Roddick defence ends at first hurdle

Eurosport - Tue, 06 Oct 10:25:00 2009

Defending champion Andy Roddick was humbled 6-2 6-4 by Polish qualifier Lukasz Kubot in the opening round of the China Open in Beijing.

Andy Roddick of the US reacts to a missed point against John Isner of the US during their match at the US Open in New York REUTERS - 0

Men's third seed Roddick never really came to terms with Kubot's serve and the Pole's fifth ace of the match ended the world number six's reign.

"I'm going to be making obvious statements here but I didn't play well," a fatigued Roddick said.

"I was just trying stuff out there and nothing seemed to be working that well."

Spain's world number two Rafael Nadal came through a thorough, 130-minute test of his fitness after a two-week lay-off with an abdominal injury, beating Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis 6-4 3-6 6-4 in an entertaining first-round encounter.

Nadal was playing his first match since his US Open semi-final defeat by Juan Martin del Potro and was pleased with how he finished the tight contest against his fellow former China Open champion Baghdatis.

"I didn't play my best tennis, but I'm very happy with how I played in the last four games, very aggressive with the forehand and going to the net," said the Spaniard. "My body is okay today, and tomorrow, I hope."

Former champion Marat Safin secured a 6-4 6-2 first-round win over Argentine Jose Acasuso at this year's tournament. Safin is to retire at the end of the season.

Seventh seed Fernando Gonzalez also progressed with a 7-5 6-4 win over Spain's David Ferrer and American James Blake beat German qualifier Florian Mayer 6-3 3-6 6-3.

Reuters

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  1. #8 president - may be you are right that Roddick has­ already played some better tennis which get him to only­ a few R16, SF or final at his best. His 'normal­ form' is even worse.... He is not going anywhere­ but will just slip from the ranking further as he has­ passed his peak age as tennis player. Don't get­ me wrong, I think Roddick is a hard working player and­ he did improve his physical condition this yr. But­ this is not enough in today competition. I still wish­ he can win one more GS and not to retire as Micheal­ Chang with only one GS won at his early career. But­ the fact is his chance is small....

    From destong09, on Wed 7 Oct 5:23AM

  2. HOW SURPRISING DEFEAT... NOT!!!

    From Vítor, on Wed 7 Oct 1:58AM

  3. Eh, is there really a lady Ferguson? Poor her, if she­ exists. lol

    From Ilda S, on Tue 6 Oct 9:55PM

  4. IIda I think I'm falling in love with you but­ please don't tell Lady Ferguson.

    From Sir Alex Ferguson, on Tue 6 Oct 9:43PM

  5. Yes sir alex, you're right, but unless you refresh­ the page every second you can't really read the­ latest posts, and i'm the one to blame for not­ refreshing it. As for the extra time it's the same­ s**t everywhere, in Italy when Inter is losing, in­ Spain when Madrid is losing and so on.

    From Ilda S, on Tue 6 Oct 9:37PM

  6. Roberto.callas,
    Ary you Maria's husband?

    From Nicholas, on Tue 6 Oct 9:32PM

  7. IIda s, Nichols's post had been up for 6 minutes,­ around the same amount of extra time I insist on when­ Manchester United's losing.

    From Sir Alex Ferguson, on Tue 6 Oct 9:30PM

  8. you peolple REALLY LOVE RODDICK, don`t you?

    From callas.roberto, on Tue 6 Oct 9:28PM

  9. Nicholas, when i wrote my post, yours wasn't up­ yet, so i couldn't read it. Anyway i was refering­ to our "era" of tennis.

    From Ilda S, on Tue 6 Oct 9:21PM

  10. Post 17
    Please pay attention!

    From Nicholas, on Tue 6 Oct 9:13PM

  11. abs1072, his her's we all know what you­ mean.What's wrong with Marat's brother then?

    From Nicholas, on Tue 6 Oct 9:09PM

  12. I think the first one who said it was Gonzalez when he­ finally won agianst Roger on his 12th or 13th attempt.­ Then were all the others. It's a way to make fun of­ such an abissmal head to head that Roger has with­ almost everyone on tour. I can't believe that­ someone took that quote seriously. Are there really­ such people with no sense of humor at all?!

    From Ilda S, on Tue 6 Oct 9:08PM

  13. Silvia didn't Schubert write a little number about­ you?

    From Nicholas, on Tue 6 Oct 9:07PM

  14. Well done Marat let's see you kick some @#$%!!

    From Nicholas, on Tue 6 Oct 9:05PM

  15. And that I think was said back in 1979!

    From Nicholas, on Tue 6 Oct 9:03PM

  16. Vitas Gerulatis said quote "Nobody beats Vitas­ Gerulatis 17 times in a row" after beating Jimmy­ connors for the first time.

    From Nicholas, on Tue 6 Oct 9:02PM

  17. I think it was Soderling that said "nobody beats­ me 10 times in a row" in his speech after he lost­ to Federer at RG.

    From Jimmy, on Tue 6 Oct 8:33PM

  18. Good day for the Polish fans.... bravo to the winner.

    From jay, on Tue 6 Oct 8:33PM

  19. WIth sylvia i get the impression that she types more­ than she thinks.

    of course it's just a guess.

    From jay, on Tue 6 Oct 8:29PM

  20. SÍLVIA , Roddick was joking about that

    From Jayceon Taylor, on Tue 6 Oct 7:24PM
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