Roddick Rolls at US Open, Despite Playing on Court 13

FLUSHING, New York—Andy Roddick took care of business on Thursday, beating David Ferrer 6–3, 6–3, 4–6, 6–3 to advance to the quarterfinals of the US Open for the first time since 2008.

The match, which had been delayed due to rain since Tuesday, had more water drama, despite the bright sunshine at the start of the match.

“I looked down at one point and I saw like a little crack, and it had probably seven or eight nickel-sized water drops on it, but it looked too perfectly placed. It almost looked like someone almost poured a little bit of water out,” he said after the match.

“I dried it off, played the next game, went back to play the point, and saw it was there again. That's when I realized that we had a problem.”

The players were taken off the court for an hour and brought back out. Much to Roddick’s dismay, the water was still there. “Then they called us back out, and we walked right over it and it was wet. I could not believe what I was looking at.”

Tournament official Brian Earley decided to move the players to Court 13, which only holds 584 people.

Roddick smiled when speaking about playing on Court 13, a court he had not played on since 1999 in Juniors; “I enjoyed it. I like playing kind of the smaller more intimate stuff when I can.” He took a victory lap after his match, high-fiving the lucky fans that got a seat in the small venue.

The USTA released a statement regarding the conditions of Louis Armstrong: "We have faced an inordinate amount of rain in August and through the early part of September which has saturated the court surfaces at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. All courts were completely dried prior to play on Thursday, September 8.

“However, as the sun began to warm, or “bake” the courts, evaporation of these saturated conditions began to surface on Louis Armstrong Stadium. Until this situation is rectified, no further play will occur on Louis Armstrong Stadium."

This was the first time Roddick has played on an outside court at a Men’s singles match at the US Open in his pro career.

Roddick will face Rafael Nadal in his quarterfinal match on Friday.

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More on the US Open: http://ept.ms/usopen11