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Personal best Roddick overcomes two-set deficit to winPosted: Monday January 20, 2003 4:14 AMMELBOURNE, Jan 20 (Reuters) -- A fist-pumping Andy Roddick produced a stirring comeback on Monday, the ninth seed beating Russian Davis Cup hero Mikhail Youzhny 6-7 (4), 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. The American next plays Moroccan Younes El Aynaoui, fresh from his upset of world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt in another entertaining match on Monday. Roddick battled back from two sets down in sweltering conditions in Melbourne, finally breaking through when he forced the 25th-seeded Youzhny into a wild backhand on his second set point at 6-5 in the third. "Midway through the third set, I was thinking if there was a flight out tonight or tomorrow," said Roddick. "He kind of gave me a break back and played his first bad game of the match in the third set there." Another backhand error from Youzhny gave Roddick the key break in the fourth game of the fourth set as he wrestled the initiative back from the Russian, who had won both the previous meetings between the two 20-year-olds. Matches not yet under way on other courts at Melbourne Park had been suspended under the tournament's "extreme heat policy," which comes into effect when the temperature reaches 35 degrees Celsius. Roddick and Youzhny were oblivious to all this as their own match reached boiling point on the second show court. Roddick, pumped up and thumping his chest after the big points, pressed Youzhny into a loose forehand to break in the third game of the final set and fired his 19th ace to take a 3-1 advantage. The demoralized Youzhny surrendered his serve again in the next game, and Roddick easily closed out the match after three hours and 14 minutes. Roddick's advancement to the final eight matched his best performances at Grand Slams to date -- quarterfinal appearances at the U.S. Open in 2001 and 2002. Youzhny, who stepped up as a late replacement to win the decisive singles match and land Russia their first Davis Cup crown last December, has yet to get past the fourth round in eight Grand Slams. Roddick now has a wonderful opportunity to reach the semifinals, despite the manner in which El Aynaoui outslugged Hewitt in the early evening. He conceded, however, that he might have folded under Youzhny's onslaught two years ago. "Between the ears, I probably would have got too frustrated. It might have overwhelmed me. Physically, I don't know if I could have got through it either," said Roddick, who looked stronger as the match progressed, despite the intense heat. "[It was] not as bad as South Florida. I come from and grew up in places like Texas and Florida, where it's pretty toasty too. It was exhilarating." Roddick had lost in straight sets to Youzhny at Queen's Club in 2001 and in Madrid last year. On Monday, it initially seemed as if history would repeat itself. "He's a great ball-striker. It felt like he was playing ping-pong with me in the first two sets. But, you know, if you stick around until the fifth set and try your best, I guess good things happen," said Roddick. Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
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