.

As tennis fans, I think we all thought he had broken through to the prime time with his first Grand Slam victory in 2003. It was the US Open, no less.

Little did we know that he would still be looking for that elusive second Grand Slam title almost eight years later.

Granted, some of it has been bad luck. His prime years corresponded almost perfectly with the prime years of Roger Federer. No one was beating Federer during his prime.

Now that Federer is beatable, Rafael Nadal has emerged as another foil in Roddick's hopes for another Grand Slam.

There have been close misses littered throughout his career. In 2004, less than a year after his US Open win, he was the runner-up at Wimbledon. He came up one match short at Wimbledon the very next year as well.

In 2006, he fell short in his quest to win his second US Open, losing in the finals there.

Then there was the big one in 2009. The stage was again Wimbledon. Roddick lost in heartbreaking fashion to Roger Federer 5-7, 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 16-14.

The match was a frustrating one in so many respects. Roddick's serve wasn't broken all match until the deciding game of the fifth set. Federer didn't win a single clean set from him.

In hindsight, that match has the feel of Roddick's last stand as injuries and inconsistent finishes have piled up since then. 

First it was a hip injury in 2009, then a shoulder injury early in 2010, then it was a bout with mono later in 2010. More recently, Roddick had to bow out of the French Open with another shoulder injury.

Reality is really beginning to set in that Roddick will likely never win another major.

ESPN analysts Pat McEnroe, Darren Cahill and Brad Gilbert talked a lot after Roddick's loss on Friday about how his chances to win another major are beginning to run short.

The fact of the matter is that they have been running short for quite some time. I would say that the window of which they speak has already closed.

Andy may have inadvertently put it best in his post-match press conference. A reporter asked him about how he played and he said that he felt like he played well. I guess we'll have to give him the benefit of the doubt, but losing 7-6, 7-6, 6-4 doesn't make it seem that he played all that well.

The Roddick that many of us know and love doesn't play well and still lose in straight sets to Feliciano Lopez.

It's not just about the disappointing results of tournaments either. Stylistically, he isn't the same player that I fell in love with.

Most of his time is now spent well behind the baseline simply trying to play defensive tennis. He seems to be waiting for the other player to lose the match rather than going out and winning it himself.

I don't know about you, but I'd like to see the Andy that is going to go out and try to seize the match. There was a time when, win or lose, Roddick was going to dictate play.

I'm no tennis expert. I can't break down his mechanics or tell you with any level of certainty what he should do to have better results.

I'm just a fan that couldn't help but notice that as his match with Feliciano Lopez was slipping away, so were the hopes that he would ever bring home a Grand Slam title again.