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Andy Roddick loudly voices his frustrations, but he couldn't rattle Philipp Kohlschreiber in a third round match. (QUINN ROONEY/Getty Images) |
MELBOURNE - Andy Roddick ran out of ways to vent his anger.
He berated the chair umpire. He cracked his racket. He pulled out of a serve and yelled at the crowd to "shut up." He also reeled off a personal-best 42 aces - three in one game to save match points - but none of it unnerved Philipp Kohlschreiber at the Australian Open.
The 29th-ranked German won, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (11-9), 6-7 (3-7), 8-6, in a third-round match that started after 10 p.m. yesterday and finished at 2:04 a.m. today.
"I took his best stuff for five sets and I thought I was going to get him to break or to fold," Roddick said. "I thought if I kept it on him long enough that that would happen. He played like a great, great player."
Also today, 18-year-old Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland upset No. 2 Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-3, 6-4. And Amelie Mauresmo was upset by Casey Dellacqua, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.
The 29th-seeded Radwanska, who won junior titles at Wimbledon in 2005 and the French Open in 2006, broke Kuznetsova's serve at 4-4 in the second set.
Kuznetsova, the 2004 US Open champion and last year's finalist in New York, hit a forehand into the net on match point, allowing Radwanska to advance to the fourth round. Radwanska beat Maria Sharapova last year in the US Open.
"It was exactly the same match - third round in the Grand Slam, playing No. 2 on center court," Radwanska said. "A Russian player, and in both matches I had nothing to lose."
Another top-seeded Russian, No. 6 Anna Chakvetadze dropped a 6-7 (6-8), 6-1, 6-2 decision to No. 27 Maria Kirilenko.
The losses by Kuznetsova and Chakvetadze left five of the original 15 Russians entered remaining in women's singles, including Sharapova.
Rain delayed matches on all outside courts today, with play continuing at Rod Laver Arena and at
Roddick, seeded sixth, produced some impressive numbers, in addition to the aces. He made 72 percent of his first serves and committed only three double faults. However, he broke his opponent only once.
"The whole match for me was perfect," Kohlschreiber said. "Just amazing, to start the year like this and beating such a good guy is the best thing that has happened to me in tennis."
Kohlschreiber reached the fourth round only once before at 14 previous Grand Slam tournaments, and that ended in a straight-sets loss to Roddick.
For Roddick, this match had the same feel almost from the start of his five-hour marathon against Younes El Aynaoui five years ago in a quarterfinal in Australia. Then 20, Roddick won an Open era longest fifth set, 21-19, in a match that finished after 2:30 a.m., also under the roof at Rod Laver Arena. "Yeah, I thought about it," Roddick said.
Roddick came into the tournament after leading the United States to its first Davis Cup title since 1995 and winning the Kooyong exhibition tuneup for the third straight time. He left with his quest for a second major to go with his 2003 US Open title still unfulfilled.
Mauresmo knows the feeling. In the match immediately before Roddick's, the 2006 Australian Open and Wimbledon champion was ousted in the third round by No. 78-ranked Dellacqua, who didn't have a clothing sponsor until this week.
Mauresmo had 10 double faults, including one to set up match point for Dellacqua, who finished off her victory with a forehand winner as the crowd burst into cheers for the last local hope in the women's draw.
No. 2 Rafael Nadal saved six set points in the first against Frenchman Gilles Simon before winning, 7-5, 6-2, 6-3. The Spaniard faces another Frenchman in the fourth round after No. 23 Paul-Henri Mathieu rallied for a 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 7-5, 8-6 win over Austria's Stefan Koubek.
No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko beat France's Marc Gicquel and next plays fellow Russian Mikhail Youzhny, a 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 winner over Croatia's Ivo Karlovic.
Defending champion Serena Williams defeated Victoria Azarenka, 6-3, 6-4.
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