The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Roddick meets Haas in last eight

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 14, 2006

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Sport - Tennis

Roddick meets Haas in last eight

Anbel Medina Garrigues/stops Neha Uberoi in the second round

ON A ROLL: Tommy Haas, who is having a good run this season, stretches for a return in his match against Alexander Waske. — Photo: AP

HOUSTON: Defending champion and top seed Andy Roddick swept past Austria's Oliver Marach 6-3, 6-4 at the U.S. men's claycourt championship here on Wednesday, setting up a quarterfinal clash with an in-form German Tommy Haas.

Roddick, who has reached the final in Houston for five consecutive years, won convincingly for the second straight day but said he would welcome a day off before facing fifth seed Haas.

"I was a little low on energy...I wasn't expecting to play back-to-back," Roddick told the ATP website. "I'll be glad to have a day off before playing Tommy on Friday."

Roddick, who is still chasing his first title of the season, has won the crown three times, compiling a record of 25-2 on the Houston clay.

Haas, however, is enjoying the ATP Tour's spring swing through the U.S. having already picked up titles in Delray Beach and Memphis.

The former World No. 2 advanced with a 6-1, 7-6 win over compatriot Alexander Waske.

Haas, who defeated Roddick to lift the claycourt title in 2004, easily took the opening set but went 2-5 down in the second before rallying to win in a tie-break.

Tired Baghdatis wins

In first round action, fourth seed and Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus, who accepted a wild card to play the event, advanced with a 6-4, 7-6 win over American Jesse Witten.

"I was a bit tired so I'm very satisfied to get through in two sets," said Baghdatis. "If I went to a third set it would have been tough, so I fought very hard to win the second set."

Meanwhile in Charleston, U.S.-based Neha Uberoi was handed a 6-3, 6-4 defeat by ninth-seeded Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues in the second round of the Family Circle Cup on Wednesday.

Neha, sister of Indian Fed Cupper Shikha Uberoi, broke her opponent twice in the first set but was broken four times. Besides, double faults, four in the set, at crucial junctures did her in and Garrigues won the set in 37 minutes.

In the second set, Neha served better and broke Garrigues once but the Spanird hit back, converting two break points and it took her one hour and 22 minutes to wrap up the match.

Kuznetsova cruises

In another match, Svetlana Kuznetsova, the World No. 10, easily beat American Meghann Shaughnessy 6-0, 6-1 to advance to the round of 16.

At Valencia, seventh-seeded Fernando Verdasco beat Potito Starace 6-3, 7-6(4) to advance to the quarterfinals of the Valencia Open on Wednesday.

Verdasco was down 4-1 in the second set, but broke back to level the scores before winning the tie-break on way to his first quarterfinal match of the year. He will face countryman Guillermo Garcia-Lopez for a spot in the semifinals.

Garcia-Lopez defeated Jan Hernych of the Czech Republic 6-2, 6-4 to clinch his second quarterfinal appearance of 2006. Hernych had defeated top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko of Russia in the first round on Tuesday.

Frenchman Gilles Simon rallied to book a quarterfinal spot with a hard-fought 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 win over Davide Sanguinetti of Italy.

Important results:

At Houston (U.S. men's claycourt championships): Second round: Tommy Haas bt Alexander Waske 6-1, 7-6(7); Andy Roddick bt Oliver Marach 6-3, 6-4.

First round: Paul Goldstein bt Janko Tipsarevic 6-3, 6-3; Marcos Daniel bt Luis Horna 6-3, 6-4; Marcos Baghdatis bt Jesse Witten 6-4, 7-6(2).

At Charleston (WTA Family Circle Cup): Second round: Anna-Lena Groenefeld bt Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-1, 6-4; Nathalie Dechy bt Anna Tatishvili 7-5, 6-4; Anabel Medina Garrigues bt Neha Uberoi 6-3, 6-4; Mara Santangelo bt Jill Craybas 6-4, 7-6(5); Svetlana Kuznetsova bt Meghann Shaughnessy 6-0, 6-1; Karolina Sprem bt Jamea Jackson 2-6, 6-3, 6-2; Nadia Petrova bt Alona Bondarenko 6-1, 0-6, 6-2; Lucie Safarova bt Julia Schruff 6-4, 6-0.

At Valencia (ATP Open Comunidad Valenciana): Second round: Gilles Simon bt Davide Sanguinetti 3-6, 7-5, 6-3; Fernando Verdasco bt Potito Starace 6-3, 7-6 (4); Guillermo Garcia Lopez bt Jan Hernych 6-2, 6-4; Andreas Seppi bt Thierry Ascione 1-6, 6-1, 6-2.

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