ATP Tour - Berdych dumps out Roddick

Eurosport - Sun, 05 Oct 10:04:00 2008

Czech Tomas Berdych stunned second seed Andy Roddick 6-7 7-5 7-6 to set up a Japan Open final against Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro.

TENNIS Roddick's on the serve - 0

Fifth seed Del Potro, who has won 29 of his previous 30 matches, beat Frenchman Richard Gasquet 6-3 4-6 7-5 to book his spot in Sunday's final of the Tokyo tournament.

Roddick, one of several players still chasing a spot in the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, looked to be in control until a late collapse against ninth seed Berdych.

"The key was just trying to stay as close as possible to him," Berdych said. "Even at 5-3 down it was only one break. When my chances came I just went for it."

Roddick took the first set on a tiebreak after ramming a 10th ace past Berdych.

Berdych struck back in the second, breaking Roddick's serve in the 11th game and then restored parity by forcing the American into a wild forehand.

Roddick, given a warning after slamming his racket down at the end of the second set, raced to a 3-0 lead in the decider but the former US Open champion faltered while serving for the match at 5-3 and was made to pay.

Berdych pushed the set to another tiebreak and the Czech quickly raced to a 6-1 advantage, wrapping up proceedings on his third match point with his 17th ace.

"It's frustrating," said Roddick, who won his 26th career title in Beijing last weekend. "I don't know how to rate it. You feel like you have a match in your grasp and then let it go."

Del Potro, who recently helped Argentina to reach the Davis Cup final, took just over two hours to see off fourth seed Gasquet, last year's beaten finalist in Tokyo.

The two men split the first two sets but Del Potro's nerve held in the decider, the 20-year-old securing victory and a place in the final when Gasquet blazed a forehand wide.

"The last three months have not been normal," smiled Del Potro, whose only loss in his last 30 matches was a quarter-final defeat by Briton Andy Murray at the US Open.

"I just keep working because I want to be better. I don't want to relax."

A fifth title of the year would move Del Potro into eighth spot in the year-long rankings and in line for a place at next month's prestigious Masters Cup.

Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Murray have already qualified for the eight-man Shanghai shootout.

Reuters

Comment 1 - 6 of 6

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  1. Roddick is a class player when he finds his form he­ will play way better

    From hitmanontracks, on Sun 5 Oct 12:41AM

  2. what should i say about Rodick ?
    He is a real comedian­ ;-)

    From Igor K, on Sat 4 Oct 6:22PM

  3. Roddick's game is one dimensional. He only has a­ fast serve. He lacks variety in his games. in a few­ more years, you will see him playing in qualifying­ matches.......

    From love_my_won_bin, on Sat 4 Oct 4:40PM

  4. Saw some of the Del Potro/Gasquet match. Gasquet is a­ fabulous player to watch IMO, with a great range of­ shots. Perhaps one of the few natural all-court players­ left these days. The quality of tennis was very high.­ Del Potro is on a great run and looks to be improving­ all the time. Future meetings between him and the­ current top four will be hot tickets indeed. I'm­ looking forward to the upcoming Madrid tournament to­ see how he gets on against the big guns. Good win for­ Berdych as well against Roddick, who seemed to be in­ good form from what I saw of his win last week in China­ and his quarter-final match here. Sheer power helps.I­ wouldn't agree that it's all Roddick's got­ in his game (it's a very important part of his­ game) but if it is all he's got, it's helped­ him to record wins against just about anybody who's­ anybody in World tennis, ie Nadal, Djokovic, Federer to­ name three pro tennis players (at random, obviously!).­ OK, so Rafa has won 5 Grand Slams, Fed has won 13 and­ Roddick isn't in that league. On the other hand,­ he's won one Grand Slam and been to at least 3­ other GS finals, which stands up to comparison with­ what any other active player on the circuit has­ achieved, with the exception of the big two. Not bad­ IMO

    From rhymes450, on Sat 4 Oct 3:51PM

  5. One thing is clear. Sheer power alone won't help.­ Andy Roddick doesn't have anything other than power­ as the arsenal in his rack.

    From Emmveeyem, on Sat 4 Oct 1:18PM

  6. way to go del potro definitely a man to watch in 2009.­ should be in the top 5 next year and even challenging­ the top 4 for the no1 spot. a great 2009 looms ahead­ for tennis fans.

    From Pop, on Sat 4 Oct 9:36AM
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