INTERNATIONALER RAIFFEISEN GRAND PRIX, MAY 19, 2003
Roddick Advances in St Polten
Top seed moves through to the second round after defeating Alberto Martin,
while Taylor Dent and Jan-Michael Gambill bow out.
Day two of the Internationaler Raiffeisen Grand Prix saw top-seeded Andy
Roddick survive a tight second set for a straight set win over Spaniard
Alberto Martin under bright sun and a light breeze. Roddick was up a set
and a break before letting Martin back in the match with two double faults
and a service break midway through the second set. Down 5-2 in the second
set tiebreak, Roddick reeled off five straight points for the 6-1, 7-6(5)
win - his third consecutive over Martin and first one on clay.
Roddick's fellow American seeds Taylor Dent, No 4, and Jan-Michael Gambill,
No. 5, were not as lucky. In control of the match after winning the first
set 6-2, Dent relinquished the advantage to young Mario Ancic who took the
next two sets 7-6(3), 6-4. Gambill lost to veteran Richard Krajicek in three
sets. Krajicek was not expected to play on clay this season but took a wild
card into the tournament at the last minute from tournament organizers. He
now finds himself in the second round against young American Brian Vahaly,
a three-set winner over Kenneth Carlsen of Denmark. Vahaly had two match
points in the second set before Carlsen came back to win five straight games,
but Vahaly prevailed 6-3 in the third.
In other action, Austria's last hope Jurgen Melzer lost surprisingly to
354th-ranked German Philipp Kohlschreiber in three-sets, while hard-serving
Dutchman Martin Verkerk continued his fine form of late with a 6-2, 6-1
pasting of seventh-seeded Karol Kucera. Verkerk took last week off to train
at home following his quarterfinal run at the Telecom Italia Masters in Rome.
WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID:
Roddick: "I was very happy to close that out in straight sets. I was close to
letting that go and I'm glad I got by."
"I played a sloppy service game at the beginning of the second set. He hadn't
really touched my serve up to that point and I threw in two double faults. He
broke me and got some confidence at that point, raising his level."
"I felt good out there, it's true I haven't had the best European clay court
season, but I was happy with how I played. I was attacking, I was coming to
net."
Saretta: "I'm happy because I'm playing very well and with confidence right
now. I'm just going to take it match-by-match before I think about it
[repeating last year's semifinal result]. It was a tough match because I was
playing another Brazilian."
On playing good friend Andre Sa: "The last time we played was at Wimbledon
last year and I think I'm playing better than I was last year. But we're good
friends and I hope we don't have to play ever again."
Melzer: "It wasn't one of my nicest days out there, but hopefully I can learn
from it. That's really all I can say."
"The fact that the tournament did promotions around me really didn't matter
at all. What was missing today in my game, I just can't say."
Coria: "I would have loved to play here, but my leg starting cramping in the
semifinal and I saw the doctor after. I was lucky to get through that match,
as well as win the final in Hamburg. I just can't risk any further injury
with a tournament like Roland Garros coming up, and even if it wasn't next
week, I wouldn't want to risk an injury that would keep me out one or two
months."
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