TENNIS in DEPTH.

It is the subject of some light-hearted discord in the Roddick household that Brooklyn Decker has beaten her husband in the race to make the cover of America’s prestigious Sports Illustrated magazine.

Andy Roddick’s model wife appeared on the front of the publication earlier this year – a much sought claim to fame in American sports culture – as part of its famed annual swimwear issue.

The country’s leading male tennis star still awaits the honour (so, contentiously, does Roger Federer), but knows that as a US player he was within a few points of gaining that recognition in what was another classic Wimbledon final last year.

Had he taken his break opportunities in the fifth set he would surely have secured victory and with it a place on the cover, only to lose 16-14 to the remarkable Swiss champion.

‘Trust me, that fact hasn’t been lost on her,’ admits Roddick with a smile. ‘She gave me a little c**p. I said to her after the final – well, it was actually three or four days afterwards when I had actually started speaking again – “You’re gonna get on the cover before me!” That was one of the things I was bitter about.’

Roddick, 27, is employing his well-honed sense of irony and is, in fact, completely over what was a shattering defeat, although he concedes that he was ‘heartbroken’ in the aftermath.

Having beaten Andy Murray in the semi-finals, he knows just how close he was to adding to his solitary Grand Slam title, the 2003 US Open.

When he says worse things can happen than losing a tennis match, he can expand beyond the cliche: ‘It’s a matter of perspective. My worst day, most heartbreaking loss, is a lot of people’s best day. I had the Centre Court of Wimbledon chanting my name afterwards, that’s a great thing. It was a lot tougher to take being that close than when I was in the 2005 final, when I lost in straight sets.’

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