Interview Cincinnati

Roddick says he will not panic after early defeat

Fri 17 Aug, 12:13 AM

CINCINNATI (Reuters) - Andy Roddick said he would not be panicking after his U.S. Open preparations were hit by a 7-6 6-4 defeat by Spaniard David Ferrer in the third round of the Cincinnati Masters on Thursday.

Holder Roddick, who reached the final of the U.S. Open last year, paid the penalty for being too defensive and 16th seed Ferrer took full advantage.

The American world number four described his performance as poor and said he would be working hard with coach Jimmy Connors before the U.S. Open, which starts on August 27.

"I just didn't do anything that I've been working on," Roddick said. "I was standing too far back. I wasn't imposing myself and I was giving away free points. It was a pretty ordinary performance.

"(But) I'm not going to go into panic mode. I know what I did wrong today. Don't get me wrong, I'm pissed off about it, but the good thing is that I have time to fix it."

Roddick did have three set points at 5-4 in the first but Ferrer held on and then won the tiebreak 7-4 before breaking in the 10th game of the second set for victory.

Having won the ATP event in Washington at the start of the month, Roddick reached the quarter-finals last week in Montreal, losing to the eventual winner Novak Djokovic.

At times against Ferrer, Roddick was hitting the ball from 10 feet (three metres) behind the baseline, allowing Ferrer to dictate play.

"Jimmy's not happy," Roddick said. "He said: 'I don't care it you lose but do what we've been working on and do it the right way'.

"He's right. We have eight, nine days to get on the practice court. I need to some footwork drills and get my feet going and readjust my court position. Get back to the basics."


Quote:
Early start, finish for defending champ
Unhappy with day match, his own play
BY DUSTIN DOW

MASON - After this week's Western & Southern Financial Group Masters ends, a full year on the tennis calendar will have elapsed since Andy Roddick last won a major tournament.

The defending W&S Masters champion had a lot of ranking points to defend here this week but instead suffered an upset loss in the third round Thursday, 7-6, 6-4 to Spain's David Ferrer.

"It's annoying," Roddick said. "It's not like a hitting-the-ball issue like it was last year. I didn't do what I've been practicing. That makes it real difficult on yourself. It wasn't how I normally play here."

It wasn't his normal evening time slot in Mason either. An on-court thermometer read 115 degrees as the match started at 1:50 p.m.

Many fans were late arriving for the match, entering in spurts throughout the first set.

"Well, if I was them, and I trickled in, I would have watched about two games and trickled back out," Roddick said. "I didn't really deserve to have them there today.

"I would have preferred to play at night, because I've kind of grown accustomed to it and there's such electricity in the air. They felt it was better to play me during the day. It's unfortunate, but it's out of my hands at the same time."

So was control of Thursday's match, what with the way Ferrer was chasing down balls and hitting return shots from the baseline. Ferrer won the match when he sent a forehand winner past Roddick, who had come to the net.

Roddick walked quickly off the court. It was his earliest loss here since losing in the first round in 2001.

"This is the first bad match I've played in two and a half weeks," Roddick said. "I'm not panicking. But I'm (ticked off) about it. I'm not happy about it."


Roddick often plays deep into tournaments during the summer hardcourt season leading to the U.S. Open.

He won two weeks ago in Washington but lost in the quarterfinals last week in Montreal to the eventual champion, Novak Djokovic.

Two weeks before that, he lost in the semifinals in Indianapolis to No. 109 Frank Dancevic.

Roddick was perturbed when asked about his "poor play."

"Are you defining poor by losing to the winner last week?" Roddick asked.

"I think we need to redefine the word poor. This week was poor."

tu m'étonne que jimmy il est pas content par contre andy a raison , c'est son premier match mauvais depuis plusieurs semaines, la fatigue s'est fait sentir , surtout qu'il préfère jouer en night session

bon allez un bon tit repos + entrainement et hop c'est parti pour l'USO