Roddick is at the forefront of another wave of big hitters on the ATP Tour and, after equalling Greg Rusedski's world record with a 149mph serve earlier this year, the Wimbledon semi-finalist has become synonymous with the domination of power players.

Several former greats, including John McEnroe and Martina Navratilova, have written to the International Tennis Federation (ITF) to call for the size of racket heads to be reduced, therefore limiting the "sweet spot" which helps generate such force.

But Roddick told reporters: "People talk about power, power, power, but there's still more to our game.

"I don't know why this wasn't a big deal in the days of Pete Sampras and Michael Stich just a few years ago. You did not see lots of great receivers then.

"I don't see the point of all the talk now -- we are going to get faster because it's the nature of sports to find people improving.

"People didn't think they'd see 73 home runs in a season or someone run (under 10 seconds) in the 100 metres.

"No offence, but when you watch pictures of baseball players from the 1930s or 40s, they don't compare to the likes of Barry Bonds or Mark McGwire.

"These guys work out more and have special treatment. Everything aspect of each sport improves and that's what happens."

In a parting shot that might worry the purists even more, he added: "I've still got 10 years ahead of me and I've broken the (serving record) already."

DEBATED CHANGES

Tennis chiefs have long debated changes that could limit the march of technology.

The balls have been made heavier to slow them down, while other measures mooted over the years have included scrapping second serves and lets on net cords, as well as the most recent -- a reduction in racket head size.

In the letter of the 35 former players and journalists to the ITF, they said: "Our sport has become unbalanced and one-dimensional.

"Present racket technology makes it possible for less skilled players who are large, strong and fast to hit anyone off the court on any given day."

Roddick was speaking after progressing to the quarter-finals of the RCA championships in Indianapolis, where the top seed eased to a 6-3 6-4 victory over Gregory Carraz of France.