 |
| Andy Roddick celebrates after winning a point against Ivo Karlovic in the quarterfinals of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic© Chris Trotman/Getty Images |
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Top-seeded Andy Roddick rallied from a first-set loss to beat Croatia's Ivo Karlovic 6-7 (7), 7-5, 6-4 Friday and advance to the semifinals of the Legg Mason Classic.
Karlovic was two points away from winning the match in the second set, but Roddick rallied to tie the match and grinded out a win in the third set against his unseeded opponent.
In a matchup of two of the game's top servers, Roddick and Karlovic combined for 48 aces in a match that lasted 1 hour, 59 minutes in hot and humid conditions. The 6-foot-10 Karlovic had 29 aces, raising his tournament total to 89.
"I don't think my serve compares to his serve,'' said Roddick, won 86 percent of his first-serve points. "At least you can get a racket on mine.''
Karlovic won the first set when Roddick double-faulted in the seventh tiebreaker, dropping the 2003 U.S. Open champion to 20-16 in tiebreak opportunities this year.
In the second set, Roddick evened the match at 5-5 when he fired off a 133 mph ace and won the next two games to force a third set.
"It wasn't a whole lot of fun out there,'' said Roddick, who won the event in 2001. "I tried to at least hit a volley, make him work a little bit. And that started to work a little. His percentage dropped later, so I was getting a look at his second serve.''
Roddick will face 13th-seeded Paradorn Srichaphan in the semifinals Saturday.
"It seems like he's gotten his form,'' Roddick said of Srichaphan. "I'll expect his best stuff tomorrow.''
Srichaphan defeated Luis Horna 6-4, 7-5, recording 11 aces and winning the last two games in the second set for the victory. The match took 1:26 and was played in temperatures that reached into the high-90s.
"I felt like I was moving well even in the heat,'' Srichaphan said. "Both of us were taking our time between each point because it was very hot.''
In Friday's late quarterfinal matches, James Blake defeated Arnaud Clement of France 6-3, 6-2, and 10th-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic defeated Bobby Reynolds 7-6 (5), 7-6 (9). Blake will meet Berdych in the other semifinal Saturday night.