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Roddick on a roll, in fourth round
By Nirmal Shekar
Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand stretches for a forehand return to Rafael Nadal of Spain in their third round match at the Wimbledon tennis championships on Friday. — AFP
But an answer may have been found already to the question, "who after those giants?'' And in all likelihood, the transition from one era of great champions to another _ although one that is unlikely to scale the heights the Pete-Andre years _ is going to be rather smooth.
A 20-year old human thunderbolt from Omaha, Nebraska, an irresistible bundle of energy by the name of Andy Roddick promises to make sure that the so-called post-Pete slump in American tennis may not be quite as depressingly long as it was expected to be.
In a short time, Roddick, winner at Queen's and a bookmakers' favourite for the seat vacated unexpectedly early by Lleyton Hewitt in the 117th Wimbledon championships, has turned the doomsday prophecies vis a vis American men's tennis in the near future into waves of optimism that now dominate the airwaves and the sports pages in his country.
The cloud has parted; and out steps the handsome, confident young man as a wonderful piece of silver lining.
Not playing quite as well as he did against a venom-spouting Greg Rusedski in the previous match, Roddick, seeded five, still managed to out-gun the in-from Spaniard Tommy Robredo in straight sets in the third round on Friday to earn his passage into the second week of the championships.
Under overcast skies threatening rain, Roddick, playing on the centre stage yet again, broke down the talented 21-year old Spaniard's resistance with his cannonball serves and a bull whip cracking forehand for a 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-4 victory in an hour and 54 minutes.
Strangely enough, for a player who has been installed as the favourite by men who know their money business, Roddick is entering unfamiliar territory. It is the first time that the young man has made it to the fourth round here.
Last year, Sampras described Roddick as `the future of American tennis.' And the way Roddick has been playing this week, perhaps the future is already upon us.
In a high quality contest in which Robredo, who made the quarterfinals at the French Open with victories over Hewitt and Gustavo Kuerten, played much better than the language of the scoreline might suggest, Roddick's power made all the difference.
World ranked 21 and No.15 in the champions race this year, Robredo is a very talented player. He served consistently well today, hit some blistering forehand winners and fought all the way to the finish but could not match the American's heavy artillery.
The move to terminate the services of his longtime coach Tarik Benhabiles and hire Agassi's former coach Brad Gilbert, author of the famous book Winning Ugly, seems to have paid Roddick rich dividends.
For, Roddick is more than just an ambitious acolyte now; he looks, and plays, more like a Prince waiting to inherit his kingdom.
There are times when the young American makes the sort of mistakes that reveal the streak of impetuosity he has not entirely conquered yet. But he has been playing the big points with tremendous confidence and skills this week, as, of course, he did at Queens to win the title there.
This afternoon, Roddick took control of the match the moment Robredo, who matched him punch for punch, jab for jab, until then, double faulted at 3-3 in the first set tiebreak. Two big serves saw Roddick go up 6-3 and he never looked back.
In the second set, Roddick ran down a Robredo drop shot _ a weapon the Spaniard had used to great effect until then _ and followed it up with a backhand winner to break to 4-3 and in the third the American found the early break he was looking for, in the third game.
If Roddick goes on to vindicate the bookmakers' favouritism _ he first has to negotiate his way past Paradorn Srichaphan, who booked his place in the fourth round with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 defeat of the 17-year old Spaniard Rafael Nadal today _ then for a second year in a row we'll see a player who is a baseliner at heart being crowned champion on these lawns.
While this writer has no score to settle with baseliners, for the purists, Wimbledon may lose some of its sheen should the rear court masters dominate the sport here.
Someone like Roddick does put a lot of people in their seats in stadiums and keeps the TV producers happy too with his power game and charismatic personality. But watching a so-called champion-in-the-making win 99 per cent of his points from the baseline on grass will not take the connoisseur's breath away, surely.
Consider these statistics. Serve and volley approaches for Roddick in today's match: first set, 0/26; second set, 0/24; third set, 0/23.Where, then, have the volleyers gone? At this great cathedral of lawn tennis where the legendary Australians of the 1960s and 1970s, and the McEnroes, Edbergs, Beckers and Samprases after them, turned volleying into a delightful art form, serve and volleyers have now become a dying _ if not dead _ breed.
Roddick, for instance, wouldn't seem to want to venture up to the net even if his life depended on getting there. And Andre Agassi, for all his genius, is no Stefan Edberg at the net.
Ah, Stefan, sweet Stefan! What a magnificent volleyer the amiable Swede was! Not even the peerless Sampras had Edberg's grace and touch at the net.
For all the talk about the great assets that some young men in the draw this year have brought to back up their claims for the title here this fortnight, there is no doubt in my mind that a Sampras at 75 per cent would walk through this field.
Hey, Pete, are you watching any of the baseline ballet on grass being enacted here this week? Probably not. And just as well.
Meanwhile, the man who awaits Roddick in the fourth round, Paradorn Srichaphan, Asia's finest since the halcyon days of Vijay Amritraj, for once got the job done quickly.
After two five-set matches _ the second in which he had to fight off a matchpoint in the fourth set against Olivier Mutis of France _ Srichaphan was a relieved man as he raced past the gifted Spanish teenager, Rafael Nadal.
The left-handed Nadal _ a man who would be King, a potential world beater if you were to believe the Spanish media _ did threaten to make a match of it as he opened up a 4-2 second set lead, breaking Srichaphan in the sixth game.
But the Tata Open champion upped the ante on his returns, stepping in to take a heavy toll of Nadal's second serves as he won four games in a row. The third set was a romp for Thailand's most popular sportsman.
Also into the fourth round is the Australian Open finalist Rainer Schuettler from Germany. The ninth seed got past the veteran Todd Martin, aged 32, winning 4-6, 7-5, 6-7(1), 6-1, 7-5. Schuettler will play the eighth seeded Dutchman Sjeng Schalken who disposed of Victor Hanescu of Romania 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (3).
In the women's championship, Venus Williams and Kim Clijsters are on course to their anticipated semifinal meeting. Both made the fourth round easily today.
Kim Clijsters, seeded two, raced past Samantha Reeves of the United States 6-1, 6-2 while Venus Williams, seeded four, outplayed Nadia Petrova of Russia, winning by exactly the same score, 6-1, 6-2.
The results: Men: singles: third round: 8-Sjeng Schalken (Ned) bt Victor Hanescu (Rom) 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (3); 12-Paradorn Srichaphan (Thai) bt Rafael Nadal (Esp) 6-4, 6-4, 6-2; 5-Andy Roddick (U.S.) bt 25-Tommy Robredo (Esp) 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-4; 9-Rainer Schuettler (Ger) bt Todd Martin 4-6, 7-5, 6-7 (1), 6-1, 7-5; Jonas Bjorkman (Swe) bt Justin Gimelstob (U.S.) 6-1, 6-3, 6-3.
Women: singles: third round: 16-Vera Zvonareva (Rus) bt Iroda Tulyaganova (Uzb) 6-3, 7-5; 13-
Ai Sugiyama (Jpn) bt 22-Nathalie Dechy (Fra) 6-4, 6-4; 2-Kim Clijsters (U.S.) bt Samantha Reeves (U.S.) 6-1, 6-2; 4-Venus Williams (U.S.) bt Nadia Petrova (Rus) 6-1, 6-2.
Thurday's results: Men: singles: second round: Sargis Sargsian (Arm) bt 26-James Blake (U.S.) 6-2, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2; Karol Kucera (Svk) bt Takao Suzuki (Jpn) 6-3, 7-5, 6-2; Mark Philippoussis (Aus) bt Cyril Saulnier (Fra) 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (7-2); 2-Andre Agassi (U.S.) bt Lars Burgsmuller (Ger) 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3; Wesley Moodie (RSA) bt Frederic Niemeyer (Can) 7-6 (10-8), 4-6, 2-6, 6-1, 7-5; 3-Juan Carlos Ferrero (Esp) bt Nicolas Escude (Fra) 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-3, conceded.
Women: singles: second round: 3-Justine Henin-Hardenne (Bel) bt Flavia Pennetta (Ita) 7-6 (7-2), 6-1; 18-Conchita Martinez (Esp) bt Barbara Schett (Aut) 6-2, 6-4; Aniko Kapros (Hun) bt Martina Sucha (Svk) 6-0, 6-4; 11-Jelena Dokic (Serb) bt Emmanuelle Gagliardi (Swi) 6-1, 6-3; Maria Sharapova (Rus) bt 21-Elena Bovina (Rus) 6-3, 6-1; Alicia Molik (Aus) bt 31-Elena Likhovtseva (Rus) 6-3, 6-4; 33-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Rus) bt Yoon Jeong Cho (S. Kor) 7-6 (7-2), 6-4; 1- Serena Williams (U.S.) bt Els Callens (Bel) 6-4, 6-4.
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