Andy Roddick Wins In Shanghai

Lawn Tennis, Ace Tennis Magazine, Lawn Tennis Magazine

Andy Roddick Wins In Shanghai
By Ken Miller, Lawn Tennis Analyst, Posted: Monday, October 10, 2011 11:50pm PST USA

SHANGHAI-- Monday at the Shanghai Rolex Masters at Shanghai, China, the former world number one Andy Roddick of the USA defeated the unseeded Yen-Hsun Lu of Taiwan 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 in opening round action.

The 10th seeded, 29 year old Roddick scored his lone grand slam championship title in September of 2003 at the US Open before topping the ATP Tour world rankings in November of the same year.

Andy Roddick of the USA | Image: Getty

Shanghai Rolex Masters, Lawn Tennis Magazine

In 2004 in Davis Cup competition, Roddick struck the fastest serve ever at 155 miles per hour.

But the powerful American, this year after posting several lackluster results, has dropped to a singles ranking of 15.

Roddick scored two breaks of serve to lead 4-0 in the first set. Then at 5-2, ace number five struck down the tee set up set point. A netted Lu backhand return ended the set after 31 minutes of play.

In the second set, a Lu backhand down the line passing shot winner at 2-1 breakpoint sent the qualifier ahead 3-1.

Lu would hold at love after connecting with an ace out wide to lead 4-1 before closing out the set 6-3.

After complaining several times to the chair umpire that Lu’s grunt could be heard late after the ball was struck which made it sound like a call from a line judge, Roddick held on to break serve to lead in the final set 3-1 before finishing the set 6-2.

In the second round Tuesday, Roddick is set to meet the unseeded, 72nd ranked Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria. The two players have never before met on the ATP Tour.

In 2004 in Davis Cup competition, Roddick struck the fastest serve ever at 155 miles per hour.

Roddick could face the top seeded Rafael Nadal of Spain in the semifinals over the weekend. This week in the USA, the Tennis Channel is offering daily televised live matches from Shanghai.