Andy Roddick’s U.S. Open is over sooner than epected, beaten 7—6 (3), 6—3, 3—6, 5—7, —6 (5) by American compatriot John Isner on Saturday.
Coming off a close-as-could-be loss in the Wimbledon final, Roddick came to Flushing Meadows with a rebuilt game and great self-belief. Running into strong-serving, 2.03-meter (6-foot-9) Isner in the third round proved too much to handle.
The 55{+t}{+h}-ranked Isner smacked 38 aces to beat the No. 5-seeded Roddick.
It’s the first time Isner has reached the fourth round at a Grand Slam tournament. Roddick, in contrast, won the 2003 U.S. Open and has been the runner-up at a major four times, most recently at the All England Club in July.
“It’s tough. I don’t know if I’ve come to a tournament with as much confidence -- into a Slam -- as I did with this tournament,” Roddick said. “Leaving earlier than I want to.”
His loss marked the first significant upset of Week 1 of the men’s tournament: The men seeded No. 1 through No. 16 were 38-0 before Roddick and Isner stepped on court.
Roddick broke Isner’s serve twice and was only broken once himself. His groundstrokes were clean, with only 20 unforced errors -- 32 fewer than Isner. Roddick won 162 points, Isner 155.
“There’s a lot that’s out of your hands with the way he plays,” Roddick said. “You can’t really teach 6-9, especially coming down on a serve,” Roddick said. “You try to fight it off as much as you can.”
Isner lost in the first round at five consecutive Grand Slam events until this one.
“I’m real poised and real under control,” Isner said. “I don’t panic.”
Isner missed three months from mid-April to mid-July with mononucleosis, but Saturday’s victory will push him into the top 50 in the rankings.
“I was watching the French Open. I remember how ticked off I was at home,” Isner said. “But it might have been a blessing in disguise.”
Now he moves on, facing No. 10 Fernando Verdasco of Spain with a quarterfinal berth at stake.
