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Roddick survives first-round challenge
Andy Roddick recovered after losing his temper and the second set in a tiebreaker to reach the second round of the Cincinnati Masters with a 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-1 w
- Associated Press
- Updated: August 17, 2010 10:16 AM IST
Read Time: 2 min
Mason, Ohio :
With wife and supermodel Brooklyn Decker and Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Terrell Owens watching from the stands, Roddick threw his racket to the ground in frustration after blowing a 5-2 lead in the tiebreaker and committing an unforced error on set point against his Ukrainian rival.
The two-time Cincinnati champion gathered himself and raced to 5-0 lead in the deciding set before closing out the match with a forehand winner.
"I don't feel perfect, but good enough," he said. "That third set was actually a blessing in disguise. That's the best I've played in months."
No. 25 Thomaz Bellucci advanced with a 7-6 (6), 7-5 win over 68th-ranked Benjamin Becker before No. 14 Robby Ginepri, a wild-card entry, wrapped up the tournament's first day with a 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4), 6-2 win over 103rd-ranked Somdev Devvarman.
In earlier matches, Taylor Dent rode a decisive serve advantage to a surprisingly easy 6-3, 6-2 win over No. 24 Feliciano Lopez.
"Today, I wasn't missing many returns, and I was getting a ton of free points on my serve," said Dent, who earned a second-round matchup with top-seeded Rafael Nadal.
No. 14 Nicolas Almagro became the second seeded player to be eliminated from the tournament when he fell to 26th-ranked Stanislas Wawrinka 6-3, 6-3.
No. 11 Marin Cilic fell to Marcos Baghdatis in straight sets Sunday night.
Also advancing Monday were No. 102 Paul-Henri Mathieu, who rallied to edge 54th-ranked Victor Hanescu 6-7 (6), 7-6 (2), 6-3, and 47th-ranked Viktor Troicki, who knocked off No. 28 Radek Stepanek 7-5, 6-1. Mathieu is scheduled to meet seventh-seeded Tomas Berdych in the second round on Tuesday.
No. 10 David Ferrer was pushed to three sets before prevailing over 43rd-ranked Alexandr Dolgopolov 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, while 13th-seeded Jurgen Melzer and 21st-ranked Sam Querry both avoided upsets with 6-1, 6-4 wins, Melzer over No. 62 Santiago Giraldo and Querry over No. 48 Philipp Petzschner.
"I felt great, especially on my serve," he said. "He gave me a few errors in the first set there, a couple of wind forehands. I'll take it."
Andy Roddick recovered after losing his temper and the second set in a tiebreaker to reach the second round of the Cincinnati Masters with a 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-1 win over the 46th-ranked Sergiy Stakhovsky on Monday.With wife and supermodel Brooklyn Decker and Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Terrell Owens watching from the stands, Roddick threw his racket to the ground in frustration after blowing a 5-2 lead in the tiebreaker and committing an unforced error on set point against his Ukrainian rival.
The two-time Cincinnati champion gathered himself and raced to 5-0 lead in the deciding set before closing out the match with a forehand winner.
"I don't feel perfect, but good enough," he said. "That third set was actually a blessing in disguise. That's the best I've played in months."
No. 25 Thomaz Bellucci advanced with a 7-6 (6), 7-5 win over 68th-ranked Benjamin Becker before No. 14 Robby Ginepri, a wild-card entry, wrapped up the tournament's first day with a 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4), 6-2 win over 103rd-ranked Somdev Devvarman.
In earlier matches, Taylor Dent rode a decisive serve advantage to a surprisingly easy 6-3, 6-2 win over No. 24 Feliciano Lopez.
"Today, I wasn't missing many returns, and I was getting a ton of free points on my serve," said Dent, who earned a second-round matchup with top-seeded Rafael Nadal.
No. 14 Nicolas Almagro became the second seeded player to be eliminated from the tournament when he fell to 26th-ranked Stanislas Wawrinka 6-3, 6-3.
No. 11 Marin Cilic fell to Marcos Baghdatis in straight sets Sunday night.
Also advancing Monday were No. 102 Paul-Henri Mathieu, who rallied to edge 54th-ranked Victor Hanescu 6-7 (6), 7-6 (2), 6-3, and 47th-ranked Viktor Troicki, who knocked off No. 28 Radek Stepanek 7-5, 6-1. Mathieu is scheduled to meet seventh-seeded Tomas Berdych in the second round on Tuesday.
No. 10 David Ferrer was pushed to three sets before prevailing over 43rd-ranked Alexandr Dolgopolov 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, while 13th-seeded Jurgen Melzer and 21st-ranked Sam Querry both avoided upsets with 6-1, 6-4 wins, Melzer over No. 62 Santiago Giraldo and Querry over No. 48 Philipp Petzschner.
"I felt great, especially on my serve," he said. "He gave me a few errors in the first set there, a couple of wind forehands. I'll take it."
Topics mentioned in this article
Tennis
Andy Roddick
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