Thursday, September 8, 2011
It took three days and two courts, but Andy Roddick managed to outlast No. 5 seed David Ferrer, advancing into the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 victory.
The match was scheduled for Tuesday, but showers pushed the match to the following day, where Roddick went up a break of serve to lead 3-1 when rain suspended the match after just 16 minutes of play.
Roddick and Ferrer returned to Louis Armstrong Stadium and completed two more games on a sunny Thursday morning. With Roddick leading, the No. 21 seed complained about a hairline crack in the court with water bubbling beneath the surface.
"I looked down and saw a little crack with seven or eight nickel sized drops of water on it, but it looked too perfectly placed," said Roddick. "I dried it off, played the next game, went back to play the point and saw it was there again. That's when I realized we had a problem."
The players left the court and returned an hour later after tournament officials patched the surface up, but the job was not to Roddick's liking; water was still seeping from the crack. After much deliberation with tournament official Brian Earley, the players moved to Court 13, a much smaller venue, to complete their match.
An electric atmosphere was in the air as the Court 13 stands, which hold just 584 people, were filled beyond capacity before both players even began warming up. With play finally underway once again, Roddick easily held serve twice more to take the opening set.
"I like playing the smaller, more intimate courts when I can," said Roddick. "I haven't always gotten that opportunity here. There are so many great courts here that I just haven't been a part of at all."
A loose service game by Ferrer in the opening game of the second set gave a break point opportunity to Roddick, who took full advantage by unleashing a forehand winner up the line. While Ferrer continued to struggle in his own service games, the American did not face a single break point in the first two sets of the match. Ferrer managed to fight off two set points at 3-5 with some aggressive baseline play, but Roddick easily served things out at 5-4 to take a commanding two-set lead.
The Spaniard wasn't about to go down quietly though, beginning to get more returns of serve in play and trying to be more aggressive in the baseline rallies. He earned his first break point of the match with Roddick serving at 0-1 and converted on it with a forehand winner. With Roddick down 1-4, he began to get increasingly frustrated with his surroundings, loudly complaining about net-cord calls and television cameras filiming the match. He managed to save a set point while serving down 2-5 with a strong forehand approach, but a service winner from Ferrer in the next game clinched the set for the Spaniard.
The match looked to be heading toward a deciding fifth set when Ferrer hit a forehand winner on his fourth break point opportunity to take a 3-2 lead. Roddick dug deep though, immediately erasing the lead by clawing back from a 40-0 deficit on Ferrer's serve to level the match at 3-3.
With Ferrer serving at 4-4, a break from the net cord gave Roddick a break-point opportunity, which he made the most of with a down-the-line winner. The American easily served out the match and smiled in disbelief, high-fiving fans in the stands after moving into the quarterfinals.
Roddick will now play No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal, a straight-set winner over Gilles Muller earlier in the day.
The match was scheduled for Tuesday, but showers pushed the match to the following day, where Roddick went up a break of serve to lead 3-1 when rain suspended the match after just 16 minutes of play.
Roddick and Ferrer returned to Louis Armstrong Stadium and completed two more games on a sunny Thursday morning. With Roddick leading, the No. 21 seed complained about a hairline crack in the court with water bubbling beneath the surface.
"I looked down and saw a little crack with seven or eight nickel sized drops of water on it, but it looked too perfectly placed," said Roddick. "I dried it off, played the next game, went back to play the point and saw it was there again. That's when I realized we had a problem."
The players left the court and returned an hour later after tournament officials patched the surface up, but the job was not to Roddick's liking; water was still seeping from the crack. After much deliberation with tournament official Brian Earley, the players moved to Court 13, a much smaller venue, to complete their match.
An electric atmosphere was in the air as the Court 13 stands, which hold just 584 people, were filled beyond capacity before both players even began warming up. With play finally underway once again, Roddick easily held serve twice more to take the opening set.
"I like playing the smaller, more intimate courts when I can," said Roddick. "I haven't always gotten that opportunity here. There are so many great courts here that I just haven't been a part of at all."
A loose service game by Ferrer in the opening game of the second set gave a break point opportunity to Roddick, who took full advantage by unleashing a forehand winner up the line. While Ferrer continued to struggle in his own service games, the American did not face a single break point in the first two sets of the match. Ferrer managed to fight off two set points at 3-5 with some aggressive baseline play, but Roddick easily served things out at 5-4 to take a commanding two-set lead.
The Spaniard wasn't about to go down quietly though, beginning to get more returns of serve in play and trying to be more aggressive in the baseline rallies. He earned his first break point of the match with Roddick serving at 0-1 and converted on it with a forehand winner. With Roddick down 1-4, he began to get increasingly frustrated with his surroundings, loudly complaining about net-cord calls and television cameras filiming the match. He managed to save a set point while serving down 2-5 with a strong forehand approach, but a service winner from Ferrer in the next game clinched the set for the Spaniard.
The match looked to be heading toward a deciding fifth set when Ferrer hit a forehand winner on his fourth break point opportunity to take a 3-2 lead. Roddick dug deep though, immediately erasing the lead by clawing back from a 40-0 deficit on Ferrer's serve to level the match at 3-3.
With Ferrer serving at 4-4, a break from the net cord gave Roddick a break-point opportunity, which he made the most of with a down-the-line winner. The American easily served out the match and smiled in disbelief, high-fiving fans in the stands after moving into the quarterfinals.
Roddick will now play No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal, a straight-set winner over Gilles Muller earlier in the day.
Match Facts
- Roddick hit 41 winners to 27 unforced errors- Ferrer hit 49 winners to 34 unforced errors
- Roddick has never played on a men's singles match on an outside court at the US Open prior to today
- This is the first time that Roddick has reached the quarterfinals of the US Open since 2008
- Ferrer was looking to reach the final eight at the US Open for the first time since 2007
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