Up. Down. Up. Down.
I sometimes feel Roddick's passion for an athlete's nightlife supersedes his court success. I want to blame him for that, but it's not fair. I don't know how I'd handle the celebrity life. He doesn't seem to embarrass himself in the public spotlight, he just enjoys himself in it.
His third-round loss at the Australian Open is a disappointing start to the 2008 season, but he may rebound. He has in the past and this time, I'll hold out hope that he does.
Andy Loses Out to Kohlschreiber
Andy’s Australian Open campaign came to an end at the hands of Philipp Kohlschreiber on Friday night in Melbourne, the German produced an outstanding performance to win 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(9), 6-7(3), 8-6 in three hours and 53 minutes.
World No. 27 Kohlschreiber played a magnificent match, hitting 104 winners in total and 32 aces to finally edge out Andy in the fifth set at 2:05am in the morning at Melbourne Park.
Serving was a big factor in the match, with Andy hitting a career-high 42 aces throughout, and he lost the first set with just one poor service game which Kohlschrebier capitalised on to then go on and close out the set 6-4.
Throughout the first set, Kohlschreiber had been dominant and aggressive from the back of the court, and this did not relent. However, Andy was able to get a foothold in the German’s serve in the fourth game of the second set and after securing the break of serve, as Kohlschreiber netted a half volley, he raced through the set to level up 6-3.
The serve continued to dominate in the third set, with no breaks factoring at all, despite both men having opportunities late on. Andy had chances at 5-5, but brave play from Kohlschreiber, including a a backhand down the line winner, saw off the danger. Similarly, Kohlschreiber held set points when leading 6-5 but a huge serve and fine net play from Andy ensured the set went to a tie-break.
The tie-break was a tense affair, though Andy got the first break through at 5-3 with a forehand passing shot to earn a mini break. However, at 6-4, he couldn’t convert either set point he held as a backhand winner and a lob from Kohlschreiber brought them level. Set points continued to be swapped between both men, neither able to convert until, at 9-9, a forehand cross court return winner gave Kohlschreiber a set point on his own serve which he converted with an unreturnable serve. It was a set the 24-year-old German arguably deserved to win after hitting a remarkable 32 winners in the set to just eight unforced errors.
Andy’s frustrations began to tell in the fourth set, so desperate was he to pull level and fight into a fifth set. His determination told ultimately when the duo arrived at another tie-break after Andy had staved off early break points in the third game of the set.
This time Andy did not miss his chances in the tie-break. He played a blinder to take it 7-3 after a fantastically worked point finished with a cute volley had earned him the mini break at 3-3.
By 4-4 in the fifth set, both men had dropped just two points on their respective serves in the set as the serve once again came to the fore. But that was about to change as Kohlschreiber earnt himself four match points with Andy serving at 4-5.
The first came about as Andy hit close to the baseline and after Kohlschreiber had sent up a lob which was going long he challenged the call. Andy rightly argued that this shouldn’t have stood as the German had already played the ball, but the call stood anyway as Hawk-Eye showed the ball to be plum on the line. The following three match points were saved wonderfully with three aces (one at 147mph) onto the far sideline. “Go! Go! Go!” was the cry from Andy and his team as he raced towards his chair ready to fight on.
However, having pulled himself through the service game, Andy could only watch on in wonder as Kohlschreiber, playing in the biggest match of his career, produced some more clutch tennis to lead 7-6 and put the pressure back on Andy.
This time, the pressure told. Three stunning passing shots from Kohlschreiber brought up two more match points at 15-40 and, as Andy hit a forehand wide, the German claimed a fine victory on his fifth match point to book his spot in the fourth round.
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