Injured but not out
Written By
DNA Web Team
| Updated:
Andy Roddick, the top-seeded American, admitted his pursuit of his first title in nine months was in jeopardy.
LOS ANGELES: Andy Roddick defied injury to book his quarter-final berth here, but the top-seeded American admitted his pursuit of his first title in nine months was in jeopardy.
“I hit a passing shot, and I sprained my left side,” said Roddick, who was hurt while leading 3-1 in the third set of his 6-7 (3/7) 6-3 6-2 victory over fellow American Scott Oudsema.
“It was pretty intense,” added Roddick, who said he would decide on Friday if he was able to take the court for his quarter-final clash with eighth-seeded Russian Dmitry Tursunov. “I had some ice. I’m going to have ice and treatment tonight,” he said.
Despite a first set littered with unforced errors, 11 of his 21 aces allowed Roddick to force the tiebreaker. He rebounded in the second as the unforced errors multiplied for his 20-year-old opponent, who was playing just his third ATP match.
Under the eyes of his new coach Jimmy Connors, Roddick controlled the third set, breaking to lead 3-1 before disaster struck. Tournament doctor George Fareed said the injury was a “left lower back strain”.
With the US Open approaching in August he won’t be taking any chances with his health. “I’m not going to take any risk,” said Roddick, whose last title came at Lyon last October.
Tursunov had punched his quarter-final ticket earlier on Thursday with a 7-5 6-4 victory over 18-year-old US wildcard Sam Querrey.
“There are some things I could have done better today,” Tursunov. who reached his fifth quarter-final of the year, said.
“A few years ago I would have gotten down on myself but now I do the things that I need to do win those types of matches. My serve was working for me today and whoever is going to win will need to be serving well.
“A big part of my win today was experience,” he added. “I went for my shots when I needed to and then sat back and let him make the errors when I did not need to go for it.”
Seventh-seeded Slovakian Dominik Hrbaty reached the quarter-finals with a 7-5 6-4 victory over Lars Burgsmuller. Hrbaty broke the German’s serve five times to reach his first quarter-final since he made it to the semi-finals in Adelaide in January.
He will face fourth-seeded American Robby Ginepri, who utilised a service break in the final game to overcome 18 aces by Denmark’s Kenneth Carlsen for a 7-6 (7/5) 3-6 6-4 victory. Hrbaty won their only previous meeting at Nottingham in 2005.
“It’s going to be a match with a lot of consistency, a lot of shot-making and he’s not going to give an inch,” said Ginepri, who lost to Roddick in the semi-finals at Indianapolis last weekend.
Friday’s other two quarter-finals will pit US veteran Andre Agassi, the defending champion and fifth seed, against third-seeded Chilean Fernando Gonzalez, while sixth-seeded Germany Tommy Haas will take on American Paul Goldstein.
“I hit a passing shot, and I sprained my left side,” said Roddick, who was hurt while leading 3-1 in the third set of his 6-7 (3/7) 6-3 6-2 victory over fellow American Scott Oudsema.
“It was pretty intense,” added Roddick, who said he would decide on Friday if he was able to take the court for his quarter-final clash with eighth-seeded Russian Dmitry Tursunov. “I had some ice. I’m going to have ice and treatment tonight,” he said.
Despite a first set littered with unforced errors, 11 of his 21 aces allowed Roddick to force the tiebreaker. He rebounded in the second as the unforced errors multiplied for his 20-year-old opponent, who was playing just his third ATP match.
Under the eyes of his new coach Jimmy Connors, Roddick controlled the third set, breaking to lead 3-1 before disaster struck. Tournament doctor George Fareed said the injury was a “left lower back strain”.
With the US Open approaching in August he won’t be taking any chances with his health. “I’m not going to take any risk,” said Roddick, whose last title came at Lyon last October.
Tursunov had punched his quarter-final ticket earlier on Thursday with a 7-5 6-4 victory over 18-year-old US wildcard Sam Querrey.
“There are some things I could have done better today,” Tursunov. who reached his fifth quarter-final of the year, said.
“A few years ago I would have gotten down on myself but now I do the things that I need to do win those types of matches. My serve was working for me today and whoever is going to win will need to be serving well.
“A big part of my win today was experience,” he added. “I went for my shots when I needed to and then sat back and let him make the errors when I did not need to go for it.”
Seventh-seeded Slovakian Dominik Hrbaty reached the quarter-finals with a 7-5 6-4 victory over Lars Burgsmuller. Hrbaty broke the German’s serve five times to reach his first quarter-final since he made it to the semi-finals in Adelaide in January.
He will face fourth-seeded American Robby Ginepri, who utilised a service break in the final game to overcome 18 aces by Denmark’s Kenneth Carlsen for a 7-6 (7/5) 3-6 6-4 victory. Hrbaty won their only previous meeting at Nottingham in 2005.
“It’s going to be a match with a lot of consistency, a lot of shot-making and he’s not going to give an inch,” said Ginepri, who lost to Roddick in the semi-finals at Indianapolis last weekend.
Friday’s other two quarter-finals will pit US veteran Andre Agassi, the defending champion and fifth seed, against third-seeded Chilean Fernando Gonzalez, while sixth-seeded Germany Tommy Haas will take on American Paul Goldstein.