 |
|
U.S. Andy Roddick watches his volley
clear the net during his match against Belgium's Olivier Rochus at the
Pacific Life Open tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California March 12,
2007. Roddick won 6-3, 7-6 (5).(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
Photo
Gallery>>> |
More Photos
WASHINGTON, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Andy Roddick served 18 aces on his way to
a 6-3, 7-6 (5) victory over Olivier Rochus in the third round of the Pacific
Life Open on Monday.
Roddick overcame 33 unforced errors with his strong serve and well-placed
forehands. Rochus made 12 fewer unforced errors than his American opponent, but
did not have a single ace.
No. 3-ranked Roddick finished the match on a sweltering afternoon in the
desert with a crosscourt forehand winner that the Belgian couldn't reach.
Julien Benneteau of France bounced another highly ranked American, No. 6
James Blake, out of the tournament with a 6-2, 7-6(1) victory. Blake, last
year's runner-up, had trouble keeping the ball in play, committing 41 unforced
errors to Benneteau's 18.
Guillermo Canas, who a day earlier upset Roger Federer to end the Swiss
star's winning streak at 41 matches, was ousted by former No. 1 Carlos Moya 6-4,
6-4.
No. 2 Rafael Nadal beat Fernando Verdasco 6-4, 6-4 in their night match,
running his record to 5-0 against his fellow Spaniard.
David Nalbandian reached the fourth round for the third year ina row when
he beat Paul-Henri Mathieu of France 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-0.
The fourth round was as far as Nalbandian went the previous two years, and
to overcame that bogey he will have to go through No. 8 Ivan Ljubicic, the
Croatian who eliminated former Australian Open champ Thomas Johansson 6-1, 6-4.
British teen Andy Murray easily won 6-1, 6-3 against France's Nicolas
Mahut. Richard Gasquet of France advanced to the fourth round for a second
successive year when he downed Jarkko Nieminen of Finland 6-3, 1-6, 6-3, and
Novak Djokovic of Serbia dispatched Evgeny Korolev of Russia 6-2, 6-1.
Janko Tipsarevic was eliminated by David Ferrer 6-1, 6-3.
Print
