Match report

Andy Roddick © Tennistalk.com
Internazionali BNL d Italia
3rd round
5/8/08 1 2 Tot
us  Andy Roddick 7 7 6 2
it  Simone Bolelli 6 5 3 0
Simone Bolelli © Tennistalk.com

  • Roddick sends the last Italian home

    5/9/08 4:28 AM | Jonathan Morgan
    Andy Roddick fought well against the crowd and the talented Bolelli before taking the match and advancing to the Rome Quarterfinals.

    Roddick is well known as a hardcourt player. However, his tenacity and fighting spirit have allowed him to play well even on clay. This is not the first time he has done well on clay. He won a title in Austria on clay in 2003, beating Davydenko in the final, has won the Houston event a few times, and this is his 3rd Rome quarterfinal appearance.

    In this match, Roddick used his big serve and Bolelli's lack of returning ability to his advantage. Bolelli got an early break in the first set, but gave it up mid way through it. In the tiebreak, both players played some good points, but a few mental forehand errors by Bolelli and solid play by Roddick allowed him to take it 7-5.

    After that, Bolelli looked defeated. Occasionally he would hit a flashy spectacuar shot, but it followed with a bunch of silly errors including a horrendous “drop shot” from well behind the baseline as he was MOVING BACKWARDS. Certainly not in the owner's manual of clay tennis. He has played 9 matches in the last 10 days, so fatigue could well have been a factor as he faded away in that second set.

    Roddick looked impressive as he slid around the court. He served intelligently, not necessarily warp speed, but with spin and location. Bolelli's serve became weaker as the match went on, and the match point was a micro-chasm of the match. Roddick slid all around the court, defending extremely well, moving Bolelli around with high bouncing heavy balls, and Roddick ended the point with a sliding cross court stab that would make Nadal proud.

  • Thumbs up

    Well done by Roddick to play a smart match against a much less experienced opponent, and make his 3rd Rome Quarterfinal.

  • Thumbs down

    Shaky for Bolelli as the match went on. He seemed to get very frustrated at his inability to hit through Roddick.

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