The Hindu : Sport : Andy Roddick wins battle of big servers

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jan 22, 2007
ePaper

Sport

Sport

Andy Roddick wins battle of big servers

Nirmal Shekar

Lucie Safarova takes out defending champion and second seed Amelie Mauresmo

BREAKTHROUGH RESULT? Coming into the Australian Open, Lucie Safarova had won just one match in her six previous Grand Slam tournaments. — PHOTO: AFP

Melbourne: After the final act of the epic drama unfolded at the Rod Laver arena on Sunday, the man who turned gut-spilling into a sublime art-form on a tennis court in the 1970s and 1980s simply shot his arms up skyward, fists clenched.

No wild, primeval screams of approval, no jumping about, not even the hint of a smile. It was a mellowed master's under-stated acknowledgement of a fast-learning pupil's good work out in the middle.

Mr. James Scott Connors, aged 54, has come a long from the days when he unabashedly wore his heart on his sleeve and left his guts on the court each time he played. And, so has Andy Roddick, in the short time he's spent with the great man.

Roddick's 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 defeat of the Croatian Mario Ancic in three hours and three minutes for a place in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open not only underlined the American sixth seed's new maturity as a competitor but it also gave the tournament its finest match of the first week.

On a court where, earlier in the day, the Czech teenager Lucie Safarova quickly, and with great joy and enthusiasm, snapped the second seeded Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo's rather tenuous hold on the title — winning their fourth round contest 6-4, 6-3 — Roddick and Ancic upped the amps in a match of gladiatorial severity and seat-edge compulsion.

No holds barred

It was one of those classic no-holds-barred contests between two big-serving, hard-hitting men with an innate love of a good scrap, one that produced an unrelenting maelstrom of 215 kph-plus serves, blistering far-flung groundstrokes and the occasional eye-ball to eye-ball confrontation at the net.

Through two and a half hours of some of the most riveting tennis seen in the championship, neither man would wilt. Finally, it was Ancic who blinked, a pair of volleys — the hardest stroke to make under pressure on a surface like the Rebound Ace — sailing over the lines to give Roddick the vital break of serve in the fifth game of the decider.

"I felt like at the end of the fourth set, he had the momentum. I was lucky to get through today," said Roddick. "It kind of went in momentum shifts." Whatever fate awaits the former U.S. champion in the quarterfinals against good friend and long-time houseguest, Mardy Fish, this much is certain: the time spent with Connors has taken Roddick to another level as a competitor.

The Jimbo stamp

Once a man who would often shrink away from taking control of matches, finding the mental edge elusive, Roddick now displays a brand of self-belief that has the Jimbo stamp all over it.

When Ancic — he is the last man to have beaten Roger Federer at Wimbledon, pulling off that feat in 2002 — hit a breathtaking forehand pass up the line, over the highest part of the net from a near-hopeless position, to break Roddick's serve in the 12th game of the fourth set to tie the match at two sets apiece, the momentum was clearly with the Croat.

But Roddick calmly dismantled Ancic's service game in the fifth game of the decider and then steered clear of climactic drama with high-quality serving in the 10th game. A 225-kph ace gave him three matchpoints and the American closed it out on the second with a backhand pass.

Later, in the night session, the man Roddick would meet if he makes the semifinals, HRH Roger Federer, handily disposed of Novak Djokovic 6-2, 7-5, 6-3 to make the quarterfinals.

Stunning victory

The left-handed Safarova turned things around midway in the first set before taking control of the match firmly against Mauresmo.

"I am excited about it. Still once side I can't believe I did it,'' said Safarova, whose boyfriend Tomas Berdych also won on Sunday.

"It's amazing we finished at the same time. We are both really happy," said the Czech teenager.

Also through to the quarterfinals is the former champion Serena Williams.

Unseeded after an injury-plagued season, Serena handed out a warning to the tournament favourites as she disposed of the 11th seed, Jelena Jankovic, 6-3, 6-2.

"I have it in me. I believe in my game. More than anything I believe in me," said the former champion.

Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia did not seem to believe in herself too much as the third seed went down 4-6, 2-6 against Shahar Peer of Israel.

In the men's doubles competition, U.S. Open champions Leander Paes and Martin Damm, seeded five, were beaten 7-5, 7-6(7) in the third round by the Frenchmen Julien Benneteau and Nicolas Mahut. However, Paes, partnering Samantha Stosur, advanced to the second round of the mixed doubles competition with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Yves Allegro and Elena Bovina.

The unseeded Mahesh Bhupathi and Radek Stepanek came back from a set down to beat the Czech duo Lukas Dlouhy and Pavel Vizner, the ninth seeds, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) to go through to the third round.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport