Andy Roddick disposes Julien Benneteau to ease into the fourth round – US Open 2011
Former world number one, Andy Roddick of the United States, eased his way to the fourth round of the US Open by defeating the 81st ranked Frenchman, Julien Benneteau, in the third round on Sunday afternoon.
The contest was staged on the Arthur Ashe Stadium at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows Park, of Queens, New York City, United States, with the 21st seed home favourite registering a straight sets victory at 6-1, 6-4, 7-6(5).
It took just two hours and eight minutes of play for Roddick to wrap up his 27th victory of the running ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) season. The last time these two men faced each other, Roddick clinched victory in three sets 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, to reach the quarter-finals of the Miami Masters. The American gave no chance to Benneteau this time round to come on top of the game and concluded victory in straight sets to extend his all-time head-to-head lead over the French by 4-1.
The contest appeared pretty one sided right from the beginning, as Roddick was off to a blistering start in the opener, wrapping up the first set in barely 25 minutes of play. The contest featured a number of thudding aces from both contestants, with 21 for Roddick and Benneteau following him with 17 cracking aces and four double faults.
The unseeded French posed some resistance in the second set but failed to withstand the fury of the belligerent American, submitting the set to Roddick at 4-6. Intense contest was witnessed in the third set, with Benneteau fighting desperately to remain alive in the competition and he dragged the set in to a tie breaker round. Roddick stood tall once again the decider and closed out victory at 7-6(5), to reach the fourth round of the Grand Slam.
Roddick is among the four American contestants who have made it to the round of 16 of the US Open to keep the local hopes alive in the competition. John Isner, Donald Young and eighth seed Mardy Fish are the other American players to reach the fourth round.
“There's a healthy jealousy going on right now, which is good,” Roddick reasoned, explaining what’s right about American tennis. “It’s only good to help. If Donald Young sees Ryan Harrison play well in the summer, he’s going to not want to fall behind. I think that’s what you saw with that golden generation is that they were able to push each other. It’s a great thing to see. You just feel there’s a little bit of momentum.”
Roddick will take on the world number five, David Ferrer of Spain, in the next round for a place in the quarter-finals of the US Open.
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