American Andy Roddick lost to South Africa’s Kevin Anderson 4-6, 5-7 in the first round of the China Open, a defeat the sixth-seeded American called “unacceptable.” Roddick struggled with his usually reliable serve and was broken at key points in each set. In the second set Roddick broke Anderson twice but was broken three times himself.
The 29-year-old Roddick, winner of the 2003 U.S. Open, has dropped in the rankings to 15th after several early round losses this year. Roddick was asked after the match how close he might be to retiring, and he rolled his eyes before replying: “I think you should retire.” He then got up and left the news conference to a round of applause.
On the women’s side, top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki survived a tough three-set match, rallying from a set down to beat Lucie Hradacka of the Czech Republic 3-6, 6-0, 7-5. Wozniacki, the defending champion, was troubled at the start against another big-serving opponent—Hradecka had nine aces to the Dane’s two. But Wozniacki improved in the second set as Hradecka’s first serves increasingly hit the net, saving eight of 12 break points for the match.
In other results:
►Third-seeded Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic defeated Nadia Petrova of Russia 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-1, while Maria Kirilenko of Russia beat Julia Goerges of Germany 7-6 (9), 6-3.
►Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic downed Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-2, 6-3, and Italy’s Flavia Pennetta defeated China’s Peng Shuai, 7-6 (6), 7-5.
►Wild-card entry Zheng Jie of China outlasted Alberta Brianti of Italy 4-6, 6-1, 7-5; qualifier Virginie Razzano of France defeated Gisela Dulko of Argentina 6-2, 6-3; and Tamira Paszek of Austria beat Petra Cetkovska of the Czech Republic 1-6, 6-4, 6-2.
►Among the men, Marin Cilic of Croatia defeated Chinese wild card Di Wu 6-2, 6-0; Feliciano Lopez of Spain beat Marsel Ilhan of Turkey 6-2, 7-6 (6); Fernando Verdasco of Spain topped Michael Llodra of France 6-2, 6-4; Florian Mayer of Germany ousted Albert Ramos of Spain 6-2, 6-4; and Flavio Cipolla of Italy defeated Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine 6-1, 1-6, 6-0.
