Roddick wins all-American battle
August 7th 2009 10:26
ANDY Roddick moved into the quarter-finals of the Washington Tennis Classic with a straight-sets victory over in-form Sam Querrey in their all-American showdown today.
Querrey registered the first break of the match and looked set to claim the opening set, but three-time Washington champion Roddick levelled the clash at four-all and went on to take the first set in a tiebreak.
Roddick jumped out to an early lead in the second and survived six break points to emerge a 6-4 winner to complete his success.
The loss ended Querrey’s run of three straight finals appearances since Wimbledon.
The world No.5 faces Croat Ivo Karlovic, who had little trouble dispatching Indian qualifier Somdev Devvarman.
Argentine Juan Martin del Potro was another third-round victor, but not before his Wimbledon conqueror Lleyton Hewitt, from Australia, pushed him to a third-set tiebreak.
Del Potro emerged victorious 6-4 3-6 7-6(2) to set up an equally difficult match-up with Swede Robin Soderling, this year’s French Open runner-up.
Soderling had a surprisingly tough time against Frenchman Marc Gicquel, but ultimately won 7-5 5-7 6-3.
World No.6 Del Potro and world No.12 Soderling have shared their two meetings to date.
Del Potro has a good rankings lead on seventh-ranked Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, a second-round Washington loser, but, as last year’s champion, needs a good run to avoid a major points loss.
Russian world No.8 Nikolay Davydenko, who is not playing this week but boasts back-to-back titles, is the most likely player to threaten del Potro’s position.
But Soderling could also make a significant gain after a quiet American hardcourt campaign last year culminated in a first-round defeat at the 2008 US Open.
German Tommy Haas proved too good for Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero in other third-round action and now meets Chilean Fernando Gonzalez, who beat American Wayne Odesnik.
Another American, John Isner, takes on Czech player Tomas Berdych in the final quarter-final contest.
Elsewhere, Chinese star Zheng Jie sent world No.1 and defending Los Angeles champion Dinara Safina packing in a major boilover.
Safina looked headed for a quarter-final match-up with Australian Sam Stosur, who upset former world No.1 Ana Ivanovic, from Serbia, but lost the final four games of the match to tumble out of the tournament.
Zheng had lost all four of her previous clashes with Safina, but twice pushed her the full distance – most recently in Rome in May, when Zheng led 5-2 in the third set.
Zheng has won both of her meetings with Stosur.
Russians Maria Sharapova and Vera Zvonareva, the second seed, appear set for a semi-final showdown, but will need to get past Pole Urszula Radwanska and consistent Italian Flavia Pennetta respectively.
Radwanska’s older sister Agnieszka eased into the quarter-finals with a straight-sets thumping of Russian Anna Chakvetadze, who is struggling to recapture the form that saw her rise to No.5 in the world two years ago.
The senior Radwanska faces Romanian Sorana Cirstea, who continued her giant-killing ways with a triumph over German up-and-comer Sabine Lisicki.
Lisicki retired from the match with a right shoulder injury when trailing 6-3 1-0.
World No.28 Cirstea eliminated world No.8 Caroline Wozniacki in the second round.
Querrey registered the first break of the match and looked set to claim the opening set, but three-time Washington champion Roddick levelled the clash at four-all and went on to take the first set in a tiebreak.
Roddick jumped out to an early lead in the second and survived six break points to emerge a 6-4 winner to complete his success.
The loss ended Querrey’s run of three straight finals appearances since Wimbledon.
The world No.5 faces Croat Ivo Karlovic, who had little trouble dispatching Indian qualifier Somdev Devvarman.
Argentine world No.6 Juan Martin del Potro defeated Australian Lleyton Hewitt in a nail-biting third-round encounter in Washington.
Argentine Juan Martin del Potro was another third-round victor, but not before his Wimbledon conqueror Lleyton Hewitt, from Australia, pushed him to a third-set tiebreak.
Del Potro emerged victorious 6-4 3-6 7-6(2) to set up an equally difficult match-up with Swede Robin Soderling, this year’s French Open runner-up.
Soderling had a surprisingly tough time against Frenchman Marc Gicquel, but ultimately won 7-5 5-7 6-3.
World No.6 Del Potro and world No.12 Soderling have shared their two meetings to date.
Del Potro has a good rankings lead on seventh-ranked Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, a second-round Washington loser, but, as last year’s champion, needs a good run to avoid a major points loss.
Russian world No.8 Nikolay Davydenko, who is not playing this week but boasts back-to-back titles, is the most likely player to threaten del Potro’s position.
But Soderling could also make a significant gain after a quiet American hardcourt campaign last year culminated in a first-round defeat at the 2008 US Open.
German Tommy Haas proved too good for Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero in other third-round action and now meets Chilean Fernando Gonzalez, who beat American Wayne Odesnik.
Another American, John Isner, takes on Czech player Tomas Berdych in the final quarter-final contest.
China's Zheng Jie upset world No.1 Dinara Safina in third-round Los Angeles action.
Elsewhere, Chinese star Zheng Jie sent world No.1 and defending Los Angeles champion Dinara Safina packing in a major boilover.
Safina looked headed for a quarter-final match-up with Australian Sam Stosur, who upset former world No.1 Ana Ivanovic, from Serbia, but lost the final four games of the match to tumble out of the tournament.
Zheng had lost all four of her previous clashes with Safina, but twice pushed her the full distance – most recently in Rome in May, when Zheng led 5-2 in the third set.
Zheng has won both of her meetings with Stosur.
Russians Maria Sharapova and Vera Zvonareva, the second seed, appear set for a semi-final showdown, but will need to get past Pole Urszula Radwanska and consistent Italian Flavia Pennetta respectively.
Radwanska’s older sister Agnieszka eased into the quarter-finals with a straight-sets thumping of Russian Anna Chakvetadze, who is struggling to recapture the form that saw her rise to No.5 in the world two years ago.
The senior Radwanska faces Romanian Sorana Cirstea, who continued her giant-killing ways with a triumph over German up-and-comer Sabine Lisicki.
Lisicki retired from the match with a right shoulder injury when trailing 6-3 1-0.
World No.28 Cirstea eliminated world No.8 Caroline Wozniacki in the second round.
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