Wimbledon - Men: Roddick serves his way through

Eurosport - Sun, 28 Jun 11:51:00 2009

Andy Roddick used his big serve to overcome Austrian Jurgen Melzer 7-6(2) 7-6(2) 4-6 6-3 to book his place in the fourth round at Wimbledon.

Andy Roddick of the US gestures during his match against Jurgen Melzer of Austria at Wimbledon 
REUTERS - 0

The first two sets went with serve but each time the American sixth seed kept his cool in the tiebreak.

Melzer, the 26th seed, broke for 3-2 in the third and gave himself three set points with a beautiful lob, sealing the set with a crosscourt forehand that Roddick did not even move for.

With rain clouds gathering above Centre Court, Roddick made sure the match did not go into a decider and secured victory with his 33rd ace of the match.

The American, runner-up in 2004 and 2005, will face Czech 20th seed Tomas Berdych for a place in the quarter-finals.

Berdych, a quarter-finalist in 2007, pulled off his first win over Russian 12th seed Nikolay Davydenko, after eight defeats, with a comfortable 6-2 6-3 6-2 triumph.

Australian Lleyton Hewitt delighted an army of yellow and green clad fans at Wimbledon, beating German Philipp Petzschner 7-5 7-6(3) 6-3 to reach the last 16 for the sixth consecutive year.

The former 2002 champion, gradually working his way back up the rankings after hip surgery last year, once again showed his grass-court pedigree having removed fifth seed Juan Martin del Potro in the previous round.

He broke the Petzschner serve for the first time in the 12th game to move a set ahead then edged the second set on a tiebreak after both players had looked solid on serve.

With some amusing chants ringing in his ears, including adapted versions of popular songs by The Beatles, Gary Glitter and Frankie Valli, Hewitt broke Petzschner's resolve in the third set and clinched the win on his third match point.

Australia's sole representative in the men's draw will face Radek Stepanek for a place in the quarter-finals, after the Czech 23rd seed battled heat and a knee problem to beat Spanish 16th seed David Ferrer 7-5 7-5 3-6 4-6 6-4.

German 24th seed Tommy Haas booked his place in the fourth round after returning to Court One to complete a 7-5 7-5 1-6 6-7(3) 10-8 win over 11th seed Marin Cilic. The match was postponed late on Friday night with the scores locked at 6-6 in the fifth set due to lack of light.

Haas will next face Russian 29th seed Igor Andreev who needed just the one game to complete his 6-1 7-6(5) 4-6 7-6(5) win over Italy's Andreas Seppi. Andreev and Seppi were also forced to postpone their match on Friday night with the scores at 6-6 in the fourth but Andreev completed the breaker with ease.

Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero booked his place in the last 16 with an impressive, battling 4-6 7-5 6-4 4-6 6-4 win over Chilean 10th seed Fernando Gonzalez.

Ferrero will next face French eighth seed Gilles Simon, who eased past 30th seed Victor Hanescu of Romania 6-2 7-5 6-2.

Reuters

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  1. I'm hoping for a Fed - Hewitt final !
    A final wich­ Fed will hopefully win !

    From hn, on Sun 28 Jun 10:00PM
  2. good luck to superstar Andy Murray in difficult half of­ draw ~~ Roddick waits ahead then Hewitt

    while­ FED takes it easy in i lower half of mens draw ­ with easy comfortable passage

    unless Robin Soderling­ can give him the treatment he gave NADAL in Paris ~~­ Wishfullll thinking

    From ace.firstserve, on Sun 28 Jun 12:40PM
  3. Keep going Andy (Roddick)! Get yourself in the­ semi-final and smash that little overrated punk Murray,­ eventhough the media won't shut up anyway :D

    From johnka7a, on Sun 28 Jun 11:44AM
  4. WELL DONE ANDY ~~ KEEP GOING FOR ANOTHER WEEK TO RAISE­ STANDARDS

    BEST SUCCESS STORY FOR MANY MANY YEARS

    From pitcrew66, on Sun 28 Jun 7:38AM
  5. YET MORE SUCCESS AHEAD NEXT WEEK FOR WONDER BOY ~~~­ ANDY MURRAY

    CONGRATULATIONS ~~~~ GOOD LUCK ~~~ BEST­ WISHES

    THE RESULT OF HOURS & HOURS OF HARD HARD­ WORK ~~~ WELL DONE ANDY

    From pitcrew66, on Sun 28 Jun 7:36AM
  6. murray is so boring and blown out of proportion by the­ overzealous brit media, would love to see either­ roddick or hewitt cut the overinflated murray down to­ size.

    From aaditya, on Sun 28 Jun 6:25AM
  7. EVEN A RETIRED TIM HINMAN WOULD HAVE STROLLED INTO THE­ FINAL IF PLACED ON MURRAYS DRAW, WHAT? AND NO ONE IS­ TALKING ABOUT IT, INFACT THEY ARE ALL ARGUING ABOUT­ BEEN SCOTISH AND BRITISH, JUST WHAT THEY NEED TO­ DISTRACT PEOPLE FROM WHAT IS GOING ON, WHO CARES IF HE­ IS BRITISH IS THIS THE OLYMPIC, IF HE WINS THIS­ TOURNAMENT IT IS NOT GOING TO THE BRITISH SPORT­ ASSOCIATION OR THE SCOTTISH SPORT ASSOCIATION IT IS­ GOING TO HIS HOUSE. GET THAT INTO YOUR HEADS AND STOP­ THIS BRITISH AND SCOTISH ARGUMENT

    From stine147, on Sun 28 Jun 12:24AM
  8. What surprises me in Andy Murrays part of the draw is­ while players like Llyton Hewitt, Andy Roddick,­ Wawrinka are been tested with players that have hot­ services Murray on the other hand have been playing­ with players who are serving double faults, it makes­ you to wonder how was that part of the draw arranged,­ if this was Federer draw I know people would not have­ rested with all kind of insults, but now I see the­ reason why they already picked Murray to get to the­ finals. The only known player in his draw was Ernest­ Gulbis (Lat), who is Robert Kendric? Who for God’s own­ name is Viktor Troicki they all have one thing in­ common smiling feeling so happy to be playing in the­ new open roof as if that is not enough he Murray will­ then be meeting another player who also does not have­ hot service, a player who also have been enjoying the­ draw without been tested and at the end of the day when­ Murray gets to the final they will say he played so­ hard, played so hard? When he will be meeting a tired­ and worn out Llyton H or Andy Roddick in the Semis,­ what a very funny tournament well arranged ANDY MURRAY­ WILL START PLAYING HIS WIMBLEDON MATCHES WHEN HE GETS­ TO THE SEMIS.

    From stine147, on Sun 28 Jun 12:15AM
  9. I would prefer that Roddick win wimbledon, decent­ person ...I wish his other american Murray will lose.

    From cochino, on Sat 27 Jun 10:07PM
  10. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    WHAT ABOUT SUNRISE? . . . . WHAT ABOUT RAIN? . . . ­ WHAT ABOUT ALL THE THINGS THAT YOU SAID WE WERE TO­ GAIN? . . . . . WHAT ABOUT KILLING FIELDS? . .. IS­ THERE A TIME?. . WHAT ABOUT ALL THE THINGS THAT YOU­ SAID WERE YOURS AND MINE? . . . . . . . DID YOU EVER­ STOP TO NOTICE ALL THE BLOOD WEVE SHED BEFORE? . . . .­ DID YOU EVER STOP TO NOTICE . .
    THE CRYING EARTH­ THE WEEPING SHORES? . .­

    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH OOH­ OOH OOH OOH OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH

    ­ AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

    ­ OOOOOOOOOOOHH

    From JEEMS, on Sat 27 Jun 6:02PM
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