Roddick Captures Stella Artois Title
Andy Roddick captured his first grass court title with a
6-3, 6-3 victory over Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean to win
the Stella Artois Championships. Roddick, the No. 3 seed,
took just 59 minutes to capture his second title of the
year and his first under new coach Brad Gilbert.
The 20-year-old American, who saved a match point in his
victory over Andre Agassi in the semifinals and equalled
the fastest serve ever recorded in the process at 149 mph,
has now won seven ATP titles since turning pro in 2000.
"Sometimes your titles come when you least expect them,"
said Roddick. "I came in not knowing where I was, there's
been a lot of changes going on, and then I played great
tennis all week, so you never know what to expect. All
titles are nice. But I've had a tough draw here this
week so it's definitely up there."
Heat
Roddick, a winner on clay earlier this year in St. Poelten,
always looked in control against Grosjean, who ended the
three-year reign at The Queen's Club of Lleyton Hewitt in
the quarterfinals and defeated Tim Henman in the semis.
With the temperatures soaring on Centre Court, Roddick
continued to bring the heat on his serves, firing 10 aces
and facing only one break point throughout the match. The
American opened up a 4-2 lead in the first set after a
Grosjean double fault on the third break point. Two games
later and serving for the set, Roddick faced what turned
out to be his only break point of the match and saved it
with a wrong-footing forehand winner, and took the set with
a backhand volley.
It was the first set Grosjean had dropped all week, and he
soon found himself 3-1 down in the second after dropping
his serve to love as Roddick won 10 points in a row. With
Grosjean struggling to make any inroads on the Roddick
serve, the Frenchman had more problems on his own delivery
and was two match points down in the ninth game. Although
he saved one, a backhand by Roddick on the second clipped
the top of the net and bounced over to seal victory.
Prepared
"It was a little weird at first playing Sebastien," said
Roddick. "Every match before that has been hard, but I was
able to get the early break in the first and second sets,
and was able to hold on after that.
"I feel like I will be better prepared for Wimbledon than
I've ever been. But you have to guard against overconfidence.
I've just been really focused this week. My returns have
been a lot better. I've been putting them in court and
giving myself a chance, so that was pleasing."
For Grosjean, trying to blunt the Roddick serve proved to
be a step too far. "It was tough for me to return his
serve," said the Frenchman. "I return well but he put a
lot of pressure on my serve and he took his chance on mine
because he had no problems holding his own.
"But it's been a good week for me. I beat Lleyton [Hewitt]
and Tim [Henman] who are both really good players so I'm
really happy with the way I played. Even in the final, I
have no regrets. I think he played a really good game."
http://www.stellaartoistennis.com/newsstories/03sunday_1.asp
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