Federer v Roddick

Ruthless Roddick prepares for Federer in semifinals
By JOHN PYE, AP Sports Writer
January 23, 2007

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- Andy Roddick was ruthless, treating his close friend like little more than warmup fodder for his semifinal showdown with Roger Federer.

The 2003 U.S. Open champion flattened Mardy Fish without blinking Tuesday, making only four unforced errors in a 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 quarterfinal win at the Australian Open.

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"I played pretty flawless, I thought," Roddick said. "I feel good going into the semis."

Roddick said he could remember making more errors in one game than he had in the entire match against Fish, who lived with him in Boca Raton, Fla., for a while and went to his high school.

"I tried my best to kind of put our friendship to the back of my head," Roddick said. "You know, it's always difficult. It's a weird, weird situation."

Next up is how to beat Federer, something he has not managed since Montreal in 2003.

That was the year he ended at No. 1 and collected his only major title.

Federer also won his first major at Wimbledon that year, and is now bidding for his 10th Grand Slam title.

The defending champion encountered tricky wind conditions on Rod Laver Arena and a difficult opponent, looking nervous at times during a 6-3, 7-6 (2), 7-5 win over No. 7 Tommy Robredo with his parents in the crowd.

Federer, who lost to Roddick in the final of an exhibition tournament 10 days ago, dropped his serve four times. He was shaking his head after shanking some shots.

"The break of serves, they're due to the wind I assume," Federer said. "I had to kind of change my game around a little bit midway through the second set.

"I think my attacking style really worked out well -- I'm really happy to have come through."

Federer has been ranked No. 1 since February 2004 and next month he'll break Jimmy Connors' record of 160 consecutive weeks atop the rankings.

Roddick and eight-time Grand Slam winner Connors teamed up as student and coach last July to try and challenge Federer's domination.

And that has coincided with Roddick returning to the top 10 and becoming a contender again to take a major from Federer.

"I said for the past probably five or six months, the gap has either been closing a little bit or just he hasn't been extending it, which he's probably done the last three years or so," Roddick said. "That's a good thing.

"I feel like I'm in good form. I'd love to see where I match up."

Federer said his 12-1 record against Roddick did not reflect how close some of the matches have been.

The 25-year-old Swiss star had to save match points before beating Roddick at the Masters Cup last November at Shanghai and has had close runs against him in finals at the U.S. Open and at Wimbledon.

"I think we've played on so many big occasions against each other. If I wouldn't have been there, maybe look at the success he would have had," Federer said. "We're about the same age. You know, he's been No. 1. I don't think the record really plays much of a role."

Serena Williams knows what it's like to dominate tennis. This time, though, she's coming in at the other end.

She has won seven Grand Slams, but had not beaten a top 10 player in two years since her last Australian title until upsetting No. 5 Nadia Petrova in the third round.

On Tuesday, it was only her competitive streak that got her out of trouble against 16th-seeded Shahar Peer and into a semifinal against 17-year-old Nicole Vaidisova, who beat fellow Czech Lucie Safarova in straight sets.

Williams fended off 10 break points and came within two points of going out before advancing 3-6, 6-2, 8-6.

"I am the ultimate competitor," said Williams, adding: "I feel absolutely no pressure. I don't think anyone thought I would get this far, except for me and my mom."

She came in unseeded and ranked No. 81 after playing only four tournaments last year because of a recurring knee problem.

Top-seeded Maria Sharapova led the challenge on the other side of the draw in a quarterfinal Wednesday against fellow Russian Anna Chakvetadze, while No. 4 Kim Clijsters and three-time champion Martina Hingis line up again in a quarterfinal for the second year running.

Clijsters won at that stage last year, ending Hingis' remarkable run after coming to Melbourne Park with a ranking of 341 following three years in retirement.

Tommy Haas will try to make his third Australian semifinal when he plays No. 3 Nikolay Davydenko in a quarterfinal.

Rafael Nadal, who has been ranked No. 2 to Federer since July 2005, faces No. 10 Fernando Gonzalez two nights after his epic comeback in five sets against Andy Murray.

Nadal and Murray were the only two men to beat Federer in 2006.

Roddick's win over Federer at Kooyong earlier in the month won't count on their ATP records because it was an exhibition.

Regardless, Roddick is taking confidence from that.

"I said before we played in Kooyong, if I had won there I'm not going to come in acting like it's some huge match," he said. "But given the choice going in to win a match or lose a match, you choose to win it.

"I've been a little bit more successful the last couple times I played him -- I'm going to have to go with what I do well and try to attack him."

Fish lived with the Roddick family in 1999 and the pair have been long time hitting partners. They had played five times, but never at a major.

Fish, the 2004 Olympic silver medalist who is still on the comeback from wrist surgery in 2005, got a taste of a Grand Slam quarterfinal for the first time and said he's never seen Roddick more focused.

"You feel like he's on a mission," said Fish, adding that he thinks Federer is vulnerable.

"Absolutely," he said. "Roger doesn't like to lose, even in exhibitions.

"Maybe I'm making too much of the exhibition -- or maybe not. Maybe that was one of the steps mentally that (Roddick) had to get over to take him out in one of these tournaments."

http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/news;_ylt=AtrTCbhrR2cpJyla.hphDng4v7YF?slug=ap-australianopen&prov=ap&type=lgns

I think this is going to be a great match. Federer did not play too well against Robredo, but i think employing a different tactic to the norm had alot to do with it.

Roddick has improved alot since Connors has taken him on, his confidence is sky high and he has no reason to think that he can't beat Federer, he has come close recently and even managed to steal a match at Kooying. Now, while Federer admitted to trying different tactics during that match, the confidence it gave Roddick is key, it showed that Federer has to bring his A game if he wants to win.

And i think he will.

Any tennis fans care to share their opinion of the matchup?

 

Another Article...

Roddick could topple Federer Down Under

Top-ranked Roger Federer hasn't lost a Grand Slam match away from clay in two years and hasn't lost a set during the 2007 Australian Open. So why is there a sense around Rod Laver Arena that he might be vulnerable to an upset?

Because Andy Roddick has seriously upped his level Down Under; that's why.

After Roddick's 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 demolition of Mardy Fish in the quarterfinals, Roddick's good friend said that it was no faint hope that his fellow American might be able to take down the great Swiss for the first time in more than three and half years in a regular tour event.

Roddick played Federer tough in the U.S. Open where he lost in four sets, he should have beaten him at the Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai, where held two match points, and in an exhibition just before the Australian Open in Kooyong, Roddick took him down.

Kooyong wasn't a regular tournament, so it's hard to put a tremendous amount of stock in the win, but the signs are pointing in all the right directions for Roddick. He's coming closer all the time and after scoring tremendous wins over high-level competitors Marat Safin and Mario Ancic and then easily reeling in Fish, he's looking more and more like the guy who grabbed the No. 1 ranking in 2003.

Fish believes that Roddick's not bluffing when he says that he's brimming with confidence.

"I think now more so than ever," Fish said. "Knowing that you can take sets off a guy, knowing that you can play with a guy. With his serve, if he serves well, in my opinion he's got a real good shot. Roger is Roger. I can go on and on talking about him, how good he is. Obviously it's a huge mountain to climb. To beat him in a Grand Slam, three out of five... Two out of three would be easier. A stage like this, I think Andy likes these courts a lot, they're playing pretty quick this year. I was able to serve and volley pretty much my way to the quarters. This surface is going to help his serve a lot against him. I think that's big. Maybe I'm making too much of the exhibition or maybe not. Maybe that was one of the steps mentally that he had to get over to take him out in one of these tournaments."

But Federer loves a good challenge and seems to play better when he is confronted. Before the fourth round, Serbia upstart Novak Djokovic called the Swiss out, saying that he was going to stun him. The result: a clinical, inspired, straight set win by the master.

Spaniard Tommy Robredo played about as well as he could in the quarterfinals, forgoing his steady game for a much more aggressive attack. He frequently stretched Federer out, but couldn't match the Swiss' all-around brilliance. Robredo also fell in straight sets.

Federer is the most complete player in the game and has more options than anyone else.

He has hard, high variety serve that he locates like a heat seeking missile, his forehand is numbing, and he can produce three different spins with his backhand, plus bash it flat. He is a fine volleyer when he comes in and a deep reader of his foes' serving tendencies.

Plus, Grand Slams contest three out of five set matches, where's it's hard to fool anyone over the long haul and even more difficult to sustain a hot streak. Like Roddick found out at the U.S. Open in his four set loss, there comes a time when your level drops a bit and if you are not careful, Federer kicks it into high gear and by the time you look up, you are holding up the runner's up trophy.

"Best of three is always a danger," Federer said. "You can be a set and a break down in no time. Against Andy especially that could be it. That's the interesting part, especially in Grand Slams, you play more with the mind and the legs, throughout the Slam. Especially over a best of five set match, if that's an advantage for me, I hope it is, but I doubt it."

If Federer plays at the top of his game and enters a match with the correct game plan, he's pretty much untouchable.

But on a slightly down day, say at 90 percent, he's vulnerable, because a guy like Roddick has enough weapons to hurt him. Roddick's blowtorch serve is burning holes in the court, his forehand is very heavy and he is much more comfortable around the net now. He's not a great volleyer, but a competent one and in their past three matches, he has refused to play extended points with Federer.

"He's really found his serve again, " Federer said. " His serve kind of got lost all of a sudden. He didn't get the same free points any more. He couldn't really put the pressure on the opponent because it was too easy to return his serve. I don't know if it's due to change of tactics or change of conditions. All of a sudden, got really slower. He's definitely picked that up again. Ever since, he's been a great player."

Expect A-Rod to attack

Roddick will play super aggressive tennis in the semifinals and let the chips fall where they may. It's up to Federer to push him to take too many risks, and more than match his high-octane offense. The American wants a piece of him, but he going to have to bring an executioner's ax to take out a big chunk of Federer's seemingly impenetrable armor.

"The gap has either been closing a little bit or just he hasn't been extending it, which he's probably done the last three years or so," Roddick said. "That's a good thing. With the match in Shanghai, I'm going to go in with a shot. I like going up and competing against him, I really do."

Even though he is 12-1 against Roddick, Federer still considers him a true rival. That's the highest compliment that a dominant player can give to another competitor. He doesn't expect just to blow Roddick out, which means that tennis fans could be in for a real treat on Thursday, rather than just watching Federer snack on another opponent.

"We've played on so many big occasions against each other, I mean, if I wouldn't have been there, maybe look at the success he would have had, in Wimbledon especially, maybe at the U.S. Open as well," Federer said. "We've had some really close matches. We're about the same age. He's been No. 1. I don't think the record really plays much a role. Now that we've played over 10 times, I think it gets very interesting. I think the record is good for me, but I think it's still a great match with Andy."

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