A man who, one demoralising 2009 Wimbledon semi-final apart, tends to beat the American when they meet. The 25-year-old Glaswegian has spent more time in the company of his childhood pal and occasional practice partner Andy Murray in the last eight months than he has done for years. Indeed the pair, who spent a gruelling three-week training block together out in Miami before Christmas, were back hitting together at Aorangi Park, Wimbledon, on Friday morning.
Whether or not he asks his Caledonian contemporary for specialist information on how to combat the big-serving former US Open winner's game, Baker will certainly arrive on court to confront the Texan on Tuesday having been helped by his friend for what will be the biggest match of his life. Apart from that 2009 defeat, Murray's mastery of Roddick is such that he has won eight of their 11 meetings.
"Andy can be a big help sometimes in terms of analysing how the big players play, he knows them better than me, but when it is one of the really big players you can also imagine how many times I have watched them play on TV," said Baker, who will have risen to a career high of 180 when the rankings are released tomorrow.
"But I have definitely done a lot more training and time with Andy this year than I have for a long, long time and that has definitely been a great benefit. It is just great being on court with a top-four player in the world who is competing for Grand Slams all the time. It makes you aware of the amount of training and preparation that is required."
Baker, 25, has never played on Centre Court, but unfortunately his Scottish colleague may deprive him of the chance to do so this time around. Although the match-up with Roddick would be fit for the most famous arena at the All England Club, the fact both Murray and Rafael Nadal will be in action on Tuesday, means Baker is more likely to be playing on Court No 1, a venue he has only graced on Davis Cup duty, or Court No 2.
For all of Murray's help, whatever he goes on to achieve in the next few days, months and years, Baker himself will deserve all the credit. A year ago, such a meeting between these two players would have seemed like a procession. Languishing with a ranking around the 350-mark, and dogged by years of injury and illness, Baker failed to qualify for a wild card for the main draw, and ended up losing in qualifying, while Roddick began the year ranked as the eighth-best player in the world.
But 12 months is a long time in tennis. A horror year has seen Roddick plummet to 33 in the world, with whispers to the effect that he might not continue travelling to SW19 if he feels he can no longer do himself justice. The American did beat Andreas Seppi 6-3, 6-2 in the final at Eastbourne yesterday but Baker also has reasons to be cheerful. After missing the early part of the year through injury, he seems to be in the best form of his career, following a fine win over Roddick's countryman Donald Young and a creditable showing against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Although the Scot has never won a match in the main draw at Wimbledon, he isn't talking down his chances.
"You only have to look at [Roddick's] record to see how comfortable he usually is playing at Wimbledon and how much that will fire him up," Baker said. "It is a massive challenge for me, but I am in the best shape I have been, the highest ranking I have been, so in terms of going into this particular challenge I couldn't be any better prepared than I am now. For sure I have a huge amount of respect for him but I don't think I have anything to fear.
"The Donald Young match was my best win in an individual match, and it has definitely given me a confidence to feed off. I didn't play last year, so even walking around Wimbledon just now is a very special place to be, and I am very honoured to get the chance to play here. You never know when that last opportunity is, so as much as you try to do a professional job you kind of find yourself trying to enjoy it at the same time."
