After opting out of the Olympics in favor of preparation for the US Open, you would think the No. 8 player in the world would have the house to himself, so to speak.

While the top players in the world were making the grueling trek to Beijing to compete for the gold, the US Open Series playing field was wide open with less-than-top-20 players.

The titles should have been Roddick's for the taking.

His best effort was losing the final at the Countrywide Classic in LA to Juan Martin del Porto, with less-than-stellar results at Toronto, Legg Mason, a withdraw from Cincinnati and a no-show in New Haven.

Is there hope for Roddick to ever return to the No. 1 position? I'd love to root for the dude, but he makes it difficult.