Andy Roddick knocks out Juan Monaco in the quarterfinal – Winston-Salem Open 2011
Former world number 1 and top seed Andy Roddick of USA moved one step closer to winning his second title of the season as he cruised past world number 36 Juan Monaco of Argentina in straight sets 6-1, 6-4 in the quarterfinals at
the Winston-Salem Open in North Carolina on Thursday. The match lasted for just an hour and six minutes.
Roddick started brilliantly as he broke the Argentinean in the second and fourth game, consolidating on the double break of serve to blaze forward to a 5-0 lead. Monaco avoided a bagel set as he succeeded in holding his serve in
the sixth game to reduce the trail to 1-5. However, Roddick did not allow the Argentinean to stage a comeback, serving out the set in the next game, capturing it 6-1.
The American served to his standard, firing four aces and 75 percent of the first deliveries in the opening set. The Texas resident converted eleven of the fifteen first serves into points and did not lose even a single point on
the second serve, grabbing all five of them in the first set. Roddick dominated in all aspects of the game as he grabbed seven of the eleven first return points and converted both break points he received on Monaco’s serve in the opening set.
The second set saw a tough competition as compared to the first set as Roddick and Monaco held their serve in the first eight games to square off the score at 4-4. The American claimed a break of serve in the ninth game and won
his next service game to win the set 6-4.
The right-handed delivered five aces and 68 percent of the first serves, sealing fifteen of the seventeen points on them in the second set. The 28-year-old capitalised on one of the three break point opportunities he created on
the Argentinean’s serve in the second set.
Talking to the reporters after the match, Roddick said, "You can have a game plan, but it’s a lot tougher to execute. A lot of times it’s out of your hands and it’s completely different from the matches I’ve played so far. It’s
just whoever can scrape a return back on a big point and hope that something good happens.”
The American added, “The biggest thing is you’ve just got to try and take care of your own serve. I don’t often go into a match with the second-best serve, but that will be the case tomorrow."
Roddick is drawn to face fourth seed, compatriot John Isner in the semi-finals.
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