Hard serving American Andy Roddick survived a serving barrage from Chris Guccione to win 6-3, 6-7 (3/7), 7-6 (7/5), in a first-round match at the US$436,000 SAP Open on Wednesday.
Holder of the world's fastest serve at 249kph, the top-seeded Roddick was almost upstaged by the unheralded Guccione, who fired 20 aces in almost pulling off a stunning upset.
Conversely, Roddick managed just nine aces against the Aussie, a lucky loser who is 1-4 all-time against players ranked in the top 10. The 22-year-old Guccione has not beaten a top-10 player since defeating world No. 2 Rafael Nadal in January last year -- when the Spanish southpaw withdrew in the opening set of their first-round match at Sydney.
PHOTO: AP
Roddick, the world No. 6, advances to a second-round matchup against Japanese teenager Kei Nishikori, who defeated unseeded Argentine Diego Hartfield, 7-5, 6-3.
Nishikori, 18, vaulted to 131st in the world rankings following his upset victory over James Blake in the final at Delray Beach on Sunday, and said he is prepared for his next challenge.
"I'm ready," Nishikori said. "I'll be facing another top 10 player. His serve is a big thing. [Roddick will] be the highest ranked player I've ever played."
Midway through the first set, Nishikori saw Roddick watching.
"When I was down 4-3, I saw him in the stands," Nishikori said. "I got really nervous. He was sitting next to my coach. I wanted to play Roddick. That's why I won."
Roddick was doing some last-minute scouting on his upcoming opponent, who became the first Japanese to win an ATP title for 16 years by winning at Delray Beach.
"I saw him play a little bit last week," Roddick said of Nishikori. "I'd be lying if I said I knew a lot about him. I saw him play tonight. He looks like he's full of confidence and he has a lot of momentum going for him."
"I've begun asking around about him. I hope to talk to James [Blake] tomorrow about their match together last Sunday," Roddick said.
Blake, the tournament's No. 2 seed, rebounded from that shocking defeat with 6-3, 6-1 victory over Sam Warburg in Tuesday's opening round.
Third-seeded German Tommy Haas beat American Robert Kendrick in Wednesday's night match.
In second-round play, fourth-seeded Czech Radek Stepanek advanced to the quarter-finals with a 7-5, 7-6 (7-5) win over Bobby Reynolds, and will face the winner of the match between Wayne Odesnik and Taiwan's Lu Yen-hsun.
‘AWFUL PERFORMANCE’: Golden State were always chasing the game after failing to threaten from long range, making just eight of 33 three-point attempts Aaron Gordon on Monday scored 38 points as the Denver Nuggets shrugged off the absence of Nikola Jokic to halt the Golden State Warriors’ seven-game winning streak with a 114-105 victory over their Western Conference rivals. A dazzling display from Gordon inspired what was ultimately a comfortable win for Denver, who were missing regular starters Jokic and Jamal Murray from their lineup. The absentees were barely felt by Denver, who startled the Warriors early at San Francisco’s Chase Center and led for most of the game. The Warriors threatened to stage a late rally after slashing the Nuggets’ fourth-quarter lead from 15 points
The US’ bid for a fourth consecutive CONCACAF Nations League title came to a stunning end as they fell 1-0 to Panama after a stoppage-time goal from Cecilio Waterman on Thursday in Inglewood, California. Despite dominating possession, the US struggled to break down a resilient Panama side for long periods. Panama spent the bulk of the match defending, but pounced on a giveaway by the US before substitute forward Waterman sent a shot from the right side of the area to the bottom left corner late in stoppage time. Up next for Panama in tomorrow’s final is to be Mexico, who beat
Barcelona’s Ferran Torres scored twice on Sunday to help secure a late 4-2 comeback win at Atletico Madrid in a pulsating La Liga clash that took the Catalan side back to the top of the table. Barca have 60 points and a game in hand after last week’s postponement of their home game with CA Osasuna. They are level on points with Real Madrid, who won 2-1 at Villarreal on Saturday. “I am happy and proud of this team,” Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick told a news conference. “They never give up... It’s a great three points and we are happy to
Armand Duplantis will be among the reigning Olympic champions adding star power to the world indoor championships this weekend when the Chinese city of Nanjing hosts the first major global athletics meet since the Paris Games last year. The three-day event was originally slated for 2020 and faced multiple postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Nanjing’s Sports Training Center would finally welcome more than 570 athletes for the start of the showpiece today. One of the main attractions would be pole vaulter “Mondo” Duplantis, who soared 6.27m to break the world record for a staggering 11th time in Clermont-Ferrand last
RSS