Andy Roddick defeats Philipp Kohlschreiber at Wimbledon
Andy Roddick is through to the fourth round at Wimbledon after claiming a 7-5, 6-7, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Philipp Kohlschreiber.
In an evenly matched first set it was Roddick who prevailed when he capitalised on the only break point opportunity generated by either player, which conveniently happened to also be a set point, which the American secured with a volley.
Seven games into the second set and it was Kohlschreiber, after Roddick had earlier squandered his first break point chance of the set, who found himself with a double break point opportunity, but two strong serves saw the fifth seed drag the game back to deuce. The German challenged again with a third break point chance, but Roddick again levelled the scores before building the advantage and holding his serve when Kohlschreiber overcooked a backhand.
It looked like it might be a case of déjà vu when Roddick again created break point chances with Kohlschreiber serving to stay in the set at 4-5, but this time the 29th seed staved off the break of serve, as the set headed into a tiebreak where Kohlschreiber levelled the match at one set apiece.
Roddick raised his game in the third set as he secured the early break before he then found himself facing triple break point in the fourth game of the set but saved them all to maintain some vital breathing space between him and his opponent.
Last year’s beaten finalist then secured his second break of serve on set point with a volley down the line to take a 2-1 advantage in the match.
The world No. 7 widened the gap with as Kohlschreiber sent a backhand long to hand Roddick the 2-0 lead in the fourth set, highlighting the influence that unforced errors were having on the match with the German almost tripling Roddick’s total of 10 unforced errors in the match to that point.
Kohlschreiber ultimately saved two match points to remain in the contest just a little longer, but Roddick served his 28th ace of the match on his third to secure victory after two hours and 55 minutes on court.
Roddick now faces what, at least on paper, should be an easier match against world No. 82 Yen-Hsun Lu in the fourth round.
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