Rafael Nadal vs Andy Roddick – Quarterfinal Preview: US Open 2011
Excitement builds up at Flushing Meadows, with the rain-delayed quarter-final round of the US Open about to conclude on Friday. World number two, Rafael Nadal of Spain will take on the 21st ranked home favourite, Andy
Roddick, in the round of eight clashes on Friday night, after rain spoiled two consecutive days’ play at the tournament.
The contest will be staged on the Arthur Ashe Stadium of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows Park, of Queens, New York City, United States, with the winner of the match getting a berth in the semi-finals
of the last Grand Slam tournament of the year.
The former world number one and the defending champion, Nadal, has been in a brilliant form throughout his US Open campaign so far and has not dropped a single set in the four matches he has played in the initial rounds of the
tournament. The Spaniard disposed of Andrey Golubev and Nicolas Mahut in the opening two matches of the tournament, followed by a straight sets victory against the former world number three, David Nalbandian, in the third round. The second seed then cruised
through his fourth round matchup against the unseeded Gilles Muller, 7-6(1), 6-1, 6-2, to book a date with Roddick in the quarters.
The winner of 2003 US Open championship, Roddick, has been in a decent form in the running ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) season, having a 28-11 winning record and one singles title to his name. The American cruised
through his initial round matches in the current US Open campaign against Michael Craig Russell, Jack Sock and Julien Benneteau to reach the fourth round. Roddick stunned everyone in the round of 16, when he defeated the world number five, David Ferrer of
Spain, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, to storm into the quarter-finals of the last Grand Slam tournament of the running year.
Nadal and Roddick have gone one-on-one with each other on nine different occasions, with the Spaniard leading the head-to-head series by 6-3. Their last meeting was at the Round Robin of the ATP World Tour Finals last year, with
Nadal winning in a three set thriller 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4.
The two men have encountered on hard courts for six different occasions, with each of them winning three matches. The only time Nadal faced Roddick at the US Open was way back in 2004, when the American ousted him in straight sets,
6-0, 6-3, 6-4, in the round of 64 but it won’t be easy for him to take down the belligerent second seed this time round.
“It will be tough. Playing Nadal isn’t as physical as playing Ferrer, style of points-wise. It’s the quarters of the Open. We’ve got a weekend to play. We’ll roll the dice and see what happens,” said Roddick after qualifying for
the quarter-finals.
Nadal is in sublime form this season, bagging three ATP singles titles and will be the hot favourite for the Friday’s matchup.
“Andy is a fantastic player,” said Nadal. “He’s having one of the best careers, being among the top players for, I don’t know, 11 years, 10 years, nine years. That’s a lot. That’s amazing. So I have big respect for Andy, especially
he’s very tough to be there for a long time and he did. Quarter-finals, the matches must be very tough, and that’s what’s going to happen. It’s going to be a very difficult match against Andy.”
No matter which of the two top class tennis players come out as the winner, the contest will surely be a treat to watch the defending champion Nadal taking on the former US Open champion in the quarter-final clash on Friday.
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