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We’ve all done it – made New Year’s resolutions and promptly broken them, but if Andy Roddick’s was to keep a low profile this year, he is doing well at sticking to it.

Shy and retiring are certainly not the words one would use to describe the flamboyant American, who appears to have assumed a quieter persona in recent weeks. The 26-year-old has been steadily progressing through the draw to set up a quarterfinal clash with defending champion Novak Djokovic, but there’s been no fanfare.

Roddick has appeared on Rod Laver Arena only once - contesting most of his matches on Hisense Arena - and has been remarkably humble about his outstanding performances.

"I'm not good enough to take anything for granted right now,” he said. “I went out pretty quickly in some Slams last year, so, you know, for me there's no such thing as a favourable draw. You can play who's across from you. You're always in danger of losing.”

Roddick has also refused to be baited about the lack of centre court scheduling for his matches. “The other guys have deserved that spot so, I'm not - I certainly don't feel like I'm entitled to anything. I just have to go back to work wherever it is.”

Last year could not have been more different. Roddick bowed out in the third round of the Australian Open to Philipp Kohlschreiber, was riled by the noise generated from the crowd and ranted to the umpire.

Later on in the year, at the US Open, ‘A-Rod’ was embroiled in an exchange of words with Djokovic after the Serb took one of his jokes the wrong way. The American jested that Djokovic’s injuries seemed endless. “A back and a hip? And a cramp? Bird flu ... anthrax ... SARS ... common cough and cold?” he said, smiling.

Novak didn’t realise Roddick was joking, took umbrage and after his four-set quarterfinal defeat of the American used his on-court, post-match interview to let his feelings be known. The world No.3 was then booed as the home crowd defended their hero.

But it's not just the American that has side stepped the spotlight. Djokovic, who is often applauded for his comical impersonations of tennis stars such as Maria Sharapova, appears to have taken steps to be taken more seriously this tournament. “Hopefully the people can remember me as a champion, as a great player, not as an imitator. This is something that I do off the court, and I have fun doing it,” he said.

Now the men face each other again at a quarter final stage at a Grand Slam, and both are watching their words.

Roddick has had a relatively easy journey – dropping only one set – whereas Djokovic’s last two matches have stretched to four and his Sunday night encounter with Marcos Baghdatis finished past 2am. The Serb doubted he would be physically affected by the long matches he has endured, and said he would try to use them to his advantage.

“Physically I feel good. I had very good preparational (sic) period of a couple of weeks during the off‑season, and good matches in Sydney. So I feel physically very fit to play best‑of‑five every two days. I think I'm going to have enough time to recover and wait for the great [encounter] against Roddick,” Djokovic said.

Meanwhile, a humble Roddick has agreed that it is the ‘big four’ – Nadal, Federer, Djokovic and Murray – that are being talked about and rightly so. “They absolutely deserve to be the four that get talked about right now. My results last year, especially in slams, don't warrant me being talked about,” he said.

The men are scheduled to play on Rod Laver Arena on Tuesday afternoon. Let’s hope the attention is on the match, rather than the conversation.