Pablo Cuevas upsets Andy Roddick to qualify for the third round at Sony Ericsson Open
World number 67 Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay upset world number 8 Andy Roddick of USA in straight sets 6-4, 7-6(4) in the second round at the Sony Ericsson open on Saturday. It took the Uruguayan 1 hour and 56 minutes to undo his opponent.
Cuevas broke Roddick in the seventh game and held serve in the next game to take a 5-3 lead. The Uruguayan served out the set at 5-4, taking a one set lead.
Cuevas fired in 6 aces and 59 per cent of the first serves in the opening set. The 25-year-old converted 79 per cent of his first serves into points. On the other hand, Roddick did not serve to his potential, committing a couple of double faults and delivering just 46 per cent of the first serves in the first set. The American saved 4 of the 5 break points he faced in the opening set.
In the second set, Cuevas and Roddick held their serves in the first twelve games, levelling the score at 6-6 to force a tie-break. The Uruguayan clinched a couple of mini-breaks in the tie-break, winning it 7-4.
Cuevas served pretty well in the second set as he hit 9 aces and did not commit any double fault. The right-handed delivered 61 per cent of the first serves, winning 80 per cent of the points on them. While, Roddick served better than the first set as he fired 6 aces in the second set. Both players saved 2 break points they faced in the second set.
Talking to the journalist at the press conference, Roddick said that he faced some breathing problems during his match against Cuevas.
The American said, “I had a little trouble breathing out there today. I've had something for a little while, but I'm going to have it checked out when I get home. You don't like going out there with less than what you got, and I feel like I have been doing that a lot. It's just frustrating.”
Roddick was the defending champion of the Sony Ericsson Open as he won the title last year, beating Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic in straight sets 7-5, 6-4 in the final.
This was Cuevas’ first victory over a top 10 player. The Uruguayan said, after the match, "It can be difficult [to play an injured player]. But I was just concentrating on what I could do and control. Only towards the end of the match did I see there was something wrong with him."
The Uruguayan is drawn to meet world number 27 Gilles Simon of France in the third round. Simon prevailed over world number 87, German Rainer Schuettler in straight sets 6-4, 6-3 in the second round.
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