Roddick Leaves ‘Em Panting

MELBOURNE, Australia â€”  Andy Roddick once was host of “Saturday Night Liveâ€� -- at least when John McEnroe let him get in a word or two -- so it’s no surprise that he excels at give-and-take in post-match media sessions.

But even Roddick has been at a loss for words a couple of times during his on-court TV interviews with Jim Courier, who is here for Australian TV. Then there was the interview-room session today after the second-seeded Roddick defeated Jurgen Melzer of Austria, 6-2, 6-2, 7-5, at the Australian Open. He had 22 aces and did not double fault in the 1-hour 35-minute third-round match.

A reporter asked Roddick about the retro look of wearing longer, calf-length shorts on the court, currently sported by Spaniards Feliciano Lopez and Rafael Nadal, asking whether it was too “campy.�

Question: “Do you think maybe it’s too metrosexual?� Roddick laughed and put his head on the table in front of him. “You said it; I didn’t,� Roddick said. “I can’t think of anything funny to say that would not get me in trouble. I’m going to leave that one alone.�

There was more laughter when the issue of pants surfaced again. Roddick’s buddy, qualifier Bobby Reynolds, was scheduled to play Nadal several hours later, and Roddick was asked for his thoughts on the third-round match.

“Bobby will not be wearing pants,� he said.

This brought the obvious line from one reporter: “At all?� Said Roddick: “Touche. Well done. I hope that’s not the case.�

Roddick at the Improv was one of the highlights on a fairly subdued day. The matches went largely to form, other than the one involving No. 7 Tim Henman of Britain, who lost to Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.

In women’s matches, No. 1 Lindsay Davenport defeated 15-year-old Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic, 6-2, 6-4, in 64 minutes; No. 8 Venus Williams beat Anna Smashnova of Israel, 6-3, 6-0, and No. 12 Patty Schnyder of Switzerland defeated 23-year-old Abigail Spears of San Diego, 7-6 (4), 6-3.

Williams will play No. 10 Alicia Molik of Australia in the fourth round, while Davenport will face No. 13 Karolina Sprem of Croatia.

Davenport seemed ready for Vaidisova, who has received plenty of hype, having won two titles last year and reached No. 70 in the world. “She obviously has big groundstrokes and a big serve, and she’s only 15. So she has a very big future,� Davenport said. “We have a lot of players that play that way.�

Vaidisova already has become wary of the obvious comparisons to 17-year-old Maria Sharapova of Russia, the Wimbledon champion.

“I will do what Nicole does, not what Maria does,� she said.

Vaidisova plans to play events at Memphis, Indian Wells and Miami, but is limited because of the tour’s age-eligibility rules. She said playing about once a month increases the stress level.

Former Laker coach Phil Jackson, who knows something about dealing with stress, was spotted at Roddick’s match. Roddick was asked if Jackson was his guest.

“No, I would have run more of the triangle offense if I would have known he was in the crowd,� Roddick said, smiling. “I would have given him the ‘Scottie, Michael, give it to Michael.’ �

Roddick was asked about how he would feel if Andre Agassi changed his mind and rejoined the U.S. Davis Cup team. The eighth-seeded Agassi was in excellent form in a tough test against Taylor Dent Friday, winning the third-round match, 7-5, 7-6 (3), 6-1, erasing a 1-4 first-set deficit.

“Oh, I think we would all welcome him with open arms,� Roddick said. “I think that can do nothing but positive things. Selfishly, I’d love to get in there and learn a lot more from him.�