Connors hopes to inject confidence into Roddick

WASHINGTON, Aug 17 (Reuters) Eight-times grand slam winner Jimmy Connors believes a dose of confidence is all Andy Roddick needs to climb back to the top of the world rankings.

The 53-year-old Connors agreed last month to begin coaching Roddick, the former world number one who has been hoping to return to the form that led him to the 2003 U.S. Open title.

''Let's not get out of control and think his game is not there,'' Connors told Reuters in a telephone interview yesterday.

''His credentials and the way he has played over the last three or four years has been unbelievable.

''But like all athletes I think you find success and then you also fall upon some hard times and you lose a little confidence.

''It's just a matter of him getting that confidence back and once he gets that back he's off and running again.'' Roddick, who has slipped to 12th in the rankings, is hoping a muscle strain in his chest will not ruin his chances of competing at the US Open, which begins on August 28.

Connors, the fiery five-times winner of the US Open, said he will not make wholesale changes in the game of his new pupil.

''I won't have a laundry list for him,'' said Connors. ''I think getting him back and giving him a few of the intangibles that I can bring into it would be the most important thing.

''The way he plays and the way he goes about his game is ingrained in him already. And obviously it's been a game of success.

Changing his game would not be right. It won't happen.'' Connors, known for playing every point as if it were his last, is impressed with the work ethic of the 23-year-old Roddick.

''He listens and he's a worker and he's a quick learner and that to me is the most important thing,'' said Connors.

Connors was one of the dominant forces of the game from the mid-1970s through the early-1980s. His semi-final run at the 1991 US Open at the age of 39 remains one of the sport's defining moments.

While tennis fans are excited about his return to the game in a coaching capacity, Connors would prefer to remain low-key.

''This is not about me,'' he said. ''This is about me making Andy the number one player. That's what it's about.

''I want to help him be the best again. And I think that's what he wants also.

''I would like to have the same thrill watching him win and find his success as I did when I won it myself. That's what I'm looking for.'' REUTERS PDS PM0418