Andy Roddick dropped to 0-2 at the ATP World Tour Finals on Wednesday after a racket-busting 7-5, 6-3 loss to Tomas Berdych in the season-ending tournament.
Roddick was annoyed by the advertising lights at the feet of the line judges in the second set. The lights occasionally flashed red while play was going on. Shortly after complaining, Roddick was broken for the second time, giving Berdych a 3-2 lead.
Andy Roddick complained of advertising lights at the feet of the line judges in the second set of Wednesday's match. They were later turned off.
An angry Roddick sent a ball high into the rafters, then smashed his racket on his foot, drawing a code violation from the chair umpire. Berdych held serve twice after the outburst and then broke Roddick again in the final game.
"The neons in the back weren't quite to the settled position. They were still advertising fun stuff," Roddick said. "When you're trying to track a ball, it's kind of neon lights and stuff. Then Tomas noticed it. A couple of them just went out before we played a point."
The match finished with the lights off.
Berdych converted his first break point in the 11th game of the first set, minutes after saving two set points from Roddick.
"I just went there, serve twice pretty good, turn the game," Berdych said.
Berdych, a Czech ranked No. 6, beat the No. 8-ranked Roddick for the first time in four matches this year. Berdych is making his debut at the ATP finals and is 1-1 at the round-robin event for the world's top eight players.
"There's still a chance," Berdych said. " Now it's down to myself and my next opponent."
He lost to Novak Djokovic in straight sets in his first match and next faces top-ranked Rafael Nadal. Berdych was beaten by Nadal in this year's Wimbledon final.
"Playing Rafa, it's always great experience," Berdych said. "Even if you play on clay, grass, indoor, outdoor, whatever."
Later, Nadal was to play Djokovic in the other Group A match. Both won opening matches. Djokovic will become the first player to qualify for the semifinals if he wins.
On Tuesday, Roger Federer stretched his record to 2-0 by beating Andy Murray 6-4, 6-2 in Group B, and Robin Soderling defeated David Ferrer 7-5, 7-5. All four can still advance after Thursday's final round-robin matches.
In doubles, Wesley Moodie of South Africa and Dick Norman of Belgium beat Lukasz Kubot of Poland and Oliver Marach of Austria 6-1, 6-3. In the late match, Mahesh Bhupathi of India and Max Mirnyi of Belarus were to play Daniel Nestor of Canada and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia.
Courtesy: ESPN
Showing posts with label Andy Roddick. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Andy Roddick. Show all posts
Todd Martin says Roddick in 3
We have the very intriguing match up between Andy Roddick and Rafael Nadal. Roddick wasn’t able to play at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in ’09 due to injury and Nadal might have wished he had been injured too as he was a shadow of himself going winless in ’09 at The O2 arena. Both players are great and dynamic competitors; this mental match-up is sure to keep the crowd and each player engaged and feeling it.
1. How Virtuous Is Patience? The biggest dilemma for Roddick will be to make good decisions regarding how aggressive to be. He’ll have to bide his time patiently, working for a hittable ball, but Nadal will make Roddick pay if he hesitates or waits a shot too long.
2. Body Blow: Roddick has an incredibly explosive serve. Roddick will have lots of aces, but will also have to mix in the body serve frequently. If he can keep Nadal guessing with the service location (body serve will be key to achieving this), I believe that he will have good first ball opportunities with his forehand.
3. Control Freak: Nadal controls play better than anyone. If Nadal gets into enough points against the Roddick serve, he will bludgeon ball after ball and Roddick might never be able to find firm ground to fight from. Roddick will have to take risks he is unused to taking, but also remember the one place Nadal doesn’t rule the world is up high to his own backhand.
Prediction: Roddick serves lights out and grinds through an epic upset in three sets.
1. How Virtuous Is Patience? The biggest dilemma for Roddick will be to make good decisions regarding how aggressive to be. He’ll have to bide his time patiently, working for a hittable ball, but Nadal will make Roddick pay if he hesitates or waits a shot too long.
2. Body Blow: Roddick has an incredibly explosive serve. Roddick will have lots of aces, but will also have to mix in the body serve frequently. If he can keep Nadal guessing with the service location (body serve will be key to achieving this), I believe that he will have good first ball opportunities with his forehand.
3. Control Freak: Nadal controls play better than anyone. If Nadal gets into enough points against the Roddick serve, he will bludgeon ball after ball and Roddick might never be able to find firm ground to fight from. Roddick will have to take risks he is unused to taking, but also remember the one place Nadal doesn’t rule the world is up high to his own backhand.
Prediction: Roddick serves lights out and grinds through an epic upset in three sets.
Savour Rafa & Roger - Roddick
Tennis fans should savour every moment of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal's domination of the sport because such champions do not come around very often, world number eight Andy Roddick has said.
The American is preparing for the ATP World Tour Finals where he will face world number one Nadal on Monday in his debut at London's O2 Arena having had to sit out last year's showpiece tournament at the spectacular indoor venue because of injury.
"Rafa has had an unbelievable year," Roddick said of the 24-year-old Spaniard who has won three of the year's four grand slams and could hold all the majors if he wins the Australian Open at the start of next year.
"What he has done is unreal. To put it into context what Roger and Rafa have achieved for the past five years I would hope that people appreciate it because I guarantee people will be writing in 15 years time that these were the good old days."
Looking ahead to his opening round robin clash with nine-times grand slam champion Nadal, Roddick said he was just glad to be involved in the season finale after the second half of his season was dogged by illness and injury.
He is also looking forward to a warm welcome from the British fans who have taken the Texas-based former world No.1 to their hearts after his three Wimbledon final defeats at the hands of Federer -- most notably 2009 when he lost an epic encounter 16-14 in the deciding set.
Roddick watched from the stands last year at the O2 and still remembers with pride the ovation he received when he was captured on the video screen inside the arena -- a moment he described as one of his most memorable.
"It's strange because it's a polarising event for the crowd here, I normally get a really good reception but then a tournament like this comes along and I've got Rafa in the first round so I can't take that for granted" Roddick, who beat Nadal in Miami this year, told reporters.
Roddick injured an adductor muscle in Shanghai in October and admits that he feared his hopes of qualifying for the year-end tournament for an eight time had gone.
"I felt pretty clean and played well at the beginning of the year but then I got sick and tried to play through it more than I should, then I got injured. So to be here at the end is a little bit surprising.
"I feel fine now though. I didn't know what I was going to bring to the table in Basle and Paris but I managed to sneak out some results and only lost to the guys that won the titles."
The American is preparing for the ATP World Tour Finals where he will face world number one Nadal on Monday in his debut at London's O2 Arena having had to sit out last year's showpiece tournament at the spectacular indoor venue because of injury.
"Rafa has had an unbelievable year," Roddick said of the 24-year-old Spaniard who has won three of the year's four grand slams and could hold all the majors if he wins the Australian Open at the start of next year.
"What he has done is unreal. To put it into context what Roger and Rafa have achieved for the past five years I would hope that people appreciate it because I guarantee people will be writing in 15 years time that these were the good old days."
Looking ahead to his opening round robin clash with nine-times grand slam champion Nadal, Roddick said he was just glad to be involved in the season finale after the second half of his season was dogged by illness and injury.
He is also looking forward to a warm welcome from the British fans who have taken the Texas-based former world No.1 to their hearts after his three Wimbledon final defeats at the hands of Federer -- most notably 2009 when he lost an epic encounter 16-14 in the deciding set.
Roddick watched from the stands last year at the O2 and still remembers with pride the ovation he received when he was captured on the video screen inside the arena -- a moment he described as one of his most memorable.
"It's strange because it's a polarising event for the crowd here, I normally get a really good reception but then a tournament like this comes along and I've got Rafa in the first round so I can't take that for granted" Roddick, who beat Nadal in Miami this year, told reporters.
Roddick injured an adductor muscle in Shanghai in October and admits that he feared his hopes of qualifying for the year-end tournament for an eight time had gone.
"I felt pretty clean and played well at the beginning of the year but then I got sick and tried to play through it more than I should, then I got injured. So to be here at the end is a little bit surprising.
"I feel fine now though. I didn't know what I was going to bring to the table in Basle and Paris but I managed to sneak out some results and only lost to the guys that won the titles."
Finally - we have Roddick's Art of Tennis
Rubbish from the ATP that we have waited so long for Andy's artwork. Here are the photos
Currently on sale via Ebay
Currently on sale via Ebay
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)