Roddick pays tribute to Gloria Connors

Melbourne - Andy Roddick thinks Gloria Connors's legacy on his career will endure long after her death.

Gloria Connors, who coached her son Jimmy Connors for most of his stellar career, died at the age of 82 on Monday at her home in Belleville, Illinois. The funeral service are scheduled for Friday.

Roddick never met Gloria, saying she was sick when Jimmy Connors first became his coach mid last year, but felt she had an impact on his career.

Roddick said he doubts Connors, who won eight Grand Slam singles titles and spent 160 consecutive weeks atop the world rankings, will join him at the Australian Open starting on Monday.

"There's something... a lot more important in his life right now than worrying about getting down here, it's halfway around the world," Roddick said on Wednesday after a 6-2, 6-3 win over Tommy Haas in an exhibition tournament at Kooyong.

"I know she enjoyed when we started working together and watching the matches and she would pass on her opinions to Jimmy, from all accounts," Roddick said. "I've enjoyed her stories and her

second-hand opinions about what I should be doing out there."

The techniques and attitudes he was picking up from Connors were strongly shaped by Gloria, Roddick said.

"She made Jimmy into what he was, so basically the knowledge that Jimmy has shared with me is pretty much just an extension of her," he said. "I know Jimmy talked to her a lot and discussed my game a lot with her."

Roddick, the 2003 US Open champion, dropped out of the Top 10 in July after a slow start to the year, but recovered to reach the US Open final and make it back into the Top 10.

He said was prepared for the Australian Open, even if Connors could not make it, and wanted to continue the momentum the pair had built late in 2006.

"We have put the work in together and I think we're on the same wavelength," he said.

"Regardless of what happens, he'll be watching the matches and we'll be talking. Obviously I'd love to have him here... but his influence isn't gone - he's still very much involved."

Connors announced in a statement that his mother died peacefully earlier this week.

"She had an unwavering passion for tennis," he said in a statement released by the Hall of Fame.

"All my life, she taught me - made me a world champion - she always got me to do things without my even realising. She instilled passion, excitement and enthusiasm into me that was contagious to everyone around me. And yet separately, she was my mother and my friend." - Sapa-AP