Now that we’ve crept into the second week of the last major of the year, the world may witness the potential last match of the last American male in the US Open. On the verge of retirement, Andy Roddick will face off against the 2009 US Open champion, Juan Martin Del Potro. The two will meet under the lights of Arthur Ashe stadium in the round of 16.
As you, I hope, have heard, Andy Roddick is playing his final tournament at the 2012 US Open, he made the announcement between his first and second round matches, stating that he’s not 100% committed to the sport anymore.
Roddick’s run at the 2012 US Open
Well I don’t know if I would exactly call it a run, though it’s been a pretty sweet couple of rounds for the American. He first met fellow American Rhyne Williams, who has a nice game but lacks the experience that Roddick has; straight sets for Andy. He next met Aussie, Bernard Tomic. This has been by far one of the mos controversial tennis matches of the 2012 US Open, if you didn’t see it, Tomic basically handed the match to Roddick on a silver platter.
Tomic’s match against Roddick was really quite sad, even Patrick McEnroe thought the match was pathetic on Twitter, “Pathetic,” he tweeted. “In case you were wondering I was referring to effort from Tomic @usopen.” In any event, Roddick had a quick match then and got some rest. Things were going to get a little trickier for him in the next round.
In round 3 of the US Open, Andy Roddick met Fabio Fognini, one of the prettiest male players out there. Fognini has a pretty good game, he serves well and has enough quickness to dig for balls. Though, the biggest difference was that Roddick had the entire stadium cheering for him (sans the Fognini play box). The crowd seemed to energize Roddick taking him to a two sets to love lead. Somehow the Italian found a way to win the third set, but that momentum didn’t last long as Roddick stayed stead enough to get a break and the match. In this match, I did notice that Roddick was sluggish and just waiting it out only taking opportunities to finish points only when he had them. Thankfully he had a day and half of rest before his match against Juan Martin Del Potro.
The US Open match you need to watch – Roddick vs. Del Potro
This fourth round match is really the only one that you need to watch today. All other matches will be overshadowed with the anxiety the tennis world is feeling today. Tonight’s fourth round match could very well be the last time the world will see Andy Roddick play an ATP level tournament and will be his last US Open. The match will be featured on Arthur Ashe at 7pm EST.
This is going to be either a really tight match or a complete blow out. The two have met 4 times before with Del Potro leading 3-1; however, Roddick did win their last meeting in 2011. A lot has changed since they’ve met, both have been injured – Roddick’s shoulder/hamstring and Del Potro’s wrists.
Del Potro has had some lengthy matches so far at the US Open. The Argentine has played a total of 8 hours 46 minutes to the American’s 6 hours 41 minutes. Those two hours can be the difference in the match. Roddick not really all that fresh on court and Del Potro also lacking a bit of energy in his matches.
This is one US Open match that will be hard to predict, my emotions might cloud my judgement. If Roddick stands a chance of beating Del Po, he’s going to have to find a way to hit away from him. Del Potro is a decent mover though I think he wears out easily. So if Andy figures out how to move him and stay away from the DelPo forehand, he just might have a chance.
Though inevitably, I think Del Potro will come out as the victor. He’s younger and hits bigger than Roddick. His serve is quite nice and placement is impeccable. This could be a match that will go 5 sets, with both players limping to the service line, trying to get that one winner for Game, Set, Match.
Even if you are not much of a Roddick fan, you should make time to watch this US Open match, Roddick has been a constant in American tennis and tonight may be his last match ever.
Side note: Del Potro took out Marat Safin at Safin’s last tournament before retirement.