A new, improved Andy Roddick was on display Thursday night at the U.S. Open. He is a product worth looking at these days, maybe even buying into.

Yes, the old Roddick had streaks of inconsistency, of adolescent underachieving. His game has always been huge, but so has his downside. In years past, there have been blowups at chair umpires, blowups at himself, blowups merely for the sake of blowing up.