Sport - Tennis

Federer overwhelms Roddick

— Photo: AFP

IN COMMAND: Roger Federer had little trouble racing past Andy Roddick in the Masters Cup.

SHANGHAI: Defending champion Roger Federer extended his mastery of No. 5 Andy Roddick, winning 6-4, 6-2 Friday at the Masters Cup in a match played largely for pride.

Both players already had earned semifinal berths from the Red Group after the fourth-ranked Nikolay Davydenko beat No. 7 Fernando Gonzalez 6-4, 6-3 earlier to eliminate the Chilean. All that was at stake was determining who they face next in the year-ending tournament for the top eight men in the rankings.

Top-ranked Federer, who improved his career record against Roddick to 15-1, will play second-ranked Rafael Nadal on Saturday, while Roddick meets No. 6 David Ferrer, who went undefeated in the Gold Group.

The match was nearly a repeat of the Australian Open semifinals when Federer blitzed Roddick, allowing the American only six games in three sets. Because he already had clinched his semifinal place by winning his first two matches, Roddick had said he had no pressure on him this time and hoped he could cut into Federer’s advantage.

Federer, who had looked in danger after losing his opening match against Gonzalez, was thoroughly dominant. He never faced a break point and blunted Roddick’s powerful first serve and picked on his second one. The Swiss star finished with 33 winners to only 13 unforced errors. Federer said even he was impressed by his performance, which included hitting 83 per cent of his first serves.

“I know that my game matches up well with his, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to beat him all the time,” Federer said. “Andy has been trying many, many different things out against me. It’s dangerous for me to play against him, especially with the guy having such a big serve. Today I read it well.”

Clearly frustrated, Roddick smashed a ball into the stands after losing the first set, and then broke his racket by bashing it against his left foot five times when Federer broke him for a 3-0 lead in the second set.

Serving at 5-2, Federer held at love, whacking a clean forehand winner to finish it in 61 minutes.

“It seems like most times we play, he’s on top of his game, which is a little annoying,” Roddick said. “I guess I just have to figure out what about my game brings out the best in him and try to adjust. You see some of the guys who beat him are quick. Unfortunately, that’s not my strength. You kind of have to go with what you’re good at, try to make adjustments.”

Davydenko already had been eliminated from the semifinals by dropping his first two matches. While inconsistent again, the Russian knocked out Gonzalez, who had hoped to emerge from the Red Group if he won and top-ranked Federer lost.

The results: Red group: Nikolay Davydenko bt Fernando Gonzalez 6-4, 6-3; Roger Federer bt Andy Roddick 6-4, 6-2. Doubles: Lukas Dlouhy & Pavel Vizner bt Mark Knowles & Daniel Nestor 6-3, 4-6, 11-9; Paul Hanley & Kevin Ullyett bt Leander Paes & Martin Damm 6-3, 6-4. — AP

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