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Roddick wins first match in San Jose
Andy Roddick always allows himself a little time to adjust to a new court and different surroundings — and it rarely takes very long. Roddick rode his powerful serve to a 6-4, 6-2 victory over scrappy Belgian Christophe Rochus in the first round of the Siebel Open on Wednesday night.
"I felt it was just a matter of time until I found my groove," Roddick said. "I could have served better. I had more double-faults than usual, but that's just nitpicking."
Yes, it certainly was.
The top-seeded Roddick pounded 16 aces, the fastest of which was clocked at 143 mph, in his first career meeting against the 109th-ranked Rochus. The match lasted 58 minutes. Roddick double-faulted three times.
"There's so much intensity in his game," Rochus said. "Everything goes so fast. He doesn't let you breathe."
In the fifth game of the second set, Roddick's service game went: 143 mph ace, 136 mph first serve, 137 mph first serve, 118 mph ace, 136 mph ace.
Roddick's girlfriend, actress and singer Mandy Moore, attended the match, yet another girl believes Roddick can do better. The young female fan held up a sign reading, "Don't Marry Mandy, Pick Me."
Roddick's popularity is on the rise, especially after he won the U.S. Open (news - web sites) last fall. Some even call him "A-Rod," the same nickname as star Texas Rangers (news) shortstop Alex Rodriguez.
"I'll give him the nickname, but I want his contract," Roddick said, referring to Rodriguez's 10-year, $252 million deal. "I'll change my nickname fast."
Roddick hit 29 winners to 18 for Rochus.
"I've played some good players, but like this? No," Rochus said.
In the late match, James Blake, seeded seventh, beat fellow American Zack Fleishman 6-1, 6-3. Blake hit six aces and 22 winners and was done in 50 minutes.
"The thing I liked is I started out serving terribly and I picked it up," Blake said. "I didn't get down on myself."
Earlier in the day, Robert Kendrick, a 24-year-old wild-card entry, pulled off the first upset of the tournament with a 6-4, 6-4 win over 23rd-ranked Taylor Dent in a second-round match.
Kendrick, from Fresno, Calif., made 67 percent of his first serves, hit 33 winners and never faced break point on the way to the best win of his career. He reached the quarterfinals of an ATP tournament for the second time after advancing to the semifinals at Delray Beach last year.
The Siebel is the first North American stop on the ATP circuit.
"It's a big event for me, being from Fresno," Kendrick said. "I had played Taylor a few times, so I wasn't nervous at all. I had a game plan. I served real well at his body and kind of took the net away from him."
Kendrick lost three of his previous four meetings with Dent. Dent, the tournament's fourth seed, came to the net 48 times, but won just 22 of those points. He double-faulted four times, hit only 14 winners to 23 unforced errors and converted only two of seven break point chances. More wins like this one and Kendrick believes he will start to gain the same respect as Americans Roddick, Dent, Blake, Robby Ginepri and Mardy Fish. "They are all close friends of mine," said Kendrick, who often attended this tournament growing up. "I'd like to be mentioned in that group." Fish held on to beat Kenneth Carlsen of Denmark 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (2) in another second-round match. Fish led 5-3 in the third set before Carlsen broke serve to get back into the match. Fish, who hit aces of 129 and 127 mph, had to go to deuce five times to take a 6-5 lead, then hit six winners in the tiebreaker. "I haven't seen the stats, but I would assume that it's a little messy," said Fish, who moments later grimaced when he learned he'd hit 50 unforced errors and 44 winners. "I felt I played great at times and I felt I played some pretty bad points at times. Today was one of those matches you just try to get a win. ... I couldn't have played a better breaker." Jan-Michael Gambill also advanced to the round of 16 with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over qualifier KJ Hippensteel in the first meeting between the players. In first-round action Wednesday, Hyung-Taik Lee defeated Xavier Malisse 7-6 (1), 6-1 and Joachim Johansson rallied to beat Nicolas Kiefer 5-7, 7-5, 6-2. It was a particularly impressive result for Johansson because he played for Sweden in the Davis Cup on Saturday in Adelaide, Australia. He and partner Jonas Bjorkman beat Wayne Arthurs and Todd Woodbridge of Australia 7-6 (5), 6-4, 2-6, 6-7 (4), 7-5 in a match that lasted nearly 4 1/2 hours. The tournament drew 10,705 people Wednesday, 7,396 for the night session. |
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