SALON

Wednesday, Sep 5, 2012 7:46 AM UTC

Rain gives Roddick at least 1 more day

By

Topics: From the Wires,

Rain gives Roddick at least 1 more daySpain's David Ferrer reacts during his match against Richard Gasquet, of France, in the fourth round of the 2012 US Open tennis tournament, Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2012, in New York. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)(Credit: Julio Cortez)

NEW YORK (AP) — Black hood pulled up over his head, ice bag resting on his shoulder, Andy Roddick walked briskly into the parking lot to catch his waiting ride.

No time to linger or soak up memories at Flushing Meadows for the soon-to-retire former champion.

After a rained-out night at the U.S. Open, he had to get ready for a quick turnaround and what he hopes will be a quick start when things resume Wednesday afternoon in his match against Juan Martin del Potro.

When Roddick returns to Arthur Ashe Stadium, he’ll be receiving serve with a 1-0 lead in the first-set tiebreaker.

Roddick was forced to sleep on the tie Tuesday night after going up an early break but giving it back when del Potro took advantage of three straight unforced errors to break in the ninth game, then held serve to even the set 5-5.

They played for 55 minutes after a day of on-and-off rain at the season’s last Grand Slam tournament.

Nobody needed a rain delay worse than third-seeded Maria Sharapova, who lost the first four games against No. 11 Marion Bartoli before play was halted in the late afternoon. Trying to clear the way for the main event, the Roddick match, officials sent Sharapova and Bartoli home. They’ll be the first back in Arthur Ashe Stadium when play resumes.

Other matches stopped in progress, also in the first set, included defending champion Novak Djokovic against No. 18 Stanislas Wawrinka, and No. 8 Janko Tipsarevic against No. 19 Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Watching it all Wednesday, when the forecast calls for an 80 percent chance of rain, will be No. 1 Victoria Azarenka and No. 4 David Ferrer. Azarenka defeated defending champion Sam Stosur 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (5) and Ferrer beat No. 13 Richard Gasquet 7-5, 7-6 (2), 6-4.

Azarenka ended up with a tougher-than-expected afternoon considering the way the first set went.

“You don’t want to know what I kept telling myself,” Azarenka deadpanned. “I would have to beep that, I think.”

Instead, she was covering her face with her hands with a look of disbelief when she won match point, then dancing to the music blaring over the loudspeaker. She will stay at No. 1 no matter what happens this week and her hopes of adding the U.S. Open to her Australian Open title are still very much alive.

“Definitely I don’t want to stop. I really want it bad,” Azarenka said. “I’m going to do absolutely everything I have, you know, to give it all here.”

Azarenka and Ferrer were the latest to be overshadowed by 20th-seeded Roddick, who used the occasion of his 30th birthday last Thursday to announce he would retire after the U.S. Open. Since then, he’s beaten the 43rd- and 59th-ranked players.

The seventh-seeded del Potro offers a whole different kind of challenge.

Standing 6-foot-6 and with a rangy, flat forehand, del Potro is the only man besides Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal or Djokovic to win any of the last 30 Grand Slam titles.

Roddick’s biggest test so far began in front of thousands of empty seats, certainly owing to the rainstorm that sent fans streaming toward the exit that leads to the 7 train back to Manhattan.

But if Roddick needed fans to pump him up, it didn’t show early.

Playing in muggy weather that had drops of moisture flowing off the brim of his cap, Roddick came out the aggressor, looking for any opportunity to get to the net, and the volley he smacked to end the third game glanced off del Potro’s right shoulder.

Later, Roddick broke for a 4-2 lead and pumped his right fist when del Potro flubbed a backhand into the net.

Roddick held for 5-2, saving a break point along the way and displaying a varied repertoire: an ace, a drop-shot winner, a backhand winner down the line and an inside-out forehand passing shot.

But Roddick couldn’t close out the set. Five times, he stood two points from wrapping it up, but couldn’t get closer. When Roddick served for it at 5-3, he played a loose game, rolling his eyes after putting one backhand into the net, then sailing an approach shot long and rushing a forehand long. Del Potro broke there and eventually, as drops began to fall, they headed to the tiebreaker.

After only one point, an inside-out forehand winner by Roddick, chair umpire Carlos Bernardes stepped down to inspect the wet court and declared it unplayable. A few spectators booed. Roddick and del Potro sat in their changeover chairs for a few minutes, until being told the delay would be substantial enough that they could wait it out in the locker room.

About 10 minutes later, Roddick was in the lobby, saying hello to Kim Clijsters, now retired, but at the stadium to watch Roddick play. Roddick stopped briefly to take a few pictures with a group gathered near Clijsters, then headed to the parking lot for his waiting ride.

More Eddie Pells.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 0 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: Chekhov's story mirrors Russia's own

Recommendations