Will Roddick step up?

Where's Andy Roddick?

Considering Roger Federer's return to the human race, is there a serious Wimbledon run left in Roddick? It's wide open for someone to replace Federer on the Wimbledon throne.

Roddick has had some of his best success on the famed grass courts of Wimbledon, losing to Federer in two finals and once in the semifinals. Although Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal still might be too good for Roddick, he has the special weapon that is so effective on grass — his serve.

Roddick missed the French Open with an injury, but he's already in London opening defense today of his four Queens Club titles against good friend Robby Ginepri.

Everybody's beating Federer these days, even Roddick who broke his 11-match losing streak to Federer earlier this year in Miami.

And what is Federer doing with a clay-courter for a coach? Hiring Jose Higueras as his coach before going to Europe was a real gamble. Not only did the strategy fail miserably against Nadal, the misstep sends Federer into the grass-court tournaments surrounded by negativity and doubt. The move could cost him at Wimbledon.

Maybe Federer should consider going after Brad Gilbert. If not Gilbert, what about Jimmy Connors? At least, Connors taught Roddick to fight and to think strategy on the court, possibly making Roddick realize that he needed more than his awesome serve.

The Martin reversal

Just because a player loses to another badly one day as Federer did against Nadal on Sunday in Paris doesn't mean the next meeting will have the same results. A perfect example of that is Mount Pleasant junior Alex Martin, the new Belton girls 18 singles champion. She also teamed with Players Clubber Jamie Harrell to win the girls 16 doubles title.

Martin had suffered a humiliating 6-2, 6-1 loss to Hilton Head Island's Michelle Green back in March. "I just didn't play well against her," Martin said Tuesday about that meeting.

But Monday morning in Belton, it was a different story. The 16-year-old Martin cruised to a 6-0, 6-2 win over Green. A day earlier, Martin had defeated nationally touted Sarah Guzick of Greer in the semifinals.

"That was the first time any of our girls had beaten her (Guzick)," Players Club tennis director Bryan Minton said.

Of course, Minton was in a great mood since two other Players Clubbers also won singles titles — Ann Hay in girls 12 and Connor Clements in boys 14.

Martin didn't just arrive on the tennis scene. She has concentrated on tennis full-time the last two years while attending school online. But her play has been limited by injuries, fractures in her foot each of the last two summers. Already this year, the 5-8 player has won two national level 16-and-under tournaments, which enabled her to skip the upcoming Southern Closed tournament and still qualify for the National Clay Courts in July in Virginia Beach, Va.

Eskridge leaving I'On

After more than eight years as tennis director at the I'On Club in Mount Pleasant, Joey Eskridge is moving across Mathis Ferry Road to the Players Club to become a pro in charge of junior/adult development.

"I'm really excited about the opportunity. I've been competing against them . . . now I'll get to join forces," said the 36-year-old Winthrop graduate, who plans to report to the Players Club on June 30.

Reach James Beck at jdbeck@postandcourier.com or (843) 937-5540.