Roddick beats Lu in Qizhong tussle
Source: Agencies |
October 11, 2011, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
ANDY Roddick rallied to beat Lu Yen-hsun of Chinese Taipei 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 yesterday in the first round of the Shanghai Rolex Masters at the Qizhong Tennis Center in suburban Minhang District.
The 10th-seeded Roddick won the first set easily, but Lu picked up his game in the second set, rushing the net repeatedly and hitting 15 winners to eight for the American. The former US Open champion then broke Lu twice in the third set to close out the match.
Roddick was beaten by Lu in five sets in the fourth round of Wimbledon last year, the last time the duo met. But the Chinese Taipei player made too many mistakes yesterday, committing 50 unforced errors, including seven double-faults.
"He plays so high risk," Roddick said. "Overall, I thought it was pretty good, save four games."
The 29-year-old Roddick has struggled to regain his form this season, losing in the third round at Wimbledon and pulling out of the French Open with an injury. His ranking has slipped to No. 15.
Last week, he lost in the first round of the China Open in Beijing, falling in straight sets to Kevin Anderson in a loss he later called "unacceptable."
"It's been tough. It's been, I think, the toughest year I've had. I feel like I've been starting and stopping a lot," Roddick said. "You know, I'm going to probably have to adjust how I go about things a little bit more. Running myself into a wall with work and everything else, I don't know that I can do that without getting hurt."
Also, Bernard Tomic of Australia overcame 25 aces from Anderson to beat the South African 7-6 (5), 6-7 (4), 6-3. Tomic won despite converting only one of 12 break points.
"He's so tough because his serve, he gets his corners and gets you out of the court," said Tomic, who reached a career-high ranking of 49 this week.
David Nalbandian of Argentina beat Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 7-5, 6-4, Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria defeated Marsel Ilhan of Turkey 2-6, 6-1, 6-4, Albert Montanes of Spain beat Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (5), and Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero outslugged Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 7-6 (4), 6-4.
The Shanghai tournament, the only Masters event on the ATP tour's autumn Asian swing, has been hit by a number of withdrawals this year. Top-ranked Novak Djokovic pulled out to recover from a back injury and No. 3 Roger Federer is taking a six-week break to rest "nagging injuries."
Robin Soderling, Juan Martin del Potro and Gael Monfils have also pulled out.
Andy Murray, winner of two tournaments in the past two weeks, and Rafael Nadal, however, are both playing this week. Murray won the title in Shanghai last year, beating Federer in the final.
Part of Today's Order Of Play
Stadium
Janko Tipsarevic vs Feliciano Lopez (2pm)
David Nalbandian vs Florian Mayer
Andy Roddick vs Griqor Dimitrov (not before 6pm)
Mardy Fish vs Bernard Tomic
Grandstand
Jurqen Melzer vs Ivan Ljubicic (2pm)
Albert Ramos vs Marin Cilic
Milos Raonic vs Michael Llodra
Gilles Simon vs Albert Montanes (not before 6pm)
Show Court
Christopher Kas/Alexander Peya
vs Marc Lopez/Rafael Nadal (1pm)
Zhang Ze vs Radek Stepanek
The 10th-seeded Roddick won the first set easily, but Lu picked up his game in the second set, rushing the net repeatedly and hitting 15 winners to eight for the American. The former US Open champion then broke Lu twice in the third set to close out the match.
Roddick was beaten by Lu in five sets in the fourth round of Wimbledon last year, the last time the duo met. But the Chinese Taipei player made too many mistakes yesterday, committing 50 unforced errors, including seven double-faults.
"He plays so high risk," Roddick said. "Overall, I thought it was pretty good, save four games."
The 29-year-old Roddick has struggled to regain his form this season, losing in the third round at Wimbledon and pulling out of the French Open with an injury. His ranking has slipped to No. 15.
Last week, he lost in the first round of the China Open in Beijing, falling in straight sets to Kevin Anderson in a loss he later called "unacceptable."
"It's been tough. It's been, I think, the toughest year I've had. I feel like I've been starting and stopping a lot," Roddick said. "You know, I'm going to probably have to adjust how I go about things a little bit more. Running myself into a wall with work and everything else, I don't know that I can do that without getting hurt."
Also, Bernard Tomic of Australia overcame 25 aces from Anderson to beat the South African 7-6 (5), 6-7 (4), 6-3. Tomic won despite converting only one of 12 break points.
"He's so tough because his serve, he gets his corners and gets you out of the court," said Tomic, who reached a career-high ranking of 49 this week.
David Nalbandian of Argentina beat Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 7-5, 6-4, Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria defeated Marsel Ilhan of Turkey 2-6, 6-1, 6-4, Albert Montanes of Spain beat Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (5), and Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero outslugged Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 7-6 (4), 6-4.
The Shanghai tournament, the only Masters event on the ATP tour's autumn Asian swing, has been hit by a number of withdrawals this year. Top-ranked Novak Djokovic pulled out to recover from a back injury and No. 3 Roger Federer is taking a six-week break to rest "nagging injuries."
Robin Soderling, Juan Martin del Potro and Gael Monfils have also pulled out.
Andy Murray, winner of two tournaments in the past two weeks, and Rafael Nadal, however, are both playing this week. Murray won the title in Shanghai last year, beating Federer in the final.
Part of Today's Order Of Play
Stadium
Janko Tipsarevic vs Feliciano Lopez (2pm)
David Nalbandian vs Florian Mayer
Andy Roddick vs Griqor Dimitrov (not before 6pm)
Mardy Fish vs Bernard Tomic
Grandstand
Jurqen Melzer vs Ivan Ljubicic (2pm)
Albert Ramos vs Marin Cilic
Milos Raonic vs Michael Llodra
Gilles Simon vs Albert Montanes (not before 6pm)
Show Court
Christopher Kas/Alexander Peya
vs Marc Lopez/Rafael Nadal (1pm)
Zhang Ze vs Radek Stepanek
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