MELBOURNE, Australia—Andy Roddick threw everything he could at Roger Federer at the Australian Open in a match played Thursday night. But it wasn’t enough to out-point the Swiss superstar.
In the semifinal match at an open-roofed Rod Laver Arena—after the dropping temperature had eased the Extreme Heat Policy—Federer coasted through to a 6–2, 7–5, 7–5 win in just over two hours.
Roddick played some pretty good tennis. Very good in fact. But the Fed is in a class of his own.
The 26-year-old Roddick was doing almost everything right—he attacked instead of simply slugging it out from the baseline. He served bullets, got good angles and corners, made terrific attempts at passing shots, cross courts shots, and drop shots—a fine display of a player giving it his all against the best player in the modern era.
Roddick landed eight aces and won 85 points to Federer’s 16 and 105 respectively. Roddick kept his unforced errors in check, committing only 18 to Federer’s 15. Not surprisingly, Roddick hit the fastest serve of the match at 140 mph.
There wasn’t much the seventh-seed could do though, as Federer, with a flick of the wrist, displayed his unrivalled arsenal with the racket.
One criticism could be that Roddick failed at several attempts while attacking the net in longer rallies. But we can forgive that—it’s an area where the Nebraskan is still improving. Sometimes, he appeared to lose concentration, and against Federer no player can afford to do that.
Speaking at his on court postmatch interview, Federer praised his long-time opponent Roddick.
“I didn’t play him [Roddick] for over nine months. [I] forget how he plays even though we’ve played so often. I thought I played really well tonight, because Andy played a good match too.”
Re-Writing the Books
History is beckoning for Switzerland’s 27-year-old phenom. After Sunday’s match, Federer will be one away from equaling Ivan Lendl’s record of 19 grand slam finals appearances. A win will also put him equal with Pete Sampras’s grand slam title record of 14.
On Friday night, top seed Rafael Nadal, 22, and 14th seed Fernando Verdasco, 25, will contest the second semifinal to determine who faces Federer. Federer said that “it’s a good match to get ready for” as both Spaniards are left handed.
“Fernando played a fantastic tournament,” said Federer.
“Rafa—I didn’t think he got the limelight he could after beginning the year being no. 1 in the world. But, I think he’s been showing why he’s the best player in the world at the moment. That’s why he’s still my favorite for that semifinal and I’d love to play him here in the final—that’s for sure.”
Both Nadal and Federer are in excellent form and the thought of watching the top two in the world in the Australian Open final is a mouth-watering treat.
