MELBOURNE, Australia—Andy Roddick will again come face-to-face with one of the toughest assignments in his career—Roger Federer in sweltering conditions in the Australian Open semifinal.
As the sun beat down through the open roof of the Rod Laver Arena, 26-year-old Andy Roddick seemed comparatively little troubled by the rising temperature in his defeat of Serbian Novak Djokovic, 21, who retired in the fourth set of their quarterfinal on Monday 6–7, 6–4, 6–2, 2–1.
The signs were there early that things weren’t going the defending champion Djokovic’s way. As the temperature soared over 90 ºF, the Serb was pushed in the first set and broken in his first service game of the second set, as Roddick’s cross court volleys and attack on the net paid dividends.
Roddick, a former world no. 1 and the tournament’s no. 7 seed, whose only grand slam championship is the 2003 U.S. Open, continued to wear down Djokovic, who was looking more and more uncomfortable the longer the match continued in Melbourne’s dry heat.
His body language, with slumped shoulders and head dropping between points, confirmed that Roddick was getting the better of the match. Roddick’s anticipation and penetrating return of service were unrelenting as he remained well in control.
As shadows began creeping across the court, leading 2–1 in the third set, a visibly troubled Djokovic took a medical timeout for heat related stress, where medical staff tried to lower his body temperature with an ice massage.
The polarity between the two was highlighted during this three-minute break as Roddick, in bright sunshine, jogged passed a seated, pale, and re-hydrating Djokovic who stated that he felt very heavy.
From here the writing was on the wall. Although Djokovic played out the third set it was obvious that his body was shutting down. After dropping his serve in the fourth set Djokovic shook hands with Roddick, declaring his retirement after 149 minutes of match time.
Beginning to cool down at a court-side post match interview, a lean and wide-eyed Roddick said that he didn’t realize how troubled Djokovic was until the medical timeout.
“It’s disappointing. I feel for Novak right now. He worked so hard to win this [tournament] last year and to not get a fair chance to defend it’s too bad.”
Through to the semifinals at the Australian Open for the fourth time, Roddick was excited about the prospect of playing Switzerland’s Roger Federer, who has beaten him 15 out of 17 times.
“Believe it or not, I always love the opportunity to play Roger. If you’re going to win a tournament like this you have to go through the best—and he’s the best ever.”
Federer was not faced with the trying conditions that Roddick had in his quarterfinal. The no. 2 seed sizzled in another way however, easily defeating no. 8 seed Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina in 70 minutes, 6–3, 6–0, 6–0.
Through to his world record 19th consecutive grand slam semifinal, Federer, 27, was looking forward to his Wednesday night match against Roddick.
“Playing Andy, obviously, it’s always nice. We’ve had some big matches over the years—at Wimbledon in the finals, at the U.S. Open in the finals, here in the semis … it’s always a pleasure to play against him because he brings such energy to the court with his serve and he’s a character,” said Federer in his post match on-court interview.
With a forecasted 105-plus ºF here over the next four days, an Extreme Heat Policy may come into play where on-court temperatures have been measured at around 122 ºF.
A cool change is expected to bring temperatures down for the final day on Sunday.
As the sun beat down through the open roof of the Rod Laver Arena, 26-year-old Andy Roddick seemed comparatively little troubled by the rising temperature in his defeat of Serbian Novak Djokovic, 21, who retired in the fourth set of their quarterfinal on Monday 6–7, 6–4, 6–2, 2–1.
The signs were there early that things weren’t going the defending champion Djokovic’s way. As the temperature soared over 90 ºF, the Serb was pushed in the first set and broken in his first service game of the second set, as Roddick’s cross court volleys and attack on the net paid dividends.
Roddick, a former world no. 1 and the tournament’s no. 7 seed, whose only grand slam championship is the 2003 U.S. Open, continued to wear down Djokovic, who was looking more and more uncomfortable the longer the match continued in Melbourne’s dry heat.
His body language, with slumped shoulders and head dropping between points, confirmed that Roddick was getting the better of the match. Roddick’s anticipation and penetrating return of service were unrelenting as he remained well in control.
As shadows began creeping across the court, leading 2–1 in the third set, a visibly troubled Djokovic took a medical timeout for heat related stress, where medical staff tried to lower his body temperature with an ice massage.
The polarity between the two was highlighted during this three-minute break as Roddick, in bright sunshine, jogged passed a seated, pale, and re-hydrating Djokovic who stated that he felt very heavy.
From here the writing was on the wall. Although Djokovic played out the third set it was obvious that his body was shutting down. After dropping his serve in the fourth set Djokovic shook hands with Roddick, declaring his retirement after 149 minutes of match time.
Beginning to cool down at a court-side post match interview, a lean and wide-eyed Roddick said that he didn’t realize how troubled Djokovic was until the medical timeout.
“It’s disappointing. I feel for Novak right now. He worked so hard to win this [tournament] last year and to not get a fair chance to defend it’s too bad.”
New Andy
Roddick has undergone a transformation from last year—a rigorous conditioning program enabling him to lose 15 pounds has seen the Nebraskan rejuvenated and ready to tackle the 2009 grind.
“I worked hard in the off-season. It’s rewarding to come out on a day where it’s pretty hot and [I] feel pretty good. It’s what you do the work for.”Through to the semifinals at the Australian Open for the fourth time, Roddick was excited about the prospect of playing Switzerland’s Roger Federer, who has beaten him 15 out of 17 times.
“Believe it or not, I always love the opportunity to play Roger. If you’re going to win a tournament like this you have to go through the best—and he’s the best ever.”
Federer was not faced with the trying conditions that Roddick had in his quarterfinal. The no. 2 seed sizzled in another way however, easily defeating no. 8 seed Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina in 70 minutes, 6–3, 6–0, 6–0.
Through to his world record 19th consecutive grand slam semifinal, Federer, 27, was looking forward to his Wednesday night match against Roddick.
“Playing Andy, obviously, it’s always nice. We’ve had some big matches over the years—at Wimbledon in the finals, at the U.S. Open in the finals, here in the semis … it’s always a pleasure to play against him because he brings such energy to the court with his serve and he’s a character,” said Federer in his post match on-court interview.
With a forecasted 105-plus ºF here over the next four days, an Extreme Heat Policy may come into play where on-court temperatures have been measured at around 122 ºF.
A cool change is expected to bring temperatures down for the final day on Sunday.
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