Andy Roddick defeats Grega Zemlja at Legg Mason
American world number nine Andy Roddick ousted Slovenian Greg Zemlja with a final tally of 6-4, 6-4 at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic yesterday. Roddick has previously won the tournament title on three occasions, making this his fourth vie for a Legg Mason tournament victory.
Zemlja was unable to come up with a game that could break Roddick’s serve. The Slovenian was a qualifier at the tournament, and was up against a tough hurdle against the number two seeded Roddick, who is now on to the third round. He will face Gilles Simon, who defeated Igor Kunitsyn of Russia in the second round, and is currently ranked as the world number six.
"I accomplished what I wanted to," Roddick said. "I got into some rallies early and moved the ball around the court and mixed up paces and different heights. I put a high percentage of returns in the court and got back to playing clean tennis. Doing things that don't always show up on the stats sheet but they win you tennis matches."
As Roddick goes onto the third round, he may be at a slight advantage, as Simon has been suffering a knee injury since late last year.
Rallying up the volleys
The 27-year-old Roddick showed off his serve-and-volley finesse, as he engaged Zemlja in lengthy rallies, not giving any points away for free. With an impressive showing, Roddick won 90 percent of first service points throughout the match, without facing a break point even once. The hard-hitting American seemed to be in top form, coming back from an early fourth round defeat at Wimbledon earlier this summer, and gearing up for success at the upcoming US Open in late August.
Roddick will likely face long-time US Open rival Roger Federer, who has beaten him on three different occasions at the hard-court Grand Slam final. Although claims abound of Federer’s game being less than impressive by all previous standards, Roddick commented: “Last time I checked, Roger has still won a major this year. And he hasn't had a great year by his standards."
Bidding for lucky 30th title
A victory at the Legg Mason in Washington would bring Roddick’s ATP tournament victories to a total of 30. The American was ousted out of last year’s tournament early on after being defeated by Juan Martin del Potro.
Roddick had previously won the Legg Mason in 2001, 2005, and 2007. If Roddick were to come away with a title victory, it would give him a total of 20 career hard-court wins.
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