Roddick retires, gives Garcia Lopez open access to the next round at Shanghai
10th seed American Andy Roddick took on Spanish World Number 39 just an hour ago today, winning the first set easily with 6-3. However, in a surprise move which few spectators could have predicted, Roddick retired from the game at 3-2 in the second
set. The reason may be a pulled groin, since Roddick required medical treatment on his right thigh after the second set went 2-all. His retirement pulls him out of the Shanghai Masters, forfeiting his match to Guillermo Garcia Lopez.
Andy Roddick did not trail much in the run for second round; he defeated sick Philipp Kohlschreiber, who retired from the match after three games of the second set. He then progressed to the round against Spaniard Guillermo Garcia Lopez, who has been having
the best year of his career yet. Two weeks ago, the tennis pro defeated World Number 1 Rafael “Rafa” Nadal, also his compatriot, at the Bangkok event.
Roddick, meanwhile, had been having a weaker year. Though he reached the semi finals of the Cincinnati event, his results from there on out had been somewhat disappointing; he suffered a second round victory to Janko Tipsarevic at the 2010 US Open tournament.
Despite the circumstances, he was expected to win this match, although speculators warned that a Garcia Lopez victory would not be entirely unexpected. However, no one expected the victory to come about as a forfeit.
The match lasted under just over an hour, with Roddick easily stealing the first set with a 6-3 win against Garcia Lopez. He fired 4 aces as compared to Garcia Lopez’s three. The Spaniard made 12 unforced errors, whereas Roddick only commited one third that
amount with 4 errors. Garcia Lopez converted one break point, and Roddick managed to convert two.
The second set had fans on tenterhooks; it would decide a third set, or a Roddick victory. Garcia Lopez managed to claim the first point of the set, after which Roddick kicked up his performance. Garcia Lopez committed two unforced error which shifted the
game to 30 love for Roddick. The American then fired a strong double handed shot, moving the game in his favour to 40 love. His next successful volley won him the point for 1 all.
After a break, the match recommenced with Garcia Lopez serving an ace, giving the game 15 love to the Spaniard. Roddick then missed a forehand from his opponent for a 30 love score to Garcia Lopez. The American seemed to recover momentarily, serving a vicious
backhand to turn the game to 30-15. As the game progressed, Garcia Lopez committed another unforced error, changing the score to 30 all. A hard hitting volley from Roddick gave him a 40-30 score, finally ending the third game of this set with 2-1 to Roddick.
In the fourth game, Roddick served an ace to Garcia Lopez, knocking the score to 15 love in his own favour. As the set went on, however, Garcia Lopez equalled the score to 15 all, and then to 30-15 with a swift backhand. But within this game, he next committed
an unforced error, giving Roddick an equal score of 30 all. The Spaniard climbed right back up to the top when Roddick ran to smash back one of his opponent’s shots, but fired it too far out (this may be where he suffered a groin injury). Garcia Lopez ended
the game with a 2 all score.
At this point, Roddick required a long break from the match; he received medical treatment on his right thigh, and seemed to be in obvious pain. Many fans suspected a leg cramp, and were overjoyed when the player stood back up to return to the set.
The service went to Garcia Lopez, who grabbed another point within minutes to equal a score of 3-2. At this point, Andy Roddick motioned to retire from the game, shook hands with both his opponent and the umpire, and was walked out of the stadium by a security
official. This happened so fast fans barely had time to register it; his retirement means he has dropped out from the 2010 Shanghai Masters all together, disappointing countless spectators.
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