TENNIS Roddick rebounds on court

The world's top player dismissed Carlos Moya in the Masters Cup.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
HOUSTON -- It wasn't exactly a Manhattan marquee, but the sign on the McDonald's said it all: "Good Luck Andy!"
From "Saturday Night Live" to a Tuesday night dive.
Mediocre in his performance on the famed New York stage last week, American tennis star Andy Roddick looked more confident than comedic at the cozy Westside Tennis Club. Taking a giant step toward ending the year as the world's No. 1 player, Roddick outlasted Carlos Moya, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, in his Tennis Masters Cup first-round match before a frenzied crowd of 7,500.
"It's a relief to get the first win," said Roddick, who next faces lesser opponents in Guillermo Coria and Rainer Schuettler in this year-end Woodstock at Westside. "I didn't play that well, but I kept myself alive."
With his girlfriend, singer Mandy Moore, watching and a place alongside American tennis greats looming, Roddick won the final three games of a high-quality match in which he pounded 14 aces and produced more winners (27) than errors (21). With the win, Roddick eliminated Roger Federer from the No. 1 chase and widened his margin to a seemingly safe 46 points over Juan Carlos Ferrero. Players get 20 points for round-robin wins, 40 for semifinal wins and 50 for winning the tournament.
In other words, tennis' A-Rodd is on the verge of joining Pete Sampras, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Jim Courier and Andre Agassi as the only Americans to finish a year ranked No. 1.
Dominance
On a windy, muggy night, Roddick reasserted his dominance on and off the court. Like Agassi in the early '90s, the 21-year-old Roddick is awakening, if not energizing, a generation to tennis. Sampras won more matches, but Roddick might have already won more hearts.
Along with the McDonald's well wishes, 6-year-old boys painted their faces pro-Roddick and 16-year-old girls paraded around the stadium carrying signs that spelled out A-N-D-Y. The kid who is buying a house in Austin has the tennis world by the scruff of the neck.
"It's great to get all this support, but the fans in Texas are pretty familiar with me," said Roddick, who attended grade school in Austin before moving to Florida. "I'll always be a Texan. The house is more for the future. Hopefully I'll settle down [in Texas] some day."
Briefly
Through one match of the three-match round-robin portion of the tournament, the Blue Group has Roger Federer and David Nalbandian at 1-0 and Juan Carlos Ferrero and Andre Agassi 0-1. The Red Group is led by Andy Roddick and Rainer Schuettler at 1-0 with Moya and Guillermo Coria at 0-1. The top two players from each group advance to Saturday's semifinals, with the championship match Sunday at 3 p.m. Earlier on Tuesday, Schuettler defeated Coria 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.
Agassi on deck
After wasting two match points in a dramatic, three-set opening loss to Federer, Agassi faces what amounts to an elimination match tonight against Ferrero.
"It was just a matter of having not played competitive tennis," said Agassi, who hadn't played since his U.S. Open semifinal loss to Ferrero in September. Agassi has 58 career titles, equal to the seven other players combined.
Despite his fluid play and endless variety of shots, Federer has become public enemy No. 1 around the Westside Tennis Club for criticizing the size of the stadium and the slope of the new court. Said Federer of the purplish hard court, "You get the feeling that it's going downhill sideways."
The tournament has sold every ticket. Which is amazing, considering four courtside seats to Sunday's final went for $3,500.