KRISTEN’S KOURT: Roddick Prevails in All-American Showdown

Written by: Staff on 21st July 2012

KRISTEN'S KOURT: Roddick Prevails in All-American Showdown |

By Kristen Tracy

It never fails. Any match, whether it be a first round or final, that pits two American players against each other is always a dynamic match – and one that everyone looks forward to. And what better match up than then two biggest servers in the game?

In front of a crowd that clearly favored John Isner (a former University of Georgia Bulldog), Andy Roddick won the semifinal match at the BB&T Atlanta Open in three sets, booking a spot in the final with a score of 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-4. From the very beginning of the match, Roddick came out and made Isner work for every single point. We began to see the Andy we all remember – fierce, determined, and equipped with a forehand and serve that could make even the 6’9″ Isner (whose serve is equally as intimidating) wary. And though Roddick threw everything but the kitchen sink at his fellow countryman, John had an answer for it all.

The match was fairly predictable, with each player serving big and allowing very few chances for their opponent to make a move. Roddick got a lucky break in the first set and won it 6-4, but despite losing only 4 points on his serve in the second set, Isner took the second in a tiebreak. And so began the third set; and with it came plenty of brilliant shot-making and controversy. The final set quickly became all about who could wear the other down faster. At 3-all it appeared that Isner was running out of steam. Roddick held his serve and was then gifted a break point after he fired an amazing cross-court winner that Isner was unable to get his racket on. But while serving down 30-40, John was cited for a foot fault. Both players were visibly upset – Isner because the umpire who called the fault stood behind him and therefore couldn’t have clearly seen his footwork, and Roddick, because he had just hit a brilliant return that would have almost guaranteed the break of serve. As the point was replayed Roddick hit his return long, and showed his frustration by throwing his racket half way across the court into the net. Surprisingly, he was not given a misconduct warning. But it didn’t seem to matter. Roddick was already mentally unfocused, and John held serve. Though it appeared that Andy had mentally taken himself out of the match, he fought hard and eventually went on to win the match, knocking out the no. 1 seed and hometown favorite John Isner.

Following the match, Andy acknowledged that matches against John are always tough, and that it only takes one or two points for it to go either way. But he also mentioned that teaming up with John for this year’s Olympics will be a little different. “I’ll tell you one thing. I’m going to be real happy to be on the same side of that serve in doubles at the Olympics, I promise you that,” Roddick said. “It’s going to be a lot more fun on that side.”

We agree Andy. We definitely agree.

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