After barely scraping through his last match at the SAP Open, in which he rolled his ankle midway through the second set, fans were left with questions about whether Andy Roddick would be able to bring his best tennis to his quarterfinal against Denis Istomin. After a thoroughly lopsided match in which the former world number one came up short in almost every area of his game, Roddick found himself bounced from the tournament. Istomin won the match 6-2, 6-4 and will move on to the semifinals on Saturday.
Roddick seemed to be able to produce hints of the level of tennis that had kept him in the top ten for nine of the last ten years. He opened the match with a 135 mph serve, but it was a fault. He only made a single first serve in his opening service game, and Istomin managed to break at love. Shockingly, Roddick was unable to settle into a rhythm on his first or second serve for the whole match. He managed only five aces, and overall won just over 55% of his total service points.
While Andy was struggling, his opponent was not about to give him a chance to find his game. The 25-year old player from Uzbekistan moved exceptionally well and played highly aggressive tennis, banging winners from the baseline and not allowing Roddick to get any rhythm. Istomin took advantage of Roddick’s hampered mobility by going for the sidelines, which he was able to reach with impressive regularity. What may have been most surprising was how effective Istomin managed to be on his own serve, which he used to snuff out any chance the American had hoped to build of earning a break point. By the end of the match, Istomin had actually out-aced Roddick.
The crowd continued pulling for the three-time SAP Open champion to make a comeback, and he refused to give in until the last ball was struck, but it was clear that Andy was unable to produce the kind of tennis he would have needed to take the match that night. Surely injuries were bothering him – both of his ankles were braced, and even though he famously refuses to talk about his physical problems with any specificity, it is likely that he was still bothered by the hamstring injury that pulled him out of Australia. Ultimately, the crowd was appreciative of the effort that Andy put forth but recognized that Istomin simply played the better match.
In his post-match press conference, Roddick was clearly discouraged and frustrated. His answers were terse, but he was forthright about the issues that were bothering him. He was dogged both by his lingering injuries that have kept him from practicing as much as he would like, as well as by an inability to stay in tournaments long enough to feel himself getting match-fit. If he tries to play through his injuries, they could become even more serious, but he certainly wouldn’t be able to get any matches under his belt if he took an extended layoff. This has also been one of Roddick’s favorite parts of the calendar: the indoor American swing leading up to the twin Masters events in Indian Wells and Miami. Once those tournaments are done, it will be nothing but the daunting red clay – Roddick’s least favorite surface – until Wimbledon in late June.
Based on his health and the strength of the field, Roddick will have a tough time defending his title in Memphis next week. If he loses the points from that tournament win, his ranking will plummet to nearly 30 in the world by the beginning of March. Schedule management is a difficult issue for any player, but particularly for one who knows that his days on the tour may be numbered, unless he can find a way to resolve his problems with persistent injuries.
In other quarterfinal action, Julien Benneteau overcame a strong first-set challenge from Belgian Steve Darcis to win 3-6, 6-1, 6-2. Benneteau will play Istomin in the semis. The other semifinal will feature 19-year old Ryan Harrison, who breezed past qualifier Dimitar Kutrovsky 6-1, 6-4 in 62 minutes and defending champion Milos Raonic, who pulled away from Kevin Anderson in straight sets, 7-5, 7-6 (3).
