Roddick secures spot in RCA final

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Andy Roddick was not comfortable with his normally hard-hitting serve. So the top seed at the RCA Championships took some advice from coach Brad Gilbert.

"He told me there's more than one way to win or lose a match," Roddick said.

Roddick had 19 winners and only 14 unforced errors Saturday and beat third-seeded Sjeng Schalken 6-3, 6-2 in a semifinal match.

On Sunday, Roddick will face No. 2 Paradorn Srichaphan for the title in a rematch from Wimbledon. Paradorn eliminated unseeded Nicolas Thomann 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3 in Saturday's other semifinal.

"I've just been improving with each match," Roddick said. "Today I played pretty solid. I was pretty happy."

It's the third time in the RCA Championships' 16-year history that the final features the top two seeds. In 1992, second-seeded Pete Sampras beat Jim Courier. In 1996, No. 1 seed Sampras beat Goran Ivanisevic.

Roddick, a Wimbledon semifinalist, moved into his third final in the past five tournaments. It's the first time Roddick has played in the hard-court event at Indianapolis.

Roddick has won two of three career meetings against Paradorn.

"He's been playing great this week," Paradorn said.

Schalken wasn't much of a factor Saturday, taking a 2-1 lead in the first set before Roddick took control by winning four straight games thanks in part to a serve that topped out at 131 mph.

Though Roddick said his serve was off, he finished with five aces to one for Schalken. Roddick also won 18 of 21 first-serve points.

"I didn't serve well at all today," he said. "I realized early I wasn't in sync with my serve. I just tried to serve a high percentage."

Schalken, a Dutch baseliner who made the U.S. Open semifinals last year, didn't fare much better in the second set. He got to 3-2 before Roddick won the next three games.

Schalken never appeared in rhythm, missing some forehands in a swirling wind.

Roddick, sixth in the ATP rankings, has won 19 of his last 21 matches and improved to 14-1 with Gilbert as his coach. Roddick and Gilbert teamed up after Roddick lost in the first round of the French Open.

Roddick continued to cruise in RCA Championships since his three-set scare against Cyril Saulnier on Tuesday. He hasn't dropped a set in his three matches since, and a win Sunday would be his eighth career ATP title.

As good as Roddick's serve is, Paradorn's was better Saturday, producing 17 aces.

Thomann, of France, was playing in his first career ATP semifinal and enjoying the finest week of his career. He beat eighth-seeded Hyung-Taik Lee in the second round and 14th-seeded Nicolas Kiefer in the quarterfinals, then won five of the last seven games in the first set against Paradorn.

That gave Paradorn some early concern.

"I was thinking this wasn't going to be my day," he said. "He had been playing well."

But Thomann tired late and totaled only six aces compared with 17 for Paradorn.

Paradorn, of Thailand, won all the points in the final game to win the match. He then turned to the crowd and said, "Thank you" in Thai.

Thomann was bothered by a sore right wrist, which he said cramped up at the end of the second set.

"I don't know what happened," he said. "I couldn't hit the ball."

 

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