Andy Roddick thrashes Santiago Giraldo in the round of 16 – Winston-Salem Open 2011
American number 2 Andy Roddick, ranked 21st in the world, looks to be coming back in form on right time for the US Open as he cruised past world number 56 Santiago Giraldo of Colombia in straight sets 6-1, 6-3 in the
third round at the Winston-Salem Open in North Carolina, USA on Wednesday. The match lasted for just an hour and six minutes.
Roddick and the Colombian held their serve in the first three games of the first set to take the score to 2-1 in favour of the former. The American made the breakthrough in the fourth game, breaking Giraldo to take a 3-1 lead and
consolidating on it to stretch it to 4-1. Roddick kept on dominating the proceedings as he broke the Colombian again in the sixth game and held his serve in the next game to win the set 6-1.
The American relied on his huge serves to win most of the points, delivering four aces and claiming ten of the 12 first service points in the opening set. The right-handed also captured six of the eight points on the second serve
in the first set. In comparison, Giraldo could not match Roddick’s service performance as he hit a meager 33 percent of the first serves, winning four of the six points on them.
The second set saw a steady start from both players as both of them held their serve in the first four games to level the score at 2-2. Once again, it was Roddick who claimed the lead as he broke the Colombian in the fifth game
and won his serve in the next game to go ahead 4-2. The American broke again in the ninth game, bagging the set 6-3.
Roddick continued to bash his opponent on the serve, sealing nine of the twelve points on the first serve and seven of the eight points on the second serve in the second set. The American grabbed six of the nineteen first return
points and converted two of the three break points he received on Giraldo’s serve in the second set.
The 28-year-old said, after the match, "I've read a lot and heard a lot about a slump, but this is only my third event in five or six months. It's tough to win when you haven't been playing. My focus is on competing, not compensating
for something."
Roddick is slated to meet seventh seed Juan Monaco of Argentina in the quarterfinals.
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