Andy Roddick eases through
- Monday, January 18, 2010, 11:22
- Tennis
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Andy Roddick breathed a sigh of relief after surviving a nasty fall following a collision with a line judge in the first round of the Australian Open.The seventh seed bounced back to his feet after tripping over the line judge and tumbling to the ground in the first set of his match against Thiemo De Bakker of the Netherlands.
Roddick, who was forced out of last year’s season-ending Tour Finals with a knee injury, went on to complete a comfortable 6-1 6-4 6-4 victory.
“I kind of pinched it (his knee) a little bit,” said the American. “I promise you that first step afterwards was a relief.
“It kind of jarred a little bit. But it’s a good sign that I can kind of take that. You know, it didn’t do too much to me.”
Roddick had admonished the official to “move out of the way when you see a player coming” during the match and still appeared annoyed afterwards.
“He wasn’t giving up any ground. I didn’t see him. He wasn’t really trying to do much to get out of the way,” said the American.
“Normally they see a player running full speed, they decide to at least move or catch the player.
“You know, I felt like he was trying out for WWE (professional wrestling) or something, just letting me go.”
Roddick was rarely troubled by his tall Dutch opponent during the match in Hisense Arena, which was interrupted by a 45-minute rain delay that forced them off court at 2-2 in the second set.
Officials closed the roof while tournament staff and ballboys and girls dried the court with towels.
“I thought I played the right way,” Roddick said. “I could have executed probably a little bit better at times. But overall I thought it was pretty good. You know, first rounds are always a little uncomfortable, especially at a slam. You’re kind of built up, you’re maybe a little bit overanxious. But I thought overall it was all right.”
Juan Martin Del Potro showed no signs of a wrist injury that hampered his build-up when he advanced to the second round at Melbourne Park.
The tall Argentine, who played only one match at the invitational Kooyong Classic tournament in Melbourne before withdrawing because of the injury, overcame American Michael Russell 6-4 6-4 3-6 6-2.
The US Open champion was rarely troubled by the 31-year-old Russell though he appeared to lose his composure in the third set due to some contentious line calls and was arguing with chair umpire Mariana Alves for the remainder of the set.
A visibly angry Del Potro, however, regrouped and raced through the fourth set to advance to a second round clash with American James Blake or France’s Arnaud Clement.
Chilean 11th seed Fernando Gonzalez, a beaten finalist in Melbourne in 2007, survived a third set lapse in concentration to book his place in the second round with a 6-3 6-4 3-6 6-1 win over Belgium’s Olivier Rochus.
But Czech 13th seed Radek Stepanek crashed out of the tournament, falling 2-6 7-6(5)6-4 3-6 6-4 to big-serving Croat Ivo Karlovic in a five-set epic out on court six.
British Eurosport (Sky 410 / Virgin 521) and British Eurosport 2 (Sky 411 / Virgin 525) will be providing daily coverage from midnight of two matches which are also simulcasted on the Eurosport Player.
In addition, you can watch your choice of any of these seven courts LIVE and on demand on the Eurosport Player. Any matches that are not being shown on either British Eurosport or British Eurosport 2 will be commentary free.
All courts start at 00:00 GMT
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