Roddick Out of Shape For the US Open
What seemed to be a matter of bad luck the previous tournaments, Andy Roddick’s playing proved itself to be decreasing day by day. Thus, the US former world champion was crashed out from the third round at home, at Washington Classic by French Gilles Simon who defeated the American in two straight sets 6-3, 6-3 which seemed to look the same not just on the score table, but also in the playing. Second-seeded in Washington, Roddick’s serving didn’t shine that much it used to, for instance the first serve percentage barely reaching 55. Frustrated Roddick declared right after the defeat it was an awful night for him and for his perspective, taking account that the US Open grand slam knocks at the door.
He said: “It was just a bad night. I really don’t have much of a defence for it. I really don’t feel you can defend it. I didn’t feel right physically, I didn’t feel right mentally. It was just a pretty bad effort.” The 27-year old player, who has won three times this Washington tournament, admitted he’s concerned about his playing and future. “I’m a little concerned about that. Feeling lethargic and not all there energy-wise, that’s not fun for me. I don’t enjoy nights like tonight. It could be something simple, maybe a vitamin deficiency. I promise you I’m going to figure this out before I do that again. That’s not what I built my reputation around,” he added. As for the French, he’s done a very wonderful job by returning very well Roddick’s powerful serves. He also said: “I managed to return his serve today. When he decided to wait (and play from the baseline), I was more consistent than him.”
“And when he decided to attack and be more aggressive, he made some mistakes.” Finally, the American acknowledged his playing doesn’t seem to improve, but rather is getting worse: “There is a reason that I haven’t been playing a lot. It’s because I’ve been playing like crap. I felt I didn’t do one thing right tonight. I honestly don’t think it would have mattered who I played.” Gilles Simon will meet in the quarter finals Argentina’s David Nalbandian who smashed Swiss Marco Chiudinelli, 6-1, 6-0. The quarter finals didn’t bring any of the Americans remained on course for the third round, as all Roddick, Isner, Fish and Ryan Sweeting failed to progress into the best eight.
