By Jim Ryan

updated 7:37 p.m. ET April 15, 2008

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Andy Roddick long has said his four goals when he started his pro career were to reach No. 1 in the world, win the U.S. Open, win the Davis Cup and win Wimbledon.

Roddick has achieved the first three of these four goals (and become engaged to a supermodel, to boot). On Friday at Joel Coliseum, before the United States' Davis Cup quarterfinal against France, Roddick and the rest of the U.S. team received their rings for winning the tournament in 2007.

Davis Cup victories used to be common for the U.S. Hanging from the arena's rafters, where one might expect to see a giant jersey honoring Tim Duncan during Demon Deacons basketball season, were banners commemorating each of the United States' titles in the competition. However, last year's victory was the first for the U.S. since 1995.

Roddick deserves much of the credit for the victory. He was undefeated in Davis Cup matches in 2007, partly because of the experience he has gained from participating in the competition since 2001.

"I've become a good Davis Cup player," he said. "At the beginning of my career, I don't think I played my best tennis at the Davis Cup. It's a different kind of pressure and a different kind of match."

Of course, American fans — perhaps spoiled by the '90s, a golden era for U.S. tennis thanks to Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and Jim Courirer — would like to see Roddick win more of the regular, non-team matches and cross career goal No. 4 off the list by winning Wimbledon (or any other Grand Slam, for that matter).

Since winning the 2003 U.S. Open, Roddick has been to the Wimbledon final twice and the U.S. Open final once, losing all three times to Roger Federer. Roddick has a 2-15 record against the world's No. 1 player, though the second of Roddick's two victories came early this month in Miami.

Federer is having a tough season, but he's not the only giant Roddick has taken down in '08. Roddick defeated Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, the world's No. 2 and No. 3 players, respectively, en route to winning the Dubai Tennis championship last month.

"I think the wins I've had the last five or six weeks have been a long time coming," Roddick said Friday. "I don't know if I've been playing that much better than I had."

Roddick played well against Michael Llodra on Friday, blasting 30 aces and not facing a break point until the penultimate game of the third set. The Frenchman served well, too — he had 26 aces, and his serve was broken only once. But the one time Roddick earned a break, and during the second- and third-set tiebreakers, the American knifed several returns and passing shots past the serve-and-volleyer Llodra.

"The big points that I did win, I earned," Roddick said after the match. "He played well, and I had to have really good stuff today to get through."

Of course, Roddick's best stuff — what allows him to remain competitive against almost any opponent — is his booming serve. As long as Roddick can win easy points by pounding the ball at 140 miles per hour, there's always hope that he can win not only the Davis Cup, but another Grand Slam, as well.

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