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2/19/09 5:40 AM | Ricky Dimon
Andy Roddick takes out 2008 Memphis champion Steve Darcis in the first round on Wednesday night. Fellow Americans Mardy Fish and Sam Querrey join Roddick in the winners circle.
Mardy Fish d. Yen-Hsun Lu 6-1, 7-5
Fish, heavily favored against Lu, came out firing in his first match following a runner-up finish last week in San Jose. The seventh-seeded American dominated the opening set, breaking twice and not allowing his opponent to get a look at a single break point. Fish lost just six points (one on his first serve) in four service games en route to a one-set lead. Lu, who upset David Nalbandian at last month's Australian Open, was more competitive in the second. The two players traded breaks as the set progressed to 5-5. At crunch time, however, Fish's experience proved to be too much for Lu and the underdog surrendered serve for the fourth time of the afternoon at 5-5. A routine hold for Fish at 6-5 secured him a spot in the second round, where he will take on Belgian Christophe Rochus. Fish finished with eight aces to just one double-fault and he won 90 percent of his first-serve points.
Sam Querrey d. Tommy Haas 7-6(4), 6-4
Querrey scored his first win over Haas in four tries on Wednesday afternoon, and he used his renowned huge serve to do it. The 6'6'' American won 31 of 33 first-serve points to book his place in the second round after one hour and 18 minutes. Despite the fact that Haas fired seven aces and won all 18 of his first-serve points in the opening set, Querrey seized an early break and seemed poised to take a one-set advantage while serving at 5-4. The German, however, struck almost out of nowhere and broke to eventually force a tiebreaker. Haas went up a quick mini-break with a forehand winner, but Querrey got two of them back as his opponent's backhand began to break down. A final backhand error by Haas gave Querrey the set. The No. 8 seed capitalized on his momentum to seize a seemingly insurmountable 3-0 lead in the second. Nonetheless, at 3-1 Querrey completely lost focus and played a dreadful service game with two double-faults to get broken at love. Things stayed on serve until Haas' turn at 4-5, and he failed to hold under pressure. A forehand error on what should have been an easy winner at ad-out gifted the match to Querrey. Next up for Querrey is a clash with Marcos Baghdatis, in what will be a rematch of a first-round encounter last week in San Jose. Querrey survived that meeting in a third-set tiebreaker.
Andy Roddick d. Steve Darcis 7-6(1), 6-2
The 2008 Regions Morgan Keegan Championships title winner could not have been dealt a tougher draw for his title defense. Darcis had to go up against top-seeded Roddick and he got served right off the court. The 5'9'' Belgian, however, stayed extremely competitive in the first set. Serving dominated the opening frame of play and no breaks of serve took place en route to a tiebreaker. Roddick fired nine aces and did not face a break point in the first, dropping just five points in six service games. Darcis blasted seven aces and saved two break points. But in the decider it was all Roddick, who closed it out seven points to one with an ace. From there the American never looked back. He broke his opponent in the first game of the second set and surged to victory in one hour and six minutes. Roddick finished with an incredible 20 aces and zero double-faults, and he won 36 of 39 first-serve points. Next up for Roddick is countryman Robby Ginepri, who took out Simon Greul in straight sets.
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