Tipsarevic withstood the momentum that Roddick initially seized in the third set after the dispute with the match officials, including the tournament referee Brian Early, and eventually won, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (4), to reach the third round for the first time in his career.
It was also the first time Roddick had lost in the second round of the Open and only the second time he had lost before the third round since winning his only title here in 2003.After a difficult summer in which a bout with mononucleosis sapped his strength, Roddick entered the tournament uncertain of his stamina but looking to live up to the hopes of the fans who have consistently supported him here since his first tournament in 2000.But Tipsarevic, playing smart, aggressive tennis, brushed aside a lopsided first set and then began to stagger Roddick with aggressive body blows. He effectively returned Roddickâs sizzling serves and then punished him with numerous backhand winners down the line.
Roger Federer’s latest failure on Roland Garros’ red clay are the comments about how his reign as tennis’ king and supreme ruler, seemingly, are coming to an end. Like we saw last year at the finals of the U.S. Open, what it takes to best the most accomplished men’s professional tennis player of all time is for his opponent to have one of his best days, and for Roger to fall a bit from his usually perfect play. Robin Soderling went for everything today in his second straight French Open quarterfinal, and to his credit, Robin Soderling made everything. Considering the wet conditions, which invariably means a very slow court, the amount of winners (49) was extremely impressive and was the most contributive factor to his success.
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