Roddick Drinking in the Last Chance Saloon?

At 28 you might expect Andy Roddick to be at the peak of his career but his third-round Wimbledon defeat suggests he is already on a downward path from which he may never recover.

Having missed the French Open due to injury, Roddick was never really expected to add to his solitary slam at SW19 this year, but his straight sets loss to Feliciano Lopez, who is ranked 44 in the world, indicates that all is not right with his game.

Indeed, since his Wimbledon final appearance back in 2009 his best slam showing was a quarter-final in the Australian Open last year. The fact he could only make the fourth round of that competition this time around seems to add weight to the argument that his days of being a serious challenger are behind him and those looking to place a US Open bet should remember this.

Roddick is aware that things haven't been going how they should.

"I haven't played well this year, for sure. It has to get better, there's no doubt," he said.

Quite what Roddick will do if things don't get better remains to be seen, but he will head into the US Open with the added pressure of being the only American man with any likelihood of being able to win his home slam. People with a tennis free US Open bet may want to back someone else instead.

Indeed, the general decline of US tennis on the men's side of things is unlikely to make Roddick's battle to regain his own form any easier as he has to handle all the complications which arise through such a situation.

If his form doesn't improve at the final Slam of the year, he may be wondering if it's time to call it a day.