Tennis Magazine
Roddick, Anderson Through in Atlanta
Andy Roddick survived another tight match in Atlanta on Friday, needing more than two hours to dispatch Xavier Malisse 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. It was a repeat of the last Atlanta final, which was held almost a decade ago. Roddick also emerged victorious on that occasion, clinching his first ATP World Tour title. Fellow Americans John Isner and Mardy Fish also went through to the semi-finals, but neither of them broke sweat on an excruciatingly hot day. The only outsider to break make the last four is South African Kevin Anderson, who overcame Lukas Lacko 6-3, 6-4. It is his first semi-final this season. "It´s the continuation of a lot of hard work the whole year,” he said. “I am trying to be more aggressive from the baseline, working my serve combinations better and trying to get into the net a bit more. And working on the belief in my game that I can compete with anyone."
The nightmare week for the seeds playing in Hamburg continued yesterday, with only third seed Jurgen Melzer left standing. The Austrian had little trouble in beating Potito Starace 6-4, 6-1. Seventh seed Thomaz Bellucci wasn’t so lucky, however, and lost a marathon three-hour match to Italy’s Andreas Seppi, 7-6, 5-7, 7-5. Juan Carlos Ferrero also fell victim to an unseeded player in the form of local hope Florian Mayer, who put on an inspired display to edge the Spaniard 6-7, 6-2, 6-3.
