This Roddick fellow looks like a good prospect.

After a year of difficult losses, timid play, and increasing questions about his future, Andy Roddick emerged this weekend, winning his first title of the year at the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati, 6–3, 6–4 over Juan Carlos Ferrero (he also clinched the U.S. Open Series and a chance at a million-dollar bonus at the U.S. Open, which begins next week). The struggling American looked relieved when he dropped to his knees and kissed the court, before embarking on a victory lap of the stadium.

This tournament was a reprise of the 23-year-old American’s good old days (that is, one September in 2003), when his serve did most of the work and his forehand and athleticism took care of the rest.Even his final opponent was familiar: Ferrero was the victim when Roddick won his first, and only, major title, at the U.S. Open three years ago.

As poorly as Roddick has played of late, Ferrero has been far worse since that Grand Slam meeting. The Spaniard nearly slipped outside the top 100 in the rankings while struggling with a wrist injury and chicken pox.He has not won a title since 2003, when he briefly took over the no. 1 ranking in the world.

Though Ferrero went on a fine run this week, including victories over James Blake and Rafael Nadal, it turns out that he still cannot return a good serve, as Brad Gilbert, Roddick’s former coach, pointed out in 2003.Ferrero often looked clueless yesterday, earning two breaks mostly due to poor execution from Roddick, especially at the net in his first attempt to serve out the match (Roddick finished with 17 aces, including three straight to end the contest).

So how good was Roddick last week, and are we now going to see more positive results from him? In all sports, but especially in an individual sport like tennis, a good performance often leaves one with the impression that a player has cured all of his or her ills. Suddenly, it seems, volleying is easy, down-the-line backhands take less effort, and serves land just so.

In truth, Roddick probably did not play much better last week than he did at other times this year (the final included a number of sloppy points). He did, however, carry himself much better. His attitude was confident. He expected to win. He tried to stay away from long baseline rallies and no longer feared making mistakes. And he ventured to the net time and again, even if his opponent sent a line drive right past him. Roddick will never be known as a superb volleyer, but his reflexes and leaping ability often produce stupendous shots, less so for their grace than the fact that they are effective and clumsy at the same time (maybe this is how Michael Jordan would look at the net).

This version of Roddick, the explosive gambler, is a dangerous player, provided the draw breaks his way. Cincinnati provided a fine example: He survived a close match against Daniele Bracciali in the first round, and then needed only to defeat Kristof Vliegen, Juan Ignacio Chela, a tired Andy Murray (Murray had upset Federer and said he went into the Roddick match thinking he could not win), and Fernando Gonzalez, who usually returns serves by blocking the ball back into the court, giving Roddick lanes for approach shots and volleys (he lost just three points on his first serve in their semifinal match).

Even against a depleted Murray, Roddick only won 14 of 29 points at the net, a terrible percentage. But he stuck with the plan (if Jimmy Connors has imparted this discipline on Roddick, he’s well worth the money). Should Roddick continue this at the U.S.Open, he might easily find himself in the second week, provided that his lingering lower back strain causes no problems.

As his results suffered in recent years, it seemed the world became increasingly fond of the old Roddick. But many of those memories are false. Roddick of 2003 was not a better player than Roddick of 2005 or even Roddick in many weeks of 2006, and the 2005 Wimbledon final against Roger Federer remains Roddick’s best performance on a tennis court, despite the fact that Federer drubbed him.

In tennis, timing counts for a lot, and Roddick’s was impeccable in Flushing in 2003. He played only three players ranked inside the top 15 in that tournament: Sjeng Schalken, David Nalbandian, and Ferrero. Schalken had the worst serve on the tour, Nalbandian had a twosets-to-love lead in the semifinals before he injured himself, and Ferrero had expended a lot of energy in long rallies against Andre Agassi in the semifinals (and don’t forget Gilbert’s remarks about his return game). Roddick might have lost in the second round that year, to Ivan Ljubicic, but Ljubicic was not quite the player then that he is now, and he suffered a meltdown after several calls that he deemed unfavorable (Roddick won in four sets, two of them tiebreakers, including 12–10 in the fourth set).

Considering recent poor performances from men like Nalbandian, Marcos Baghdatis, Ljubicic, Blake, and even Nadal, Roddick’s timing for 2006 might be just as good. The United States Tennis Association announces the U.S. Open draw on Wednesday. Much to everyone’s surprise, Roddick might end up as a real contender.