Andy Roddick survives tough French Open first round
The French Open has never been a happy hunting ground for Andy Roddick, and that very nearly proved to be the case once again in his first round match against Jarkko Nieminen today.
After Roddick took the first set in just under half an hour, Nieminen staged a comeback that saw the world No. 69 seal a two set to one advantage and leave Roddick on the brink of yet another early exit in Paris, before the American finished the stronger of the two in a match that went the distance.
In truth, Roddick’s results on the clay courts of Roland Garros read more like the record of a well-travelled journeyman than a player who has spent a sum total of just four weeks out of the top 10 since the beginning of 2003.
The American’s best result at the French Open in eight previous attempts was his fourth round showing last year. He’s been knocked out in the first round on four occasions prior to 2010.
A glance at Roddick’s performance at the three other majors reveals his clear preference for the hard courts at the US Open (where he won his sole Grand Slam title in 2003), and the grass has certainly proved greener at Wimbledon for the 27-year old in recent years, where only world No. 1 Roger Federer has stood between Roddick and the title on three previous occasions.
That may be, but though the dirt courts of the French Open have historically proved problematic for Roddick the one aspect of his game that they can’t diminish is his fight and that’s something the Texas-based player has in spades.
The sixth seed took 53 minutes and a tiebreak to drag the match back to level footing in the third set and force the Finnish No. 1 to go the distance if he was going to hand Roddick a fifth first round defeat of his career at Roland Garros.
The breakthrough for Roddick came as the clock ticked over to the three hour mark, when he went up a break at 3-2 in the final set. From there, Roddick didn’t allow Nieminen another game and went on to seal a 6-2, 4-6, 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-3 victory and a second round match against world No. 113 Blaz Kavcic.
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