Matt Osias – July 27th, 2006 – Westwood, CA

Andy Roddick

 

 

 

After dropping the first set in a tiebreaker to American No. 390 Scott Oudsema, Andy Roddick regained control of his second round match, winning the next two sets, vaulting himself into the quarterfinals of the Countrywide Classic 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-2.

The headline of the match, however, came in the fourth game of the third set, as Roddick reached wide for a backhand and strained his left side. He let out a roar as the ball continued for an outright winner and a second straight break of Oudsema. But Roddick, although visibly favoring his injury, would play on and advance to the next round, where the No. 8 seed Dmitry Tursunov awaits.

“I hit that one passing shot and I felt a strain,” Roddick said. “It doesn’t feel good at all. If it feels like it does now, it is not hopeful for tomorrow.”

Roddick went on to say that it is critical for him to stay focused on the big picture…the U.S. Open. And not try to over-extend himself in the tournaments leading up to the Open, jeopardizing his physical chances at trying to win his second major.

“If there is risk of doing any serious damage I won’t play here,” Roddick added. “The Open is my focus.”

The 23-year-old Roddick won his only Grand Slam title in 2003 in New York. Since, he has been a finalist at Wimbledon in each of following years, only to fall at the hands of world No. 1 Roger Federer.

And although Roddick came away with today’s victory, he felt that the win was riddled with errors. “I was very disappointed with the way I played in the first set,” Roddick said. “There were not too many positives to take away from it.”

Roddick did, however, manage to hold serve for the entire match. He even had two back-to-back love games and several 130-plus mph aces. His fastest of the night, and of the tournament, was clocked at a blinding 146 mph. He also recorded 21 aces compared to just nine for Oudsema.

Hawkeye, the newly implemented sensor detection system, able to gauge whether or not a ball is in or out, played a crowd-pleasing role in the match. Up 40-love in the fourth game, and just one point after his thunderous 146 mph bomb, Roddick nailed a 137 mph ace up the middle that was called out. Roddick immediately signaled to the chair umpire to review the call. Upon review, the point was deemed in favor of Roddick, as the ball was touching the outside of the line by the tiniest of margins.

Scott Oudsema

Qualifier Oudsema proved he could eventually become a contender for the American’s, as he showed tremendous composure while taking the first set from the former No. 1 Roddick. The match was just the 20-year-old’s second ATP match of his young career.

“This was a great opportunity for me,” Oudsema said. “Andy has been such an idol of American tennis for so long. I had fun out there.”

Although Roddick has plenty of fan support where ever he goes, the underdog Oudsema seemed to receive more encouragement. Oudsema said he was grateful to have people want him to do well in the stands.

“I feel I can compete with the best in tennis,” Oudsema added. “If I was able to play with Andy, then I can play with anyone. It’s a confidence booster.”

As for Roddick, he is still undecided as to whether he will remain in the tournament or drop out due to injury. He said it feels like someone stabbed him in the side and that the pain he felt was new pain and not something reoccurring.

“I expect to ice it a lot tonight and see how I feel tomorrow,” Roddick concluded.

Matt Osias can be reached at mosias@californiatennis.com.

CountryWide Coverage:
Final Results
Emotional Farewell to Agassi
Roddick Advances, Future Uncertain
Gonzalez Takes Down Safin
Sam Querrey, Hewitt, Safin, Fish 

Photography by Adam Davis.

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Thursday Results

Mens Singles
[7]D Hrbaty (SVK) d L Burgsmuller (GER) 7-5, 6-4
[8]D Tursunov (RUS) d S Querrey (USA) 7-5, 6-4
[4]R Ginepri (USA) d K Carlsen (DEN) 7-6(5), 3-6,6-4
[1]A Roddick (USA) d S Oudsema (USA) 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-2

Mens Doubles
P Capdeville (CHI) & F Gonzalez (CHI) d [3] W Arthurs (AUS) & J Kerr (AUS) 3-6, 6-3, 10-6
[4] J Coetzee (RSA) & D Hrbaty (SVK) d I Kunitsyn & D Tursunov 7-6(3), 6-3

Legends Doubles
Jensen (USA) & M Jensen (USA) d S Davis (USA) & D Pate (USA) 6-4, 4-6, 10-6
R Case (AUS) & H Pfister (USA) d A Amritraj (IND) & V Amritraj (IND) 6-7, 5-5 (ret.)
 

The 80th Annual CountryWide Classic tennis tournament is held in Straus Stadium at the Los Angeles Tennis Center on the UCLA campus. For more information, please visit
www.countrywideclassic.com.