Roddick made to earn second-round spot

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 11:36

Two-time former finalist Andy Roddick is through to the second round of Wimbledon, but was made to work hard by world No.41 Jeremy Chardy before progressing 6-3 7-6(3) 4-6 6-3.

The American now faces a second opponent he has never played before after Igor Kunitsyn beat last years Junior champion Grigor Dimitrov.

“He makes you uncomfortable because he plays so big – sometimes you just got to stick those out”

Roddick got off to the best possible start against the Frenchman, racing out to a 5-0 lead within 12 minutes without dropping a point on serve in the process. But Chardy hit back with a break of his own as he claimed three straight games before the No.6 seed served out.

The second set was dominated by two men regularly hitting the 130mph mark on serve, though Roddick had his chances to break late in the set. Chardy couldnt make him pay, however, as Roddick walked away with the tie-break 7-3.

The Frenchman was now in the match however, and his aggressive approach often had the American on the back foot but Roddicks whipped cross-court forehand was too good for Chardy time and time again as the world No.41 tried to rush the net with little success.

The early stages of the fourth set saw just one point go against some huge serving from both men before Chardy, himself a former Junior Wimbledon champ, broke in game nine and held on to claim the third.

While the 22-year-old received treatment to his ankle following a slip earlier in the match, Roddick left the court for a comfort break, and returned keen to end Chardys resistance as soon as possible with a break in the second game of the fourth. From there the match went with serve, and Roddick settled the contest with a love service game.

The former world No.1 admitted it was a relief to be off court with a victory under his belt. He makes you uncomfortable because he plays so big, he said afterwards.

First he goes for big second serves, so you’re just trying to fight him off long enough to where his aggressiveness might get in his own way that happened a little bit there in the fourth set.

But I felt like I was playing better than he was for the majority of the match. Sometimes you just got to stick those out.

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