Regions Morgan Keegan Championship: Andy Roddick defeats Lleyton Hewitt
Top seed Andy Roddick overcame Australian Number One Lleyton Hewitt in a tough quarter-final match of the Regions Morgan Keegan Championship played in Memphis, USA.
The 28-year-old came back strongly in the match after he lost the first set to Hewitt 4-6. He served big in the second and third set of the match to take the next two sets by 6-3 and 6-4.
Roddick powered 21 aces in the match to reach the semi-final of the ATP World Tour 500 Tournament for the sixth time in his career. He will have to battle against Juan Martin del Potro in his next encounter.
This was the 13th time Roddick and Hewitt went head-to-head. Both players had defeated each-other on six occasions prior to this match. However, Roddick had a better record in the recent past as the American didn’t lose to Hewitt since 2005.
A win in the next match will give Roddick his 50th appearance in the final of an ATP World Tour Tournament, and if he goes onto win the final, it will be his 30th title overall.
The former World Number 1 stated in the post match interview, “I haven’t gotten off to great starts in two of my three matches, so I’m going to have to start playing better from the get-go. But a match can turn quickly and it did tonight. The end of the
second set and the third set was probably the best I’ve played in the tournament so far.”
He further added that Hewitt started the match very well and the Australian played exceptional tennis in the first half of the match. Roddick admitted he had struggled a bit to get his forehand going in the early stages of the tournament.
The veteran player said that he will be required to be on top of his game from the very first set against del Potro in the semi-final.
On the other hand, del Potro had a relatively easy match against American Michael Russell. The Argentine won the match in straight sets 6-4, 6-2.
However, the del Potro and Roddick clash promises to be an exciting encounter. The Argentine has a good record against Roddick, winning all three matches played against him in the past and the American will try his best to turn the tables this time around.
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