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14/12/02
Sorry the site has not been updated for a long time, I have been unable to get access to the internet. Well, a number of things have happened since I last updated the site:
1. France knocked USA out the Davis Cup, Andy lost both his ties. Russia beat France in the final.
2. Andy narrowly missed out on the end of season Masters Cup, Lleyton Hewitt went on to win it.
3. Andy and Mandy Moore are now a couple (apparently)
4. Andy has been training hard for the new season and the first event he'll take place in is the Adidas International in Sydney starting on the 6th of January. This will be his only warm up tournament before the Australian Open starting on the 13th.
Any suggestions on ways to improve the site would be much appreciated. Please either leave messages in the guestbook or email me at adamglekin@hotmail.com. Thanks
5/9/02
Andy is out of the US Open after producing his worst display since Wimbledon and getting hammered 6-3 6-2 6-4 by Pete Sampras in the Quarter Finals. Sampras played a match so similar to the one Rusedski played at Wimbledon, and exposed Andy's 2 main weaknesses, his returning and his backhand passes.
Andy made a nervous start, and lost the first seven points of the match to leave him 1-0 down and 0-40 down on his serve. Despite saving 2 break points, Sampras took the third to take control of the match straight away. Andy's play slightly improved towards the end of the set but never got near to Sampras's serve and lost the set 6-3.
The second set was almost painful to watch. Andy had his one and only break point of the match in the second game of the set, but it was down to some poor volleys by Sampras rather than good stuff from A-Rod. Sampras saved it and then broke Roddick in the next game to love, after a terrible game with 2 double faults and 2 unforced errors on the forehand. Andy didn't seem as hyped up as usual, maybe he was feeling more pain on his left foot, I'm not sure but he was broken again later on in the set and lost it 6-2. Sampras continously played half decent approach shots to Andy's backhand and he hit so many into the net I lost count.
The third set was marginally better. Andy played a poor game early on and was broken, and was unable to break Sampras back despite having 15-30 a couple of times. It was basically an all round bad performance by Andy, his backhand passes were exposed badly - he hit one backhand winner all match and about 30 errors, his returning wasn't good, he stood so close to the baseline again and got very few balls back into play. He won 45% of his second serve points whereas Sampras won over 80%, and the only time he threatened his opponents serve was when Sampras threw in a couple of double faults. Andy now has a couple of weeks to reflect on his display before playing for the US in the Davis Cup against France.
4/9/02
Andy is into the Quarter Finals of the US Open after beating Juan Ignacio Chela 5-7 6-4 6-4 6-4 in a cracking but extremely nerveracking 4th round match. For once Andy got off to a slow start and had to save a break point in his opening service game, which he did. Both players had 15-40 on their opponents serve during the set which they didnt take advantage of, but at 5-6, Roddick served poorly and was broken to lose his first set of the tournament in 51 minutes.
Roddick then called for the trainer and had to have a large amount of strapping on his left foot, seeming due to a bruised bone. When Chela broke to lead 2-0 in the 2nd set with Roddick struggling to move properly Andy's US Open dreams looked all but over. Somehow he fought back to break Chela back and gradually, his movement around the court seemed to improve. Chela had more break points to get himself into a strong position to claim a 2 sets to 0 lead, but was made to pay for his missed when Roddick broke for a 2nd time and went on to claim the 2nd set 6-4.
The third set was probably the set of the highest quality. One point in particular will go down as one of the great points of this year's Open. It was a point which had superb ball striking, which Chela seemed to always be in control of and had Roddick running from side to side for what seemed like an eternity, before Roddick produced a stunning running backhand winner down the line. His momentum carried him into the crowd, and he started giving high fives to everyone around him. Anyway, the set was settled by one break of serve for A-Rod, and he didnt concede a break point all set. Chela won all 12 points when he got his first serve in during the set, but Roddick punished his slightly weak 2nd serve.
The fourth set was equally nerveracking as it was unclear whether Andy's leg would have been able to go through a fifth set. The first 6 games went with serve, before Roddick got what appeared to be a break which should have won him the match to lead 4-3. However, to Chela's credit, he didn't give up on got back on level terms by breaking the American back straight away. However, he then blew his chance as Roddick got the 3rd consecutive break to leave him serving for the match. Having led 40-0, Andy had a slight hiccup before clinching the match on his 2nd match point.
Andy now faces his boyhood idol for a place in the Semi Final, after Pete Sampras defeated Tommy Haas in 4 tight sets. Andy has won their previous 2 meetings, but Sampras looked back to his best last night and it is likely to be a fantastic match. The winner will have a great chance of making the final as they will face the winner of the less fancied Sjeng Schalken and Fernando Gonzalez in the Semi's. Andy will have to serve well to beat Sampras as he is likely to get few chances on Pete's serve.
3/9/02
Andy is into the Quarter Finals of the US Open after beating Juan Ignacio Chela 5-7 6-4 6-4 6-4 in a cracking 4th round match. Andy's dreams looked over when he went down a set and a break, and had to have a lot of treatment on an injured leg but he fought back bravely to clinch a Quarter Final place against the winner of Tommy Haas and Pete Sampras. Full report and pictures will be up tomorrow.
2/9/02
Andy defeated Alex Corretja in impressive fashion, winning 6-4 6-1 7-6 (6) to reach the 4th round of the US Open. The match had been scheduled for Sunday but was prevented from playing until late on Monday night due to torrential rain in New York.
After taking Corretja to deuce on his opening service game, Roddick reeled off 12 successive points to hold serve to love twice and break to love one and lead 3-1. Roddick held serve to love again to lead 4-2, before letting the Spaniard back into the match with a poor service game, and the score was tied 4-4. However, Andy hit back with a break again and held serve easily to clinch the set 6-4.
The second set followed a similar pattern, A-Rod getting the break again in the 3rd game of the set after squandering 2 break points. Andy then held serve again to love, and broke Corretja again to lead 4-1 and basically clinch the set. Corretja put up a bit of resistance and had a break point to pull one of the breaks back but missed it, and Roddick held on and followed it up by breaking his opponent for the third time in the set to take it 6-1.
The third set was dominated by serve, neither player had a break point in any of the first 10 games. Roddick was two points away from the match when Corretja served at 4-5, and faced deuce but managed to secure the next 2 points to level at 5-5. Corretja then had a glorious chance to get back into the match when he held the first break points of the set at 5-5 when he had 15-40 on Andy's serve, but Roddick bravely took the next four points. This seemed to affect Corretja who then gifted 2 match points to Roddick with a string of unforced errors, but to his credit he fought them off well and took the set into a tie break. At the change of ends it was 3-3 after four mini breaks. The next 4 points went with serve to make it 5-5, before Roddick got the mini break to give himself a match point on his own serve but was broken back. Andy took the next point on his serve to give himself a 4th match point and finally clinched the match in exactly 2 hours.
Andy now faces Juan Ignacio Chela for a place in the Quarter Finals, after he beat an injured Tim Henman 6-3 6-3 6-2. Chela won their only previous meeting at the Ericsson Open so Andy will be out for revenge. The match will be played tomorrow (Tuesday) as because of the rain they will have to play back to back matches.
31/08/02
Andy celebrated his 20th birthday with a straight sets defeat of Ramon Sluiter, winning 6-2 6-4 6-4.
The first game of the match was quite unbelievable, Sluiter served, and the game last 10 minutes, Roddick missing 7 break points before the Dutchman finally took the game. In Sluiter's next service game he led 0-40 and although he missed another 2 break points Andy finally made the breakthrough. After holding serve, he then broke again to lead 4-1, and took the set 6-2 in 38 minutes.
Sluiter played a better second set, and the first four games all went with serve. A-Rod got the crucial breakthrough in the 5th game though, and went on to take the set 6-4. One point in particular stood out, at 3-2, 40-15, Sluiter hit a backhand deep and came to the net. Roddick got a forehand back, but a drop shot volley looked to have secured the point until Andy sprinted and flicked an unbelievable backhand right onto the line, for one of the points of the tournament.
Andy had a break point in the opening game of the 3rd set, but Sluiter fought it off to keep his hopes alive. However, he was never getting close to the Roddick serve and it was only a matter of time before the American broke through, and once again it happened in the 5th game of the set when a tame backhand from Sluiter went into the net. Roddick had match point on his opponents serve at 5-3, which was saved, but clinched it serving for the match at 5-4, despite having to save his first break point of the match.
Andy will face Alex Corretja for a place in the 4th round. Their only previous meeting was at the exact same stage of the Open last year, when Roddick produced a fantastic display to win 6-4 6-2 6-2.
28/8/02
Andy got his US Open campaign of to an impressive start, defeating Martin Verkerk of Holland in straight sets, winning 7-6(2) 6-3 6-4. Prior to the match, very little was known about Andy's opponent, and at the start it was clear he had a good serve and was solid off the ground. The first set was not great from Andy, he had a strange tactic of standing on the baseline for the 1st serve, which was coming in at around 125mph most of the time and standing much further back for the slower 2nd serve. As a result, he struggled to get many of Verkerks first serves back into play, but often took advantage of 2nd serves. Andy finally broke the Dutchman's serve to lead 6-5 and serve for the set, but was broken back instantly and it went to a tie break. Roddick won it 7-2 but it was more down to his opponent's poor play than anything else.
The second set was much more impressive, Roddick never being troubled on his serve and got the crucial break in the 6th game to lead 4-2. He went on to win it 6-3, and the stats showed how impressive a set it had been - 87% first serve, lost just 3 points on serve all set, 2 unforced errors.
The third set was similar to the second, once Roddick managed to get the ball back in court off his opponent's serve he was winning the majority of the points. At 1-1, Roddick played a great game to get a decisive early break, and although he had treatment for a blister on his right hand it didn't seem to disrupt his rythym. He seemed content to have a swing at Verkerk's serve and just hold serve. At 5-4, serving for the match, Andy played THE most superb game - 2 massive forehands, an inch perfect smash, and a beautiful drop volley killed off the match.
In the second round Andy faces another dutchman, Ramon Sluiter who came through a five set match against Taylor Dent. Andy has won both previous meetings, on clay, one in straight sets and one in 3 sets. The match will probably be on Thursday, and is sure to be a tough one but another which Andy will be expecting to come through. I have a load of pictures and vidcaps from last nights match still to go up, so be patient.
22/8/02
The draw for the US Open is out, and Andy has been handed a decent but pretty tricky draw. In the first round he will face Martin Verkerk a relative unknown, but the second round could be tough as if Andy wins he would face either Taylor Dent or Ramon Sluiter, both good players. Alex Corretja is a possible 3rd round opponent, and Tim Henman a possible 4th round opponent. Andy will play Verkerk on Tuesday night and will be the night match, after Jennifer Capriati at around 9pm local time. It is their first ever meeting but it would be an extremely bad defeat for Andy if he lost this one.
16/8/02
Andy produced his worst display for some time as he crashed out of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington, losing 6-4 6-4 to Fernando Meligeni. The defeat is extremely bad for a number of reasons:
1. Andy was reigning champion and loses a large number of points for losing early in the competition.
2. It was Andy's last tournament before the US Open and he played a poor match so his confidence will drop.
3. The match was full of controversy as explained in the report below.
Everything looked good when Andy broke his Brazilian opponent early on, but his first serve percentage was the worst its been for a while and he was broken back. Then, serving to stay in the set at 4-5, Roddick led 40-15 but threw away the next 4 points and lost the set. The second set went with serve until 4 games all when Meligeni saved 5 break points on his serve. The controversy was on the 5th break point, after a Meligeni forehand there was a call of 'out' and both players thought Roddick had broken. However; it turned out the call was by a fan and the ball was called good. Meligeni then held serve and broke Roddick to win the match, Roddick serving a double fault on match point.
After the match Andy said "It's been five continuous weeks of match play I don't know if I was due for one, but I had a bad match tonight. I wasn't seeing the ball well tonight and I wasn't seeing his serve well. What I'll do now is take the weekend off and start fresh next week leading up to the Open. He played very smart; he came up with a good shot when he needed to."
Andy now has a week and a half off before the US Open.
15/8/02
Andy is into the third round of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic after hammering Justin Gimelstob 6-2 6-2, and now faces Fernando Meligeni for a place in the Quarters. Andy got off to a great start breaking his fellow American in the very first game, and went on to take the set without being troubled on his serve, breaking Gimelstob once more along the way. The second set was better quality, and Gimelstob made it competitive at the start, taking the score to 2-2 before Roddick rattled off the next 4 games to take the match. After the match, Andy had some interesting words:
"Justin gave me a little more than what he probably wanted, but I came up with the decent shots at the right time and I feel good about that. I set the pace from the start and kept it going.
"I'm having fun out there and I'm really relaxed and I'm not really paying attention to what's going on outside the court - what people are saying or doing, which was driving me nuts earlier in the year and I pretty much learnt my lesson. Now I'm out there having fun.
Just after Wimbledon I went to visit my family in Texas, and one day we were out on the court playing against each other in the pouring rain and it was so much fun. I said to myself, 'This is what I need to feel more often.' That changed my thinking a little where I'd take a more laid back attitude. Not from a sense of working hard, but going out there and fighting, going for my shots, and what happens, happens. That's working for me more than freaking out about matches."
12/8/02
Andy has been seeded no.2 for the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington. Andre Agassi is no.1 seed, and as a result A-Rod has been given a bye into the second round of the competition. He will face the winner of Justin Gimelstob V Kenneth Carlsen which won't be until Wednesday. Andy has never met either of them but won't be too fussed about who wins that match as he will expect to beat either of them comfortably.
10/8/02
Andy was beaten by Fernando Gonzalez 7-6(4) 7-6(6) in the Quarter Final of the Masters-Series in Cincinnati. Gonzalez played an superb match and there was little Andy could do against a man who probably hits the ball harder than anyone in tennis. After exchanging early breaks, the rest of the set went with serve and Gonzalez played some great tennis to win the tie break 7-4. Roddick mixed his game up in the second set and came to the net far more and managed to break the Chilean's serve for the second time. However, when leading 4-3 and 40-15 on his serve, Gonzalez took 4 points in a row to break back. At 5-4 down, Andy double faulted at 30-30 to given Gonzalez his first match point, but produced an ace to stay alive and forced a tie break. From 2-2 in the tie break, Roddick lost 4 points in a row and found himself 4 match points down. He somehow managed to save them, Gonzalez missing a sitter of a volley at 6-5 and all of a sudden A-Rod had a chance to take the set. However, an unreturnable serve from his opponent brought up a 6th match point and this time he hit another bullet forehand to finally clinch the match. Overall, Roddick will not be too disappointed with his performance, when Gonzalez is playing like that he is almost impossible to beat, maybe only his first serve % and his length on his groundstrokes could've been better.
Andy will now go to Washington to attempt to defend his Legg Mason Tennis Classic title, which he won last year beating Sjeng Schalken in the final. There is a pretty strong field this year, with Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, James Blake, Jan-Michael Gambill, Fernando Gonzalez and Thomas Enqvist all competing.
9/6/02
Andy hammered Wayne Ferreira 6-3 6-2 in just 55 mins to reach the Quarter Final of the Masters-Series in Cincinnati, meaning he has yet to drop a set in his 3 matches. At 1-1, Ferreira played a shocking game having led 30-0 on his serve and Roddick managed to get the early breakthrough. It proved to be crucial as the South African had no answer to Roddick's superb serving as he won every point on his first serve in the opening set, and took it 6-3. Andy then broke Ferreira's serve in the opening game of the second set, but as against Kiefer, let his opponent back into the match as he was broken back instantly. However, after Ferreira held serve to lead 2-1, Roddick upped his level and took 5 consecutive games to take the match, finishing it with an ace. Overall, it was a very good display by Andy but he was helped by the poor display by Ferreira. Andy now faces unseeded Fernando Gonzalez for a place in the Semi Final, starting at around 9pm local time, 2am UK time. Roddick won their only previous meeting in 2 tie breaks, and it is likely to be close again.
8/6/02
Andy defeated Nicolas Kiefer 6-4 6-3 to move into the third round of the Masters Series in Cincinnati, in a match which wasnt of great quality and neither player produced their best tennis but A-Rod did enough to go through. The match started scrappily and Roddick had 2 break points at 1-1 to make the early breakthrough. Although Kiefer fought them off, Roddick did get the break at 3 games all and managed to hold serve fairly comfortably for the rest of the set without really threatening the German's as he took the set 6-4. Kiefer was double faulting an unbelievable amount of times, and when he was broken in the first game of the second set it looked pretty much all over as he hadn't troubled Roddick's serve all match. However, Andy played a poor game and Kiefer broke straight back and seemed to gain in confidence from this. However, from 3-3, Roddick raised his game, winning the next 3 games, breaking twice and holding once for a 6-3 victory. Andy now faces Wayne Ferreira of South Africa for a place in the Quarter Final. Andy won their only previous meeting in 3 tight sets so expect a close match.
6/8/02
Andy eased into the second round if the Masters Series in Cincinnati with a comfortable 6-3 6-3 win over Switzerland's Michel Kratochvil. Andy's serve worked extremely well during the match, winning 88% of the points when he got his first serve in as well as a high percentage of second serve points. Roddick punished Kratochvil when he didnt make his first serve, as Kratochvil won just 32% of the points on his second serve. Roddick didnt face a break point the whole match, and broke his opponent 3 times, pretty much cruising through the match and has already bettered his performance on last year (when he lost in the first round to Kuerten although he was injured). Andy now faces Germany's Nicolas Kiefer in the second round, a match which he should win fairly comfortably although Kiefer has the ability to produce a shock. The match will be played Wednesday but the schedule is not up yet so I cannot give you the exact time. Vidcaps and Photo's from Toronto are now all up!
4/8/02
Andy lost in the final of the Toronto Masters-Series going down 6-4 7-5 to Guillermo Canas :( The main difference between the players was the returning levels, Canas breaking 3 times in the match to Roddicks 1. Both players showed no signs of nerves at the start, the first eight games went with serve, and only once did a returner win more than one point in a game against the server. However, at 4-4 Andy played a poor game and fell 30-40 behind. A second serve ace seemed to get him out of trouble, but a double fault followed and a forehand into the net handed Canas the only break of the opening set as he comfortably served it out.
At the start of the second set, Andy got frustrated with Canas as he tried to slow down the play as much as possible, and served 2 double faults to given the Argentine an early break in the second. However, Andy fought back and broke Canas back straight away when he served a double fault on Roddicks first break point of the match. Andy had chances on Canas' next two service games but couldn't take advantage, and Canas almost made him pay when he led 15-30 on Roddicks serve at 3-3, but Andy produced some big serves to stay alive. The next few service games went with serve, but at 5-5, A-Rod produced a disasterous game with 4 basic errors and was broken to love. Canas then played a great game to win the match, and won when a Roddick forehand went wide.
Overall, Canas was probably the better player, Roddick had been broken just twice all week before today but was broken 3 times, even though he was serving at 68% first serves in. After the match, Roddick was sporting in defeat, saying Canas deserved the win and said he was looking forward to next year. Canas made just 6 unforced errors in the match compared with Andy's 26, although Andy did hit more winners.
He will now have very little rest as he will fly to Cincinnati for the second successive Masters Series, where he faces Michel Kratochvil in the first round, in a tricky tie but one he will expect to win. I have exclusive vidcaps from Toronto which will not be seen anywhere else as they were made by me, some of which are up and some of which are still to be done. I will also put some Oncourt Photos up shortly from Toronto.
4/8/02
Andy in into the FINAL of the Masters Series in Toronto after defeating Jiri Novak 6-4 6-3. Once again, Andy got off to a great start, holding serve straight away and then breaking Novak to lead 2-0. However, he didn't consolidate the break and Novak managed to break straight back after a sloppy game from Andy. Both players had a couple of comfortable service holds, until when leading 5-4, A-Rod broke Novak to take the opening set after some blistering strokes.
The match was mainly settled due to Andy's attacking play on Novak's second serve, and when leading 2-1 in the second set, Novak missed a few first serves and Roddick pounced to take a crucial break. This was soon extended to 4-1, and Roddick soon served for the match at 5-3. It looked all over when Andy led 40-15 with 2 match points, but Roddick became nervous and Novak managed to get to deuce. However, Andy won the next two points to wrap up victory in just 52 mins! Andy will play Guillermo Canas in the final, after he beat Tommy Haas 6-4 3-6 7-6(5). The two have never met before and it is the biggest match in both players' careers. The match will be at 1pm local time, 6pm UK time, and all i can say is GOOD LUCK ANDY!
3/8/02
Andy crushed David Nalbandian 6-3 6-2 in just 70 minutes to progress to his second ever Masters Series semi final. Nalbandian clearly looked jaded but take nothing away from Roddick who played some stunning tennis throughout. Andy got off to a cracking start and broke Nalbandian to lead 2-0 after wasting 3 previous break points in the game. Andy held comfortably throughout the first set, and had Nalbandian at deuce in every one of the Argentine's service games but couldn't get a 2nd break and won the set with just the one, 6-3. Roddicks only scare was at the start of the second set, when after Nalbandian had held his serve, Roddick fell 15-40 behind on his serve, but pulled out some big serves to hold on, and managed to break Nalbandian in the next game to put him within sight of the finishing line. The rest of the set was comfortable for A-Rod as Nalbandian tired, breaking him again to lead 5-2 before serving out the match to 0 for a surprisingly easy victory.
In the Semi's Andy will face Jiri Novak. Roddick has never met him but will feel he has a good shot of making the final in his current form. The match will be played at 7pm local time tonight, 12am UK time.
2/8/02
Andy is into the Quarter Finals of the Masters Series in Toronto after comfortably beating Stefan Koubek 6-3 6-3 in exactly an hour. Serving was the key factor in the match as Koubek continually struggled but Roddick breezed through most of his. In Koubek's five service games in the first set, Roddick broke twice and had at least Deuce in the other 3 games. The breaks came at 2-2 and 5-3 to wrap up the set. The second set was more of a contest, but Andy got the early break to lead 3-0. The Austrian began serving better, and had break points in each of Roddicks next two service games but couldnt capatalise. Then Roddick served for the match at 5-3, and although he squandered 3 match points when he led 40-0, he took the win on his 4th. Andy now plays Wimbledon finalist David Nalbandian for a place in the Semi Final after he surprisingly overcame Tim Henman 4-6 7-6 7-5, saving 3 match points on the way.
Andy's win also means that he has more wins than any other player on the ATP tour circuit this season with 42 wins!
1/8/02
Andy is through to the third round of the Masters Series in Toronto after an unbelievable match against Nicolas Lapentti which Andy won 6-4 3-6 7-5 (5). Roddick got off to a great start, breaking the Ecuadorian in the very first game of the match, and had few problems on his serve as he wrapped up the set 6-4. Roddick had a break point in the first game of the second set, but missed it and it was extremely costly as Lapentti broke in the next game and held his own serve to take a 3-0 lead. Although Roddick had plenty of half-chances to break Lapentti back, he failed to do so and lost the set 6-3. However, it is the third set which is why this match will stick in the memory for a long time. The set was filled with so many bad line calls which frustrated both players and Roddick looked out of the match so many times. At 3-3 in the final set, Roddick had to save points before winning the game, and at 4-4, was 0-30 down on his serve but took the next 4 points to lead 5-4. Andy then called for the trainer, saying he had cramps in both legs. After a 3 minute time out . A-Rod came out hitting the ball as hard as he could in an attempt to avoid long rallies. At 30-30, Lapentti hit a passing shot which looked out but no call was made and Andy had another argument with umpire Romano Grillotti. Lapentti held, then both players held again and it went to a final set tie break. Lapentti played some good tennis and took a 3-0 lead, and led 4-2 at the change of ends. However, Roddick won 5 of the next 6 points to win the match, finishing off with an ace.
Lapentti went down in many people's estimation when he refused to shake hands with Andy at the end of the match. He accused Andy of exaggerating the cramps, and Roddick described Lapentti as a "shitty loser". The pair had to be seperated by ATP officials as they continued to clash. Anyway, it was a quite unbelievable match and Andy now faces Stephan Koubek in the third round, a match he will definately expect to win if he is at full fitness. The match is scheduled to be at 7pm local time, 12am UK time. I also have some exclusive vidcaps from the match which will be put on the site later.
31/7/02
Andy is into the second round of the Masters Series in Toronto after cruising past Dominik Hrbaty, winning 6-2 6-4. After each player held serve comfortably twice at the start of the match, Roddick broke Hrbaty on his third break point in the next game, and broke Hrbaty again in the 7th game of the match before serving out the set to take it 6-2. The second set was a far closer affair but Roddick broke again at 2-2, and Hrbaty was unable to break the A-Rod serve all match, although he did have a couple of break points in the second set. When Roddick served for the match at 5-4, the Slovakian survived 5 match points but Andy finally secured a place in the second round against Nicolas Lapentti. The match will start around 3pm local time, as it is set for 3rd match on Court 1. They have never met before, and Lapentti is a dangerous opponent but Roddick will expect to progress.
28/7/02
Andy lost disappointingly in the Semi Final of the Mercedes Benx Cup, losing 7-5 6-3 to Jan Michael Gambill. Andy got off to a good start and broke Gambill early on to lead 3-1. Andy served for the set at 5-4, but played a poor game, and was broken back. Gambill then held his serve and managed to break A-Rod again, who lost his cool when the umpire over-ruled a first serve, and lost the set. At 1-1 in the second set, Roddick was 0-30 up on Gambill's serve but lost 8 points in a row to lose the game and be broken to love in the next game. This proved to be crucial as the rest of the match went with serve, and Gambill now faces Andre Agassi in the final.
Andy will now go over to Canada to play in the Masters Series in Toronto starting on Monday the 28th. The draw has been made and he has an OK draw, facing Dominik Hrbaty in the first round and then the winner of Nicholas Lapentti v Gaston Gaudio. In the third round he could face Thomas Enqvist or Juan Carlos Ferrero.
27/7/02
Andy is into the Semi Final of the Mercedes Benz Cup after defeating Belgium's Xavier Malisse 6-4 6-4. Roddick got off to the best possible start and broke Malisse in the first game of the match and got a crucial second break to lead 4-1, with Malisse struggling badly. However, the Wimbledon Semi Finalist managed to get one of the breaks back, but Roddick served out the set to 0 to take the opening set. The second set was of far higher quality and contained just the one break of serve, this coming when Malisse was serving at 3-3. At 30-30, Roddick netted an easy return, and let out a huge groan. This seemed to unsettle Malisse who then committed 3 basic errors in a row to hand the game to A-Rod. The rest of the match went with serve, and Roddick once again won the set by holding serve to 0.
Andy now plays ex-doubles partner Jan Michael Gambill in the Semi Finals. Gambill won the only previous meeting, in San Jose last year winning 7-6 7-6, and is one of only 2 Americans to ever defeat Andy (Andre Agassi being the other). Agassi faces Max Mirnyi in the other Semi Final. Andy's match will be played 1st on center court, starting at 1pm local time.
25/7/02
Andy is into the Quarter Final of the Mercedes Benz Cup after a hard fought 7-5 6-4 win over Brian Vahaly. There were some nervous moments during the match for Roddick, mainly when Vahaly led 5-4 in the first set and had Roddick on 30-30, but Andy produced 2 big serves. In total A-Rod served 13 aces and Vahaly said about the serve, "The best thing I've ever faced in my entire life, that's quite a level higher than I'm used to seeing. I've never seen a serve over 125.''
Roddick said ``There are no easy matches, he's very good. He doesn't give you any easy points. Luckily, I have a serve that let me take over the match.'' Andy now faces Wimbledon semi finalist Xavier Malisse after he overcame Taylor Dent in 3 sets. Roddick has won all 3 previous meetings but Malisse has improved massively this year so it should be an extremely close match, and it will be played on Friday.
24/7/02
Andy will face American wildcard Brian Vahaly after he surprisingly hammered Davide Sanguinetti 6-3 6-1. Vahaly is a relative unknown so he could be a dangerous opponent, and Andy has never played him before. The match is scheduled for the evening session tonight (Wednesday) starting at 7.30pm local time in Los Angeles. The winner will face either Xavier Malisse or Taylor Dent in the Quarter Final. Yesterday there were wins for Agassi, Kuerten and Grosjean but top seed Tommy Haas lost 6-4 6-4 to Alex Bogomolov!
23/7/02
Andy needed 3 sets to defeat Hyung Taik Lee but comfortably moved into the second round of the Mercedes-Benz Cup in Los Angeles. Very few points were won against serve in the first set and it went to a tie break. However, Roddicks serve dipped in the breaker and fell 6-2 behind, before getting it back to 6-5 but Lee took the next point on his serve to win the set 7-6(5). The first three games of the second set went with serve as Roddick led 2-1, and managed to go 0-40 up on Lee's serve. Lee fought back to deuce, but A-Rod took the next two points to gain the first break of serve in the match. He then took the next 3 games with 1 more break to take the second set 6-1. Lee continued to struggle and the American broke in the first game of the final set and then held serve to make it 7 games in a row. The Korean finally managed to win a game, but could do nothing to stop Roddick as he took 3 more games in a row to lead 5-1. Lee managed to gain some pride by holding his serve but Roddick served out the match winning it on his 3rd match point to win 6-7 6-1 6-2, and now faces either Brian Vahaly or Davide Sanguinetti in the second round on Thursday.
21/7/02
Andy has been given a decent draw for the Mercedes Benz Cup in Los Angeles, his first hardcourt tournament of the season. Hewitt and Johansson have both pulled out due to injuries, which opened up the draw and Andy has avoided the main 2 other dangers Agassi (who he cant meet till the semi final) and Haas (who he cant meet until the final). He faces Hyung Taik Lee in the first round, A-Rod has a 4-0 record against him although they were mostly close matches. If he goes through he will then play either Brian Vahaly or Davide Sanguinetti. Andys first round match is scheduled to be third match on Monday, starting around 2.30-3.00pm local time.
16/7/02
Still no real news to report, Andy has been playing in some charity events in the last few days for the St Louis Aces. He's up to a career equalling best of 12 in the ATP Entry system rankings, and will play in the Mercedes Benz Cup starting on Monday the 22nd of July. Its a pretty strong line up, Hewitt, Kuerten, Agassi, Haas, Johansson and Malisse are all playing. Last year Andy lost in the 1st round to Marat Safin, who's not playing this year 6-3 6-4. After this will be consecutive Masters Series events in Toronto on the 29th July and Cincinatti on the 5th of August. Andy reached the Quarters in Toronto last year, losing to eventual winner Andrei Pavel, but lost in the first round at Cincinatti after he got injured during his match with Gustavo Kuerten.
29/6/02
Ok here is my bad experience of my 2nd trip to Wimbledon. I queue up on Thursday night hoping to get center court tickets to see Andy v Rusedski. Arrive in queue at about 6pm but see loads of British people whom have been there since mid-day on Thursday just to get tickets. Extremely frustrating so in the end me and mates don't manage to get centre court tickets so we buy tickets for court one, which is good but not great. When we hear the Roddick v Rusedski match is starting we go over to the huge screen on "Henman Hill" as they call it. The match is an absolute nightmare, Rusedski continously plays approach shots to Roddicks backhand and every single time A-Rod seems to hit it into the net. The 1st serve percentages were always gonna be important, and at one point it was 70% to 31% in favour of Rusedski. During the match I have to put up with annoying Brits shouting "come on Greg" every five seconds. I'm British myself and 1.Cannot stand Greg Rusedski, 2.He's Canadian not British, and 3.Anyone can see Roddick is the far more entertaining player. Anyway, the match finishes 6-3 6-4 6-2 in favour of Rusedski and Andy is out of Wimbledon. Andy played terribly and even said so in his after match interview. Rusedski played well but is not a great volleyer so if Andy could've got some backhands into play he would've had a chance. Then we decided we'd stay over again for tomorrow's matches because we hadn't seen a great deal of tennis. There was already loads of people queing up for Henman and Hewitt when we left the ground and started queing at around 8pm so we pretty much guessed we wouldn't get center court again. In the morning we find out we're 30 tickets away from getting center court which annoys us even more, so we settle for court one. We see Seles beat Sugiyama, Youzhny beat Escude (Youzhny's a great player and still really young I can see him going on to great things although he's got Hewitt in next round so it may be tough at this years Wimbledon), and Venus Williams beat Maureen Drake which was probably the best match of the lot. Then we decide its finally time to go home, so here I am writing this report. I think Andy's next tournament isn't until the Mercedes Benz Cup in Los Angeles on the 22nd of July, but I will keep you posted with any news.
27/6/02
Andy's match with Greg Rusedski will be last match on center court on Friday starting around 5pm British time. I've decided to try and get tickets for this match instead of Monday as it is sure to be a great match. Therefore I will not be able to update the site until Saturday. For all the latest news you can visit the official wimbledon site at http://www.wimbledon.org and I will update the site when I'm back. Good luck Andy!
26/6/02
Andy hammered Alberto Martin 6-1 6-2 6-2 to equal his best ever run at Wimbledon and progress to the third round. It was another extremely good display by Roddick, who completely overpowered and outplayed Martin, who is much more suited to clay courts. Roddick lost just 2 points on his serve the whole first set, and broke the Spaniard twice to take it 6-1. Martin fought back in the second, and had a 2-1 lead before A-Rod took 5 consecutive games, and cruised through the third. During the match, Andy also hit the fastest ever serve recorded at Wimbledon (I think), at 144 miles per hour. Andy will face a much harder match in the third round, where he faces Britain's Greg Rusedski. The whole crowd is likely to be against him, and Rusedski has an equally good serve so the match is not going to have many breaks of serve. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get any vidcaps from the match but there is some pictures which will be put up tomorrow. Also, if he manages to get past Rusedski I'm going to go to the fourth round match against either Xavier Malisse or Yevgeny Kafelnikov so i'll be able to bring you some exclusive photographs.
24/6/02
Andy is through to the second round of Wimbledon after opponent Bohdan Ulihrach pulled out with an injury when trailing 6-1 3-1. It was a superb display by Roddick, and i'm not convinced Ulihrach was actually injured but was eager to save the embarrassment of a complete thrashing. Roddick served first and held to 0, before breaking Ulihrach and holding again to lead 3-0. Ulihrach finally got on the scoreboard in the next game, and Roddick then rattled off the next 3 games to take the set 6-1 in unbelievably quick time, 16 minutes. Roddick broke instantly at the start of the second set, and when leading 3-1, his Czech opponent pulled out suspiciously with an injury after the match had been going on just 28 minutes. Andy will now face Alberto Martin who beat Stefano Galvani in straight sets on Wednesday, whom he beat 3-0 on grass in the Davis Cup earlier this year. I have a new program which allows me to make vidcaps of Andy's matches shown on tv, and I have a few from his first round match today which will be up later today, along with some actual photos.
23/6/02
Andy's bid at Wimbledon will start tomorrow (Monday) as he takes on Bohdan Ulihrach in the first round. The match is scheduled to be played 3rd on Court No.18 starting around 3.30-4pm. Andy has beaten Ulihrach on both previous occasion, but they have yet to meet on grass. Andy's record at Grand Slam's recently so this could prove to be an important match, but it should be comfortable and hopefully he can win in 3 straight sets.
18/6/02
Andy has lost another first round match, this time to Jonas Bjorkman in the Samsung Open in Nottingham, losing 7-5 7-5. It was once again Roddick's returning that let him down, failing to even make a break point the whole match on the Swede's serve. A-Rod served first in both sets and was broken at 5 games all in each of them, and Bjorkman served out both sets. To add to Andy's misery he was given a warning for racket abuse after throwing his racket when broken for the second time. "It isn't ideal having one grass court match going into Wimbledon, but that's what I have to deal with and make the best of it, I'm not going to dwell on this all week and I'll get some matches in doubles here, everything will help." said Roddick.
More bad news is the draw for Wimbledon has been announced and Andy has not had the best of draws. He will face Bohdan Ulihrach (2-0 record against) in the first round in a match he'll expect to win, before facing either Alberto Martin or Stevano Galvani whom he'd also expect to beat. However, he faces a possible 3rd round clash with Britain's Greg Rusedski (a renowned grass courter), and could face no.5 seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the 4th round, and possibly Andre Agassi in the Quarters!
17/6/02
Andy will finally get his grass-court season underway tomorrow (Tuesday) with his first round match in the Samsung Open against Jonas Bjorkman. The match is second on center court, starting around 3.00pm UK time. Andy is number 1 seed for the tournament after the original number 1, Thomas Johansson pulled out due to injury. Roddick has never met Bjorkman, who is not a great grass courter but won the tournament back in 1998. Andy is also playing with Graydon Oliver (virtual unknown) in the doubles and they managed to beat Leander Paes and Stephen Huss 6-4 7-6(6) to progress to the second round. In other news, Andy has been seeded as high as 11 for Wimbledon next week due to a number of withdrawals.
14/6/02
Andy will be seeded 2 for the Samsung Open in Nottingham starting on Monday, behind Thomas Johansson who won it last year. Andy will probably be favourite to win the tournament though, having beat Johansson at last years Wimbledon on grass. Andy reached the Semi Finals last year losing to Harel Levy, and here are some of his comments made during an interview this week on the official site of the tournament.
"You have the option of playing exhibitions as well but I do better when I'm in a match situation"
"I just like it at Nottingham, everyone is really friendly and it's a nice tournament where I can really get focused and concentrate on Wimbledon."
"It was nice. I won some matches and it's good because they have a lot of practice courts in Nottingham.
"It's a great little town. I actually have one of my friends living there so it's a good week to kind of get ready for Wimbledon quietly."
"Pretty much everybody will be a threat," admitted Roddick. "Johansson is a good grasscourt player, Ferreira has won millions of grass court matches in his life, and the last thing you want to see out there is the serve of Arthurs on a grass court. Those three players are definitely tough to beat."
"Obviously grass is not like any other surface," said Roddick. "I am still adjusting and learning on it. I am not an expert by any means because it's different in the shots you have to play and the way you have to go for points. But it does fit my game pretty well."
5/6/02
Sorry about the lack of updates, due to Andy's early exit from the French Open he has had a long break. For those interested, Wayne Arthurs (who knocked Roddick out) lost in the very next round. Andy has been in preparation for the grass court season over the last week or so, and will continue to practice until the 17th of June when he plays in the Samsung Open, Nottingham, England. This will be his only match practice on grass before the start of Wimbledon on the 24th of June. Andy has fallen 2 places to 11th in the ATP Champions Race and 1 place to 15th in the ATP Entry System due to his poor showing at Roland Garros.
29/5/02
Andy LOST in the first round of the French Open to Wayne Arthurs in 5 close sets. I honestly cannot believe he lost this match, his tactics were completely wrong and how Andy or his coach Tarik do not realise this is beyond me. Every single time he plays a big server, he loses. Lets face facts, Roddick is not the best returner in the world, therefore when facing a big server, he should surely stand a little further back and at least give himself a chance of making the return. When people face him, they stand further back knowing his serve is a major threat. How he can carry on standing on the baseline when his opponent is consistently firing down serves of over 175 k/ph is just plain stupid.
Anyway, the first set went with serve until at 5-4, Roddick got the break to win the set. The second set also went with serve, and at 5-4 Roddick had a set point on the Arthurs serve which was saved and the set went to a tie break. It was a marathon tie break, and Arthurs took it 16-14 after Roddick double faulted. Roddick then got a break at the start of the third set and went on to take it 6-4. Throughout the match, Roddick was holding serve far more easily than his opponent, though Roddick didnt take any of his chances and was made to pay when at 5-6, Arthurs got his first break of the match to win the set and take it into a decider. Roddick made no impact on the Arthurs serve the whole final set, and was broken early on to trail 3-1. At 5-2, he saved 2 match points on his serve, but the Australian served out the match to move into the second round.
Maybe i'm being too harsh on Andy, but I just can't believe he lost this sort of a match, if you look at all his past results he loses to big servers. From the stats it is clear he is the better player, more winners, less unforced errors, but Arthurs served 25 aces to Roddick's 6. If he insists on standing so close to the baseline, he will have little chance on grass courts which make the serves even faster. I just hope over these next free 2 weeks he'll work on his returning, as this seems to be letting him down in the major tournaments. If you have an opinion on what is a fairly troublesome time for Andy please contact me with your opinions and i'll post them on the site.
28/5/02
Andy's match against Wayne Arthurs had to be delayed until Wednesday due to the large amount of rain at Roland Garros. Andy was due to be third match on Tuesday but was unable to start due to a number of rain delays. He will now be third match on court two, after Kournikova and Capriatti and will start around 2pm local time, 1pm UK time.
24/5/02
Andy has been given a decent draw for the French Open starting on Monday. He will face Australia's Wayne Arthurs in the first round, and if he wins will face either Arnaud De Pascaule or Michael Russell. He could possibly face Thomas Enqvist in the third round, then probably Marat Safin. This was Wayne Arthurs' reaction to the draw..."There's no doubt that Roddick is not the easiest opponent I could have had. I played him in Washington last summer and he beat me by little, 7/6 in the third set before winning the tournament. I'm going to have to play very well if I want to have a chance at creating a surprise. But I proved last year that I can play well on the courts at Roland Garros (Arthurs reached the fourth round). Otherwise, I'm feeling great. So anything's possible."
23/5/02
Andy had to pull out of USA's match with Sweden due to a left knee injury. Reports suggest the injury is not to bad, and Roddick was just rested as a precaution for the French Open next week. James Blake took his place, had a match point against Thomas Enqvist but went on to lose, Pete Sampras then lost to Thomas Johansson, and to complete a miserable day for the US, Blake and Palmer lost the doubles. Andy will not play any more matches now before the start of the French Open on Monday.
21/5/02
Andy thrashed Jose Acasuso of Argentina 6-3 6-2, and Pete Sampras beat Guillermo Canas 7-5 2-6 7-6 to give USA the win in the ARAG world team cup in Dusseldorff. Roddick cruised past his opponent without ever having to play his best tennis, in a match of pretty low quality, Roddick was always in control as Acasuso made an unbelievable amount of unforced errors. Acasuso was always struggling on his serve, and was broken a total of 3 times in the match, whereas Andy never had to face a break point. Sampras' win meant USA won the tie, but James Blake and Jared Palmer lost in the doubles, meaning America probably have to beat Sweden 3-0 in their last match on Thursday to reach the final.
19/5/02
Andy lost somewhat surprisingly to Arnaud Clement in the World Team Cup in Dusseldorff, and U.S.A went on to lose 3-0 on the opening day. Although i didn't see the match, the statistics show Andy played a great first set, taking it 6-3 before a huge drop in his first serve percentage gave Clement the chance to come back into the match, as he took the second set 6-4 and then the third 6-3. It is a bad result for Andy with the French Open in just a weeks time, but U.S.A will play at least 2 more matches so he has the chance to get some form back. Nicholas Escude beat Pete Sampras in a final set tie break, and Clement and Escude thrashed Palmer and Blake to complete a surprising whitewash for France. U.S.A will play again on Tuesday, facing Argentina, and Andy will play Jose Acasuso in the first match, followed by Sampras v Canas and then the doubles (yet to be announced). Acasuso is a decent clay courter but it is a match Roddick will be expecting to win.
16/5/02
Andy is out of the Masters Series in Hamburg after losing 6-3 7-5 to an inspired Julien Boutter. There was very little Roddick could do as the Frenchman played some unbelievable tennis and probably one of the best matches he's ever played in his career. Anyway, Roddick got off to ANOTHER bad start, falling 4-1 behind and very nearly 5-1 but managed to save 2 break points and get back to 4-2. However, he couldn't find any way to get close to breaking Boutter's serve and lost the set 6-3. Roddick played a better 2nd set, serving at a far higher first serve percentage but still couldnt break Boutter's serve. His only real chance was when leading 5-4, he led 15-30 on the Frenchmans serve but he came up with some huge serves to level at 5-5. Some unbelievably good returns in the next game gave Boutter 2 break points at 15-40, though Roddick produced 3 big serves in a row to stay alive. However, on advantage he missed a simple forehand pass, and Boutter made 2 more good returns to break A-Rods serve. He then comfortably served out the match and will now face Max Mirnyi in the Quarters. Andy will be disappointed with the defeat but not too upset as his opponent was just too good on the day. Roddick will now stay in Germany as he is playing in the ARAG team championships in Dusseldorff for America with Pete Sampras.
15/5/02
Andy eased past Rainer Schuettler 6-4 6-4 to book a third round meeting with Julien Boutter in the Masters Series in Hamburg. After another poor start in which Andy fell 2-0 behind, he fought back instantly to 2-2, before each player held comfortably twice to make the score 4-4. After missing 2 break points, Roddick finally took his chance and broke the German, and then served out to take the set. Roddick seemed to be in control of things when Schuettler missed a simple smash and was broken early in the second set, but refused to go away and the volatile home crowd helped him get back into it as he broke Roddick to level at 2-2. Roddick had to save a crucial break point at 3-3, but after that he stepped up a gear, and broke Schuettler in the very next game. The German held serve to pull it back to 5-4, but had no answer to Roddicks big serving as he closed out the match. It is still clear that Andy is not producing his best tennis, especially early on in matches, but is doing enough to win. Against Boutter, there is likely to be very few service breaks as he has an equally big serve, as shown by their only previous meeting where Roddick won in 2 tie breaks. 14/5/02
Andy beat Todd Martin 7-6(4) 6-2 to move into the second round of the Masters Series in Hamburg, Germany. It was a match similar to their only previous meeting, where Roddick won after a tight first set but cruised the second. Roddick broke Martin to lead 3-2, but Martin broke back instantly. A-Rod had to save a set point when 6-5 down, but produced some big serves at the crucial moments to take it into a tie break. Roddick took the first 3 points and when they changed ends Roddick held a 5-1 lead. Martin took 3 consecutive points to reduce the deficit to 5-4, before Roddick won his 2 service points to take the set. The second set was much easier for Andy, when from 2-2, he took the next 4 games and won the match on his third match point when Martin served a double fault. Overall, it was Andy's serve which made the differance - he won 90% of points where he got his first serve in. He'll now face German Rainer Schuettler in the second round. Unfortunately, Andy and Fabrice Santoro lost in the doubles, against no.1 seeds Dom Johnson and Jared Palmer, 10-6 in a final set tie break.
11/5/02
Andy lost disappointingly to Tommy Haas in the Semi Finals of the Masters Series in Rome, losing 6-1 7-5. Roddick seemed pretty nervous early on, falling 5-0 behind after some poor serving. He finally got on the scoreboard by holding serve to 0, although Haas replied by also holding serve to 0 to take the set 6-1. Andy played much better in the second set, and if he could have taken a break point when leading 2-1 it could have changed the course of the match. However, Haas served an ace and had break points of his own at 2-2 and 3-3 which he also missed. Roddick had only his second break point of the match at 4-3, which had he taken would have surely given him the set but the German produced some good serves at the big moments again. The match turned when at 5-5, Roddick led 40-15 on his serve but lost the next 4 points and was broken. Haas then served out to match to love to book his place in the final against Andre Agassi. Andy will now travel to Hamburg, Germany for the next Masters Series, and will face Todd Martin on Tuesday. Pics from Rome are now up.
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