Top-seeded Andy Roddick beat fellow American James Blake 6-3, 4-6. 7-6(3) in the first round at the Memphis ATP Open on Wednesday.
Blake broke Roddick's serve in the 10th game of the third set to pull even at 5-5. Both then held serve sending the match to the tiebreaker.
He went up in the tiebreaker when he broke serve on the fourth point as Blake hit a backhand wide down the line. Blake would end up with three unforced errors off the backhand in the tiebreaker.
As usual, Roddick used a strong serve, recording 22 aces and converting 75 percent of his first serves.
Roddick, the defending champion, was the only one of the top four seeds in the tournament to make it out of the first round. No. 2 seed Fernando Verdasco lost Tuesday night.
Third-seed Radek Stepanek and Tommy Haas, the fourth seed, lost earlier Wednesday. Haas of Germany lost to Belgium's Xavier Malisse 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 while Stepanek crashed out after losing to Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 7-6(5), 7-5.
Go to Forum >>0 Comments