[St. Polten]Roddick Seeks First Title of 2003
Roddick and Davydenko Set For Final
Roddick advanced to the final after David Sanchez retired with a calf muscle
strain.
With temperatures in the low-80s, Austrian skiing legend Hermann Maier in the
crowd and top-seeded Andy Roddick on the court against David Sanchez, it was
an action-filled day at the Internationaler Raiffeisen Grand Prix in St.
Poelten. In the day's first semifinal, Russia's Nikolay Davydenko did what he
has done in the past two matches - pull out a close first set - before cruising
through the second against Martin Vekerk to reach his third ATP final on the
year.
By the time Roddick got the court, it had been warmed up by Austria's skiing
champions Maier and Michael Walchhofer who thrilled the crowd with their own
terrible tennis form. And with a near-capacity crowd on hand in "the cage,"
Roddick stormed to a 5-2 lead in the first set. At that point, ATP trainer
Michal Novotny treated Sanchez for some problems with blisters on his right
foot. Roddick went on to take the first set and take a 2-0 lead in the second
before Sanchez called it quits as a result of on-going muscle strain in his
right calf.
RODDICK MEETS WITH AUSTRIAN SUPERSTAR HERMANN MAIER
Prior to his semifinal match Saturday at the Internationaler Raiffeisen Grand
Prix, Andy Roddick met with two-time Olympic champion and World Champion
Hermann Maier, who is Austria's present-day skiing legend. Maier flew in by
helicopter - piloting himself - Saturday afternoon to attend some tennis
action on a bright and sunny afternoon. Along with Maier was 2003 downhill
world champion Michael Walchhofer. The three chatted about Andy's first time
playing in Austria and Andy's excellent play this week as he prepares for
Roland Garros.
"It's always great to meet champions from other sports, and especially Olympic
champions like Maier," said Roddick.
Maier is best remembered for his horrific crash in the downhill at the 1998
Nagano Olympics where he went airborne and upside-down. Several days later,
he came back to win gold in the Super-G and gold in the Giant Slalom. Earlier
this year he won the world title in the Super-G at the 2003 World Alpine Ski
Championships in St. Moritz.
WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID:
Roddick: "You have to worry about yourself and I didn't really notice that he
was hurting. He seemed fine until he called the trainer towards the end of the
first set. But I was happy with my game, that was the best I was hitting my
groundstrokes all week.
about playing Sargsian in Roland Garros
"I never try and look at other draws while I am still playing in tournaments.
He's a tough player, but right now I'm thinking about Davydenko and that's what
my focus is. He's improved alot since I've played him last. I'm going to have
to put alot of balls in the court."
about St. Poelten
"I'm from small towns, so this is a good fit for me. It's been a great,
relaxing week getting ready for the French. That's going to be madness in
Paris, so I'm really happy to have reached the final here."
Sanchez: "I already had this problem in my match against Mario Ancic. Today
it was even harder because Roddick is a tougher player. His best shot is that
forehand out-wide and it was hurting when I had to stretch to hit a shot."
"I tried to play, if you are in the semifinal you have a chance to win the
tournament, so of course I wanted to try as best as I could. Unfortunately
after I called the trainer and was down 2-0 in the second set I realized it
was just going to be impossible to win with my condition like that. And if
you know it's going to be impossible to win, then there's no sense continuing."
Davydenko: "In the first set he was still playing well. I was just trying to
put a lot of balls in the court. I couldn't do much on his serve at all when
he was putting his first serve in. He was attacking and I was hitting some
passing shots, which was working for me."
"In the second, I got that early break and I just felt that he had lost control
of the match at that point and I was in a good position."
what he expects in the final
"I'm really expecting to play Roddick. He's playing well and if he plays his
game it will be a tough match. I'll have to change the way I'm playing a bit
and not just be content to put balls in the court."
--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.csie.ntu.edu.tw)
◆ From: 61.225.192.79
說實在，就算進了決賽，我還是不看好Davy-__-
※ 編輯: MARSAFIN 來自: 61.225.192.79 (05/24 12:52)
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