NEW YORK – Andy Roddick was discussing his retirement-postponing victory during a TV interview when a group of fans interrupted by chanting, “One more year! One more year!”
How about one more match? That, at least, is a given now.
Roddick’s not quite ready to quit just yet.
A day after surprisingly announcing the U.S. Open will be the last tournament of his career, Roddick dominated Australian teenager Bernard Tomic from start to finish Friday night in Arthur Ashe Stadium and won 6-3, 6-4, 6-0 to reach the third round.
“I had no idea what was going to happen out there,” Roddick said. “I’ve played a lot of matches and that was a different kind of nerves than I’ve had before, so that was surprising for me.”
The 2003 U.S. Open champion and former No. 1 player took the time to look around the packed arena, eyeing people dancing in the stands during changeovers and taking it all in – in case this was it.
While the players warmed up on court before the match, the stadium announcer noted that Roddick was “competing in his final U.S. Open,” and so he let out a deep exhale, then lifted his racket to acknowledge the fans’ raucous applause. He made sure to pay attention to every detail, even getting rid of one tennis ball in the second set’s second game after pointing out to the chair umpire that it was the sort of red-logo ball used for women’s matches.
“There are no guarantees for me now,” Roddick said, “so I was trying to notice stuff.”
No need to do that too much on this night, because he will get to play once more before walking away from professional tennis. Roddick will face 59th-ranked Fabio Fognini of Italy on Sunday.
“He has a place in tennis history,” Fognini said. “To play him on center court, in one of his last matches – or the last, who knows?”
Roddick turned 30 on Thursday and held a news conference to say he would quit after a season of injuries and poor results at Grand Slam tournaments. But he sure looked good against the 43rd-ranked Tomic, hitting 13 aces, including on the final point.
With that, Roddick flashed a smile as wide as can be, and the crowd of more than 24,000 roared their approval.
“There were a lot of people; that’s the smallest it felt to me. It almost felt cozy for once,” Roddick said. “It’s a big place for that.”
But this was Roddick’s night, a celebration of his career and a chance to extend it. The match that followed, top-seeded Victoria Azarenka’s 6-0, 6-1 victory over No. 28 Zheng Jie of China, was very much reduced to afterthought.
Other men’s winners Friday included defending champion Novak Djokovic, 2009 champion Juan Martin del Potro and 2001 U.S. Open champion Lleyton Hewitt, who came back to beat Gilles Muller 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-4.
The day’s biggest surprise was 18-year-old Laura Robson’s 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-2 victory over 2011 French Open champion Li Na, setting up a fourth-round match against defending women’s champion Sam Stosur. Robson ended four-time major champion Kim Clijsters’ singles career by beating her in the second round.
Del Potro, who is seeded seventh, eliminated one of the young U.S. men expected to succeed Roddick near the top of the game, 20-year-old Ryan Harrison.
