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Roddick wins Kooyong title
Andy Roddick finished off his Australian Open preparations with a 6-3, 7-6 (6) win over Tommy Haas in the final of the Kooyong exhibition event.
- Indo-Asian News Service
- Updated: February 25, 2007 10:39 AM IST
Read Time:2 min
Melbourne:
Andy Roddick finished off his Australian Open preparations with a 6-3, 7-6 (6) win over Tommy Haas in the final of the Kooyong exhibition event. Roddick fended off four set points in the eighth game of the second set and converted on his second match point in a seesawing tiebreaker against Haas, who upset top-ranked Roger Federer earlier in the week. Roddick had lost to Federer in the final last year, and was ousted in the semifinals of the Australian Open. The American advanced to this year's Kooyong championship match when Nicolas Kiefer retired with ankle injury in the second game of their semi on Friday. Favourite bet Federer is an overwhelming favourite to win the Australian Open on January 29, and if rankings hold true, should meet second-seeded Roddick in the final. Roddick opens against qualifier Michael Lammers of Switzerland on Monday and says he's concentrating on one Swiss rival at a time. "I can promise you right now, I'm thinking about Michael Lammers and not Roger Federer," he said. Roddick missed the season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai last November with a back problem, joining Safin, No. 2-ranked Rafael Nadal and Agassi on the sidelines. The other three haven't made it to the Australian Open. Good beginning Roddick started fast today, firing eight aces and breaking Haas in the fourth game to win the first set in 35 minutes. Haas jumped to an early 4-1 lead in the second after breaking Roddick's serve in the fourth game and then holding. In the eighth game, the German set up three set points with a forehand winner that had Roddick in trouble at 0-40. But the big-serving American held his nerve, getting to deuce by forcing a series of errors from Haas and then saving another set point before holding the game on a service winner. He broke Haas' serve in the next game and held to make it 5-5. Roddick got a minibreak in the tiebreaker, firing an ace for a 3-0 lead. Haas then tallied to tie it at 4 with a deft backhand drop volley after Roddick had double-faulted. Roddick got one match point when Haas' slice backhand landed just long. He missed that, but converted his next, putting a backhand away with Haas' scrambling to stay in the point. (AP)Topics mentioned in this article
Tennis Andy Roddick
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