Behind every successful man ...

Even after watching everyone I cheered for (Andre Agassi, James Blake, Rafael Nadal, Lindsay Davenport and Justine Henin-Hardenne) lose in the U.S. Open, I saw from the men's final that not everyone's tennis dreams were shattered.\nAndy Roddick made it to the final of another major after a two-year dry spell, and I actually rooted for him to win (only because he was up against Roger Federer, who I happen to dislike more). Needless to say, Federer was still an impenetrable roadblock to Roddick's success, as he has been in 10 of their 11 previous meetings. He blazed past Roddick 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 to become the first man in history to win Wimbledon and the U.S. Open back-to-back for three consecutive years. \nThough this means Roddick, currently ranked No. 6, has come a long way since ditching his brother as a coach and hiring Jimmy Connors instead, he still has a long, arduous journey to get back to No. 2 in the world. And as far as I can tell, No. 1 is so far out of his reach, he couldn't hit it with one of his 140-mph serves.\nSo, what can he do to traverse the rocky road that is the tennis top five? Well, whenever he has a problem, he usually hires a new coach rather than blaming himself, so why not stick with this strategy?\nIn fact, I have the perfect candidate in mind -- hire Maria Sharapova, his girlfriend, according to Us Weekly magazine. She's successful, she knows about tennis and she has lots of experience beating the world No. 1, at least on the women's side. And she won her U.S. Open final match this year. I think she would inspire him, and she could probably beat him, too, which would truly make an entertaining match. \nActually, for someone as human resources-conscious as Roddick, this would make a lot of sense -- one person, two roles. And hey, Federer's girlfriend Mirka Vavrinec is his manager, and we all know how well he's doing, right?\nHonestly, I think that if Roddick really is dating Sharapova, she might be the reason for his recent success because it certainly can't be sheer skill, grace or positive attitude. Sure, Connors' coaching might have helped, but history has proven that the guys just play better when they have a tennis-savvy significant other.\nAgassi, for example, married actress Brooke Shields and his ranking plummeted to No. 141 in 1997. Then he divorced her, got back to No. 1, married former women's No. 1 Steffi Graf and was at the top until his retirement last week. Lleyton Hewitt was ranked No. 1 while he was with former women's No. 1 Kim Clijsters, but his ranking fell when he married Australian actress Bec Cartwright and he's still floating outside the top 10. And Mirka, she's a former professional tennis player herself, so I'm sure she gives Roger pep talks every once in a while. Even Connors found his tennis love in ex-fiance and former women's No. 1 Chris Evert. \nI'm not saying dating Sharapova would solve Roddick's numerous problems, but it kind of brings new meaning to the old saying, "Behind every successful man is a good woman." Doesn't it?