``He played imaginary matches from the time he was 4 1/2 to the time he was 10 years old,'' mother Blanche Roddick recalled. ``He played all the top players every day of his life in his mind. It was interesting because he always won. He would say, `Boris [Becker] didn't have a good day today.' ''
The evidence kept growing. En route from Austin to Houston for a 10-and-under tournament, 7-year-old Andy realized he had forgotten his racket. Too late to turn back, Blanche found one of John's old rackets in the trunk. It was splattered with paint and looked like it had been used as a jack. ``I said, `Son, this is the one you have to play with,' '' Blanche said. ``He said, `OK.' He didn't care and he won the tournament with that racket.''
"He can eat like nobody I've ever seen," John Roddick says.
"The way he competes and the way he plays, he really is the future (of American tennis)," Sampras said after the 7-6, 6-3 defeat.
Former world No. 1 Jim Courier watched Roddick overcome Sampras and told a friend, "I haven't been this interested in watching someone play tennis in a long time."
"I don't think anyone dreamed he was going to serve an average of 123 or 124," John Roddick says. "Not many players come along who have that kind of weapon at 18."
"He can create points if he has to," John Roddick says. "He's not afraid to win a match ugly. He can change the way he's playing during the course of a match. If some guys are playing bad, it's on to the next week. Andy will scrap it out if he has to, and it's because he's done it."
"He's the kind of kid who loves a challenge," McEnroe said. "He hates missing balls in a practice drill. You can see that in him. He's got the right attitude, in addition to a big game."
"It's easy to get him to do something," Kristina Jones said. "All you have to do is tell him, 'You can't do that.'"
"Definitely the future of American tennis is looking very good," a gracious Sampras said. "He'll just get better and better."
"He was just swinging away and having fun," said Sampras, 29. "That's always the case when you're first starting out. "He was kind of in a zone there for a while. I give him full credit. He played great and had no fear."
"I have to thank Andy for pulling me through. It shows what a good player he has become," said Gambill.
"Andy's the most talented kid I've ever had in my hands," says his coach, Tarik Benhabiles, who's also the mentor of French pros Cedric Pioline and Nicolas Escude.
"It was a no-brainer," Patrick McEnroe said. "He's an unbelievable talent and he's unbelievably passionate about playing Davis Cup. He's stepped up as a guy with the best results and he's shown the most potential, making unbelievable strides in his progress."
