Roddick out, Federer through
2006-03-16 15:03
Indian Wells - Third-ranked Andy Roddick was upset by Igor Andreev of Russia 6-4 6-7 (5) 6-1 on Wednesday at the Pacific Life Open, where he failed to reach at least the quarter-finals for the first time.
No 1 Roger Federer and No 2 Rafael Nadal had no such problems against Frenchmen. Federer, the defending two-time champ, took a 6-3 6-4 victory over 19-year-old Richard Gasquet, and Nadal accounted for Sebastien Grosjean 6-4 6-2.
Federer will face Ivan Ljubicic in the quarter-finals, a repeat of their fourth-round clash last year. Nadal will tackle Australian Open runner-up Marcos Baghdatis.
James Blake, who has won two titles this year, advanced when Germany's Tommy Haas retired in the second set because he was sick. Blake was leading 6-3 3-0.
In a women's quarter-final, Martina Hingis was impressive again in the latest victory of her return, rolling to a 6-3 6-4 quarterfinals win over Dinara Safina of Russia. Hingis next faces Maria Sharapova, a 6-1 6-3 winner over Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany.
Andreev, blasted out of last year's Wimbledon in straight sets by Roddick, broke the American in the first game on Wednesday and held serve to win the first set without giving up a break chance.
Roddick took until the second-set tiebreaker to edge ahead, but lost his momentum when he dropped his first service game in the third set, and Andreev cruised to a career-best victory.
Roddick, a former No 1 whose 11-5 match record this year includes four losses to players ranked outside the top 50, showed his frustration after double-faulting to fall behind 5-1 in the third set, slamming his racket on the court and smashing it.
"It's just frustration. We've all been there, except I have people watching when I break something," Roddick said. "I'm mad with the way I played. I was competing well, then just let it get away for no apparent reason. I was fine until I just went mental at the end. I just checked out in the middle of the third set."
- SAPA